I heard of guys ending up in the ER because of boiling live rock on the stove. Great video Marc! Leave it to you to cover a topic no one has, here on KZfaq.

Wonder how many people will stumble on this bc they want to 'cook rock' lol

Mel, very clear explanation of a confusing term! Thanks for taking the time to put this video together :-) It really helps when people like yourself go the extra mile, to help others... I appreciate it & have learn't the basics of reefing through KZfaq.

Glad you made this video. palytoxin and maitotoxin are not things you want to expose yourself to, and boiling rock is a good way to potentially expose EVERYONE in your house to such compounds, pets included.

Hey Marc. I had four knee operations so I couldn't take care of my tank for over 18 months. Nitrates and phosphates were through the roof and I had turf algae everywhere. I cooked 125 pounds in a garbage can for five months before I was satisfied. I swished each rock 30-40 times in three buckets each before putting them in a dark can. I tested NO3 and PO4 regularly. Once I was happy I did not want to go through that again with the next 125 pounds, so I bleached the second half of my rock. The process worked but my situation was extreme. Great video. This process works.

Every time I watch one of you videos I feel I learn something new. Thank you and keep up the good work!

Great how video Marc on how to preserve and keep your rock clean and cycle it in case you want to use it again.

I just started getting my first Salt Water tank together and am so excited that I have my first pieces of live rock curing in the tank while I continue to build the sump and save for the lights. Unfortunately, I spent the three days following my purchase spending time identifying all the fun things coming out of it: Feather dusters, Aiptasia, and Asterina starfish.... Great start! Thank you for the excellent video. I'm gona go cook it

Great video! Very quick to the point and still informal and practical.

So glad you made this video! From reading forums people really do think cooking is boiling

I wanted to confirm the part that you DO NOT want to boil or put a rock with Zoa's or Palythoa's in RO water. I know a guy who almost died from that (hospitalized at intensive care) , together with his son and even his dog.. Palytoxin is no joke. Personally I would never boil rocks, Just buy dry rock.

I didn't know when I was going to get my 125 build - I got rock close to a year ago, it's been in a 40 gallon brute trash can with a power head and heater. I made some salt water and have topped it off every so often. I am planning on testing my water but I haven't seen any aptasia on it in the past month or so. The water looks crystal clear and I don't see any signs of life in there so im curious how the water parameters are. I got this from some random person on CL who used it in his tank. I am glad I went this route though and didn't use acid or anything else. Was simple and easy and worked out great for me who needed time to work on getting everything ready for the 125.

Great video Marc, on how to clean and cycle live rock. Best always!

Extremely informative! Keep up with the great videos! Loved the blooper LOL!!

Great information Mark. Ive "cooked" my new rock for three months now. I think its time to set this new tank up!

On your question for the views that your channel gets, I think people like to see set up videos, build videos, updates and basically anything that has to actually do with the livestock and upkeep of your current tanks

I have a sump which is a 75 gallon tank, with some poorly constructed baffles. I would love to see a how to break down a sump on a running system and put in baffles with the least pain.

This was really informational you did an exceptional job .... the ending was awesome 🤗

Wish I knew this before! I let some extra rock sit out in the sun and dry first. Now it's been doing exactly what you said for the past year almost. But it's totally dead.

Love the thumbnail.👍 Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a smooth simmer, and wait 30 minutes. Add 2 pinches of salt and 1/4 cup of chaeto. Then serve over a shallow sand bed.

Yes, i agree. i dipped for six weeks with lugols twice, did not do much but killed all the color. Revive made them freak out. Bayer killed them. I toke them all to the edge of death. brown almost white. So i put them back into main tank not sure any thing was going to live. surprisingly everything is coming back very slowly. melanurus wrasse are my new best friend.

Awesome vid very well done and explained things great couldn't have been better

I was torching the heck outta my live rock ..this was like 3yrs ago so I'm ok now ...great vid..

