Live rock question

[anthonys8107]

Recently pulled out a rock that was being taken over by zoanthids. It started to creep up on a chalice and other group of zoanthids in the tank so I thought it would be best to remove said rock and euthanize the zoanthids spreading across it. I placed the rock out in the sun and now have two questions.

1. How long should I leave the rock out in the sun? I figured around a week for them to completely die out but I haven’t ever done anything like this so I have no idea.
2. Should I take precautions before putting the rock back into the tank? I don’t know if there will be some sort of biological die off that would spike my ammonia but I figured rinsing the rock after its done drying would possibly get the job done.

At the end of the day, these zoanthids would take over my tank and corals, so I figured it necessary for this to be done.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you might as well just put the rock in a bucket of bleach water. After one week in the sun, the rock will be full of decay, you will need to clean it by bleach or acid before it goes back into the tank. So just put it in the bleach now, the bleach will melt the zoa's. (been there done that lol)

 

[exnisstech]

^^This^^saved me some typing.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

1. How long should I leave the rock out in the sun? I figured around a week for them to completely die out but I haven’t ever done anything like this so I have no idea.
2. Should I take precautions before putting the rock back into the tank? I don’t know if there will be some sort of biological die off that would spike my ammonia but I figured rinsing the rock after its done drying would possibly get the job done.

1 is a good question; I'm not sure. 2 is a yes - I'd personally probably give it a good rinse outside, soak them for a while (probably a week or two) outside with some carbon, rinse them again to be safe, the run carbon again when I add it to the tank.

They may not be toxic/highly toxic, but better safe than sorry/than repeating the story in the thread below (yes, palys are generally going to contain more toxin than zoas, but the amount of toxin in both palys and zoas varies even within the same species, and where the toxin comes from for the corals isn't entirely clear at this point, so it's best to treat every zoantharian as if it may be highly toxic):

Another story of palytoxin poisoning, recent experience

I contemplated even posting this because hindsight it could had been avoided, be gentle because I am still very sick. Yesterday after mowing the lawn I was looking at my back porch thinking yeah those paly plugs have been out here a month now in the hot southern sun, they are done for and i need...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Safe and easy, just replace the rock and throw the old one out.