Live Rock Concern - freshwater rinse

[harlequinfanaticyert]

Hello! This is my first SW tank and I’d like some professional advice. I’m worried I killed one of my larger live rock.

I got about 40% live rock, 60% dry. The live rock was absolutely beautiful, I mean some objectively great rocks. One of them was super alive, but sadly came with Aptasia. I was given some advice to get rid of it but seemed to misunderstand one step.

I essentially brushed off the Aptasia with a toothbrush, then rinsed the rock in fresh sink water to “remove” any remaining Aptasia. I didn’t expect for it to do much, but after visiting my LFS it seems I may be mistaken.

The rock is clearly dying, but there are still tube worms on it along with some GHA. The rinse was quick, so how much would this really do? I only rinsed 1 of my many live rock, so the tank should be OK, I’m just concerned with this one rock.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

If your water has chlorine/chloramine maybe you upset the rock a bit… personally I would just do another rinse but in salt water this time? After that I doubt you’d be risking anything other than that one live rock being less live than it could have been.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think it will be fine... When we put this rock into the tank, it takes hours to days for the inside to get wet, and likewise when we take the rock out it takes hours to days for the inside to dry. The outside of the rock is minimal surface area, the inside of the rock is the majority of the surface area, so a quick rinse won't cause much harm, just kills the worms and stuff on the outside like you noticed.

 

[harlequinfanaticyert]

I think it will be fine... When we put this rock into the tank, it takes hours to days for the inside to get wet, and likewise when we take the rock out it takes hours to days for the inside to dry. The outside of the rock is minimal surface area, the inside of the rock is the majority of the surface area, so a quick rinse won't cause much harm, just kills the worms and stuff on the outside like you noticed.

It’s a scary hobby sometimes lol thank you

 

[harlequinfanaticyert]

If your water has chlorine/chloramine maybe you upset the rock a bit… personally I would just do another rinse but in salt water this time? After that I doubt you’d be risking anything other than that one live rock being less live than it could have been.

I know, the tube worms are ok too. I bet it’s fine