What to do with old/pest ridden rock?

JTP424

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First time poster, going to try to be more active as I'm working on getting more involved in the hobby.
I was given a tank that has probably 20lbs of live rock in it, infested with vermetid snails and asterina starfish. Previous owners just kind of let whatever grow grow. Has a bunch of brown button polyps, various random mini mushrooms and some pavona growing on it.
Looking to tear it down and reorganize the tanks I have running. Is the live rock salvageable? Some of it looks like legitimate dried coral etc.

Let me know!

Thanks all in advance.

*Edit, actually my second post... OOPS
 
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JTP424

JTP424

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Are you trying to salvage its use as cycling biome? or really cure it of all life and start over?
I guess I never thought of that. I don't think I want to reuse it in the immediate. Potentially kill off the life so I don't infect anything new I may do with it in the potential future. Don't have any other tanks I want to use it for currently.
 
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davidcalgary29

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Before you take the drastic step of killing all the life off the rock, I'd take a pair of needle-nose pliers and cut down all of the vermetid tubes. I'd then borrow a harlequin shrimp from a LFS or a friend, but the LR in a quarantine tank, and let 'im have at the asterinas until they're gone. You can then scrape away anything you don't want to keep, although I can't see why Pavona and mushrooms would be a problem.
 
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dedragon

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I do this for any rock i need to nuke. Afterward I would leave it in freshwater to let any phosphate or nitrate leach into the water. Be careful with button polyps if they are zoanthid grandis as some people have had palytoxin poisoning but if you take the proper precautions when dealing with muriatic acid in an open area you will be fine
 
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JTP424

JTP424

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I do this for any rock i need to nuke. Afterward I would leave it in freshwater to let any phosphate or nitrate leach into the water. Be careful with button polyps if they are zoanthid grandis as some people have had palytoxin poisoning but if you take the proper precautions when dealing with muriatic acid in an open area you will be fine
Love me some BRS!
 
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