So basically your just curing the rock....

Did u clean and treat the 55 gal blue bin before u use it if so with what i have two i wanna clean to use not sure what was in it but want to be sire

I cook live rock with bleach water. Rinse well and soak in water with a lot of dechlorinator. Rinse and repeat a few times.

Does anyone know if the brittle stars could survive this, or would they starve out? I have some cyano, bubble algae and some Texas Trash pallies I'd like to see gone, but would hate to waste a good live rock. Thank you!

Thank you

the end was aw3some!!! lolzzz

I'm so happy I came across this video. I have some rock I'd need to cook. Hahaha

This is amazing information. I am curious though. for the saltwater, should it be RODI mixed with salt or would tap water/dechlorinated be okay for this process? Going to assume that i'd want RO to remove anything from the tap. But thought I would ask any ways. Again thank you, I was close to just tossing it all in some vinegar.

So curing it is the same as cycling it and cooking it is getting rid of the pests and unwanted stuff ?

How can I kill vermitid snails on live rock without killing everything else on it @melevsreef???

Loved this video you should do more like this 👍👍👍👍

Thanks for another very informative video!

would you recommend dipping also the "cooked" live rock in hydrogen perox or any chems to disinfect live rocks? Or just doing what you do is enough?

Hey maybe you can do a video on your past tanks. That would be really cool. Nice yard by the way.

Awesome video, just a quick question. I did everything you said and it's been over 8 weeks, can I use this rock in a established reef tank?

Great video Mark, I've definitely vinegar treated to get rid of an aiptasia infestated rock..

so the process would be the same for dry rock/Marco Rock I just aquascaped? Better to cook it in a bin for 6-8 weeks, then in my tank? Assuming this means once I transfer the cooked rock over, with some added biomedia from an already running tank I have, the cycle process should be somewhat short?

If I cooked rock in my kitchen on the stove with any pot my wife would peel the top layer of skin from my body and dip me in my nice saltwater tank

I'm going to have a 32 gallon nano from coral life and I need wise live stock choices because I'm about to be a reefer and I have a 55 freshwater that been running for 2 years so I know about aquariums.

Thanks, your response was super helpful. I can break up the rock and see if I can find people to take them. I don’t know anyone that has a reef and I live in an area that has no fish stores....except one over an hour away. How would I go about shipping it to private parties that want some. Will it die in the winter? Thanks for your help.

Great info! Thanks Marc!

Thank you Melev, I have Hair algae and I am thinking it is due to Marco Rocks having Phosphate. I will place some of my smaller rocks in a bucket and try this process.

i liked this vid great pointers

Excellent video but it's there a such thing as live fresh water rock? great video

The picture for the video with the stove is a bit misleading lol. (I've heard the paly toxin horror stories.)

I also don’t frag I don’t like cutting live corals. Throwing them out in the sun sounds horrible too

excellent video with a lot of great information. I did love the ending.

I have a barrel of old live rock that has been dead and dry for years .Is it safe to use ,and if so how should it be cleaned and or processed before i can use it for base rock?

i'm needing to reboot my tank. had a major outbreak of macro algae mainly bubble algae. my plan was to acid kill and then re cure the rock. would cooking rock like this kill off the spores in the rock from the algae. i would hate to go through the trouble of cooking the rock only to instantly have an algae problem return.

i thought you're cooking pyura chilensis

Would you ever risk putting new live rock direct from the ocean into a new aquarium? I am willing to wait for hitchhikers to appear and deal with them but is the risk of other pests worth the reward?

my live rocks are plagued with mini vermetid snails. I don't have any other bad pests and bad algaes. Should I cook my rock.

Wow great information! Thanks

i wish i saw this before doing exactly what he said not to do, ie boiling rock on stove top.

ok this is great if you have used rock but what about new rock. will this work with pukani as well?

