How to clean LR?

[lona]

Hi All,

I just bought a small amount of LR last night..and was looking forward to cleaning it at home.

I reached home..and realised I don't really know what pple mean when they say clean the LR. My LR smells nice, and has a little coralline algae..which I didn't clean off.

It's been sitting in my pail overnight with a powerhead directed at it. This morning there was some mud at the bottom of the pail.

My rock's pretty hairy..I went at it with a toothbrush, but it wouldn't come out. Should I pluck it out? It's brown algae.

Saw a small brown crab, got rid of that too.

Can someone please please advise what else I should do with my rock? How issit considered clean?

[souphamster]

how much did u pay for the LR? where u bought? can share?

[Achilles Tang]

Use a toothbrush, it'll do a good job in snagging hair algae and stuff. You will want your rock nice and clean and free of rotting debris eg. dead sponges, algae etc.

Leave the coralline algae alone, you want that!

[lona]

roger that..

thanks boss.

[Valleyman]

AT,

What about rocks from a 'mature' tank ? Need some scrubbing ? Is hair algae the green stuff ? I thought they are ok to keep.

[Achilles Tang]

If you don't see any of the nuisance micro or macro algae on them, then you don't have to scrub them.

[cool water]

Hi: AT

crab and small worm found happily moving in and out the LR. any tip to get them ? THANKS

ioan:

where you got your LR. $? It is really v. deff. to got good LR now a day. 10$/kg is the cheaper i found and it look just like a pc of brick.

[Blue Tang]

As long as your LR don't smell, don't need to "brush" them. Just rinse them to get rid of loose dirt. Small worms, sponges, etc are fine..they contribute to the tank's life form diversity. They are part of the "Life" in the rock (aka Life Rock)

Some people however get rid of crabs and mantis shrimp as they like to pick at corals.

Algae can be a secondary source of food for fishes like Tangs. So no need to treat them like enemy...they can be unsightly though. Reefers don't like them cause algae are accused of choking their corals.

LR also need some maintenace every 3mths or so. Just blow the loose dirt off their surface.

[lona]

Hi Cool water,

I not sure if u refering to me..(I just realised u might have been asking me about my LR.. ..my nick's Lona)

Anyways, my LR bought frm *refer to this reminder* . I haven't seen much LR in my life..but IMO, they don't look very interesting to me..

BlueTang, Thanks for the advice, will bear that in mind next time I buy more LR..

Edited January 24, 2003 by Achilles Tang

[victorp]

Use a toothbrush, it'll do a good job in snagging hair algae and stuff. You will want your rock nice and clean and free of rotting debris eg. dead sponges, algae etc.

Leave the coralline algae alone, you want that!

From what I read, coralline algae is not easily scrubbed off with a toothbrush, am I right? I am collecting my LR this coming Tuesday, so anything that I can easily scrub off with a toothbrush is okay...