LR pre-soak at 1.040?

[Colescuttle]

I apologize for posting this on the Advanced forum, but I don't seem to be getting any responses on the New forum.

I'm within a week or two of ordering live rock/live sand for my 29 gallon tank, and I'm tending towrds TBS, as they appear to ship the "livest" rock and do so in water. However, I'm a little spooked by the bad hitchhiker rep.

I have read that a one minute pre-soak in 1.040 water will cause many of the bad hitchhikers to abandon the rock. Has anyone got any experience with this method?

Thanks!

[jman77]

I would't do that to the rock. I would think you would cause more damage than good doing presoak with that low of SG. Especially with TBS rock that is full of all kings of life.

[wayne in norway]

It'll kill a lot of good hitchhikers too. Why don't you jsut QT it for a couple weeks first and leave a baited trap for mantis shrimps et al?

[keefsama2003]

get yourself a nice big ole garbagecan or rubbermaid container soak the rock in there if you can put lights over it even better and setup a few traps and what not. if there is anything in there you should catch it.
that being said there could be stuff in the tank that doesnt want to come out and is deep within the rock and wont come out for a while so even a pre soak maynot get them all out.

TBS is the livest rock around and you get what you pay for you may be better off putting in the main tank and monitoring with the necessary traps and utensils onhand and if you see anything go at it and grab it out or setup a trap.

[downlimit]

Besides the abovementioned methods, if you want to get mantis shrimps out, and you dont want to either risk you tank. another thing you could do is in your bath tub, put about a 1/2 inch of water, (regular tank water) and place your lr on it, obviously this amount of water is not deep enough to submerge it. any live critters that are in the rock will naturally gravitate to the bottom of the rocks, just make sure that you dont let the top of the lr completely dry off. so occationally pour some water on it. within a couple of hours any mantis shrimp that you may have had will be in the water, and when you pull the rock out you should be able to capture them rather easily. If you do this right, you should have very little die off, if any.

[Colescuttle]

I'll use the method you describe, Downlimit. Some deeper delving into other sources has suggested this method, too, although your bathtub suggestion is novel.

[MiddletonMark]

I'd cure it in a tub/trash can.

Why pay for life, then kill life with a high salinity dip or leave it exposed to air [after paying for it shipped in water]?

If you're going to hassle the rock, just buy base rock and save your cash IMO.

[capncapo]

I'm afraid that there would be too much residue (soap, cleaners, etc. ) in the bath tub to think that method would be safe.

The method may work to get hitchikers out but I would do it somewhere besides the bath tub.

[EmergencyDpt]

You guys soaking live rock in your bathtubs aren't married are you?

[discocarp]

You guys soaking live rock in your bathtubs aren't married are you?

LOL, I was thinking the same thing. My wife lets me get away with an awwwfffuulll lot, but I think this would push her over the edge. :P

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Usually, a freshwater dip works great to evac any nasties. Do the normal cycling, but take each piece at a time and dip it in freshwater for 15 seconds. It wont hurt anything much, but will make rock anemones explode and make any mantis-type critters jump off. It also destroys flatworms.

[mmn_usn]

If the LR was put directly in the tank. What signs do I need to look for mantis shrimp or flatworms? LR came from 150' and my own hands.

[thrlride]

I had a piece of LR with a mantis in it. I soaked the rock in freshwater for 10 minutes and he didn't come out. so then I soaked it in very hot water for a minute and he didn't come out. The coralline on the rock died but he didn't!

[romunov]

How does salinity know to "oust" only "bad" hitchhikers? :)
If you want a clean, safe tank, go with base rock.

[MCsaxmaster]

I agree with what's been said. It makes no sense to pay extra for live rock that is, as it turns out, actually full of life, and then to go about killing and harassing most of that life.

Most of the "bad" hitchhikers will be dead without prey in a month or two, or at the very least will be removable. If you're planning to add a whole lot in the way of livestock to this tank before it is at least a couple of months old, I would revise your plan.

Best,

Chris