This was an awesome video! Thank you! I may have missed it but will cooking my rock for an extended period rid it of majanos? We are moving next year and I want to keep my rock for my 125gal. I want to streamline my 75gal. Now for more space for better flow and coral display. Thank you !!

Usually do something similar to this , but I new build I used pukani rock and is leaching phosphates like crazy in my display while still cycling like .68!

I just bought some coral from the pawnshop. Not sure if it’s live or not. But it’s going to be put in my 90gal freshwater tank. Will this process in the video make the coral safe for freshwater⁉️ Thanks‼️

Would you mind explaining your take on starting a reef tank? As far as cycling and first animals you'd recommend? Thanks

I did bleach soak a few days. Then clean water rinse. Then bake in oven 20m

Great video as usual. Just one silly question...why is "ELECTRICITY" backwards on your shirt?

Marc, would changing the water more frequently speed up the cooking process? If the rock is sitting in water with high ammonia, phosphate etc., would it make sense to change the water more frequently? thanks.

have rock thats been sitting out in dark basement. I cooked it for 3 weeks just as u showed, can I put in tank I'm starting brand new tank....need to cycle....

if you remove a majority of you rock to cook it, is there enough beneficial bacteria remaining in your tank to sustain a small bioload through the process?

Do you use ZEOvit Media in your aquarium? Why or Why not? and If you do, What would yo suggest after the media is used? Can it be "recycle" some how?

Quick question, when do you generally introduced the rock to an established aquarium? I am it's been a month since my 40 pound rock is curing , still have high nitrate, do you look for absolutely zero in everything then introduce to the tank or any other way, thanks--

Great video i got 60 pound live used rock some had aiptasia on them those i tossed away . but being scared it was in the tank . i set the 60 pounds i kept outside in the sun /cold it's winter time here cleaned it with ro di water . i hated to do that but aiptasia scared me so much the tank had these tiny aiptasia believe there tiny star fish looking .. . so set it out doors for 4 weeks brought it in 2 week ago and began mix ixing and cooking it in bucket (per your video ) of fresh salt water room temp circulating . Plan to leave it covered 2 more weeks that is were i love it when you said u store it forever in your own home .. so can i expect that any hitch hikers will not be there when i'm ready in 2 to 4 weeks to use this rock . it was a grab these rock now the guy was moving take it all deal free .. came with fish there fine shape normally i resist impulse . guess my bottom question should i cure the rock even longer since i know history of the rock or cut my loss just enjoy nice tangs i got and be happy ?

Nice video Mark. But i have a question here. If we fully cure live rock for 4 to 8 weeks, it means we are making ammonia to zero. This means the water is cycled. So when we put the fully cured live rock into our new aquarium tank, how will it help the water in the tank to cycle?

Great topic!

I’m getting what was once live rock from someone’s old tank it’s now dry rock it’s sat outside for a good bit so if I just mix saltwater to 1.25 and add a power head for about a month it should be good to go for cycling my new tank?

For bad aiptasia infestation would you recommend killing/sterilizing/sun drying the rock for a couple weeks/or something similar to kill all spores (just to be safe), then "cook" cooking the rock or after the drying out process should you just cyre/cycle the rock? Basically what is the best way to make sure there is no aiptasia? I have no problem being patience on the back end to re-cycle the rock as long as i know that darn pest is gone! Especially if I am completely tearing down the tank to move... I would want to make sure I started fresh. Thanks

Not to be obnoxious....but....they really ought to come up with another term other than "Cook" What do you think most people would think when they hear the term "cook" There's no way to avoid it unless you change the term. I would try and figure out a way to say it differently so people won't actually "Cook" their live rock. Like...."Bucket cook"...or "bucket bake" or "Live rock bucket wash" If we stop using the term "cook" people will stop heading to the stove.....lol

So your return lines are coming from the bottom middle of the tank? What do you have for a fail safes?

