I tried boiling two rocks that I found in a stream to get rid of some slimy green algae that was on it, but it is still there. If I wet the rocks, it is still slimy. Do I have to worry about it still being alive even though I boiled them? How do you guys suggest that I get rid of the green on them?

I would get rid of it. A little bleach mixture (1 part bleack 16 parts H2O) and soak it and scrub with a brush. Make sure to soak it again in dechlorinated water.

Alright, thanks.


How long should I let it soak?

Honestly, the minute the bleach water hits it, it should kill anything. But I would let it sit for a few minutes, give it a good scrub, then scrub it again in some dechlorinated water (not RO water, dechlorinated water so the dechlorinator will deactivate any bleach still on the rock). Scrub until you get the algae off.

The longer you let it sit, the more reaction the bleach will have. It may discolor the rock the longer you leave it in there.

Thanks so much! The algae came right off, but I just can't get the smell of the bleach to go away. I don't have any dechlorinator as I have well water.

Is the dechlorinator 100% necessary?

Couldn't you have scrubbed it instead? I would rinse and rinse to get rid of the bleach.

You can also leave it in the sun for a day or too. But rinse rinse rinse should get it off.

If the smell of the bleach persists after one day, then you might be concerned that the rock itself may not be aquarium-safe.

What kind of rock is it? Have you tested it with vinegar and/or Muriatic acid to be sure that it's aquarium-safe?

Whatever you do, do not put it in your tank if it has even the slightest smell of bleach. That smell is warning you that the bleach is still present. And while setting the rock in the sun should do the trick, without knowing the type of rock, it's hard to know if it's porous enough to trap any of the bleach inside. Doubtful, but why take the chance.

I second Laura Lee's question regarding testing it with vinegar or Muriatic acid. If it fizzes, do not use the rock.

I would also suggest that you get some dechlorinator even if you don't normally need it. This is one such time when it's needed. There will be other times. It's not expensive and it lasts forever so just get some as part of your on-hand supplies.

I'm also on well water, but I still use water conditioner on my tanks- I use Prime, and this also takes care of heavy metals- which I'm not sure that would be taken care of otherwise?

I tried the vinegar, it didn't fizz. Woot!

I'll rinse and rinse and rinse them tommorrow. Then I'll put them in the sun for a couple days. Thanks for all your help guys!

Oh, and I'll be sure to get my hands on some dechlorinator too!

Next time use H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) and then scrub and rinse works well and at low dosage wont harm fish or plants. It can even be added to tank water to kill algae. See this site for more info. http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp

Okay, so it turns out the stress coat that I have doubles as a dechlorinator! haha

How do I use this to get rid of the bleach?

Get a bucket of water, add a liberal amount of stress coat, insert rock.

Remove rock, rinse, and stick in tank (assuming the bleach smell is 100% gone).

That's all there is to it!

When you've used up the Stress Coat, get Prime next time as it's much cheaper. The only thing I don't like about Prime is that it smells bad, but you only smell it when you have the bottle open. You can't smell it once it's in the water. I use Stress Coat to get the bleach smell off of my hands, as well.

Bleach smell, and algae are all gone!

Finally! haha

Thanks everyone for your help!