I hope you can help me out I lost my butterfly fish yesterday and My local saltwater store told me to remove the rocks out of the aquarium for 3 or 4 days setting in the sun to kill all of the aiptasia off my rocks then put rocks back in aquarium ? or put the rocks inside freshwater ? He also said in the 30 years he's never seen aiptasia this big before and for the rocks that has corals on they keep inside tank and he will give me a new butterfly fish to take care of them. I have a filefish and 2 peppermint shrimp that not working. So right now I have my rocks in ro-di water outside. Would I need to set my rocks inside new saltwater before I put them back in the aquarium?

I have 32g brute trash can with about 100 lbs of rock. it's been cooking for about 6 months now.

Will this kill tube worms in the liverock as well?

How can I get a call with you on some advice. I have a new tank just set up, running tank with all of my livestock, and a 40 gallon QT that's not set up yet. I need my live rock out to aquascape the new tank but have nems and coral everywhere. The fish won't have live rock to handle the ammonia. Just really need your help on possible logistics of handling the livestock and setup. Thanks and love your channel.

do aiptasia and vermetid snails die in the dark?

will cooking the rock also get rid of vermitid snails?

Kind of off topic a little, still concerning rock though 😉 Marc, do you or not recommend keeping LR in the fuge area of our sumps?

What about vermetid snails? How can I get rid of those pests in my rock? Will cooking rock help avoid them in the first place?

Can you reuse the pump on a aquarium ?

Pyura chilensis?

dam, i just tore down a take today, I wish i knew this earlier it is to late they have been outside all day.

my LFS told me.to set in sun for 2 weeks then put in tank to cycle is that wrong?

Mel I've got some marco rock being delivered in the next few days that's never been In a tank can I do the exact same thing as you describe in your video to cook / cure the rock? Thanks Mel

What about water boiling Pukani dry rock?? I just bought an amount from BRS and gee.. rock literally stink!!

I have a question i'm hoping you can help me with. I have some really nice what used to be live rock in my freshwater aquarium for the past 7 years. What is the best way and how would I get this rock ready to be used in a saltwater aquarium? Thx for your help Mel !!

thanks for the vid!

Hi Mark, how does this method really kill aiptasia? I always thought that when the aiptasia anemone does, even if one cell is alive it can come back. I want to get rid of bubble algae, vermatid snails, and some aiptasia. Do you think nuking the altogether is preferred or use the mentioned method you discussed here? :) thanks

Will the same method work well for some old live rock, that was left in the sun and dried out for a week? It was thus now dead, but still covered in old aptasia and other rubbish

so after this video i still wanna now. ( I already did the stupid thing of cooking it on the stove and i did that because its completeley covered with aiptasia brisstle worms and beard algae. there are still some not done. To get things strait i can put them in a closed container no light no heating and a small pump every thing bad will die? but how do i now the worm is gone? the dead rock i have i put in to a nother container with a power head and a piece of new life rock from the store it has been out off the water for almost 24 hours not realy dry and some starter collony will that work?

How much calories does a 1lb live rock has? Does it provide enough vitamins and fiber?

I have a question please .. What about cooking rock in a garage during summer in TX ( 100 degrees out side). I am cooking rock now and the water in my Brute trashcan is Hot.

GREAT VIDEO!

great info, like always :)

Im a little confused. You specifically mention this method can be used for removing Aiptasia from the rock but then mention that you can "scrape aiptasia off of it if you want to". True, but if I am to remove the rock, scrape the aip off then return to display tank, why do I need to put it in a bucket for X-weeks? Im told attempting to scrape Aip off manually will likely result in them releasing spores and worsening the problem. I have approx 20% of my rock infested with Aip. Ive got Aip-X for the bigguns and a crew of peppermints to get a hold on the babies that pop up, my thoughts were just to nuke the worse rock with boiling RO (outside in a barrel not on the stove) and then effectively have that rock re-seeded by what still exists in my system. Is this method for me, or have I got the wrong end of the stick?