Replacing Established Live Rock with BRS Pukani/Need Advice

[supercon71]

I've done some searching on here and while there are a ton of threads regarding BRS rock, most have to do with cooking/curing in new setups. My situation is a bit different, hopefully someone can give some advice.

Details:

My 90g display tank has been going with same lr now since may of '08 with a fairly deep sand bed. It has an 80g "3 stage" sump in the back that consists of one 20g "skimmer" sump, one 20g refug sump and one 30g "equipment" sump. The 20g sumps gravity feed into the 30g sump which then pumps back into the display. Fair amount of water volume here.

I've been in the process of moving over from a reef setup to a fowlr setup, but along the way some feather culerpa was introduced into the tank and has done a great job of overwhelming things. My Kole Tang seems to love it and that's great and all, but enough is enough and I want it gone. Yes, i've gone the route of taking pieces out one by one and cleaning it, but it's one of those really pervasive forms of culerpa that always seems to manage to come back.

I was hoping to do the following:

Remove all live rock (and possibly the dsb) and replace it with BRS Pukani.

But by "remove" I dont necessarily mean take it out of the system, just the display, at least initially. I certainly can move it all into various parts of the sump as to preserve all bio filtration.

With this scenario, what needs to be done with the BRS rock? Does it still need to be cooked? Can it be rinsed very well, or cooked minimally (not looking to do 6 months as some do) and introduced into the display knowing that the existing lr is in the sump area?

Thanks in advance.......

[downbeach]

Here's what I would do:
1) Put the rock in a container of tap water and let the dried material rehydrate for a day.
2) Hose or better, power wash the rock to remove as much rehydrated material, as you can.
3) Place the rock in a container and etch it with a mixture of 50/50 vinegar and tap water, with a power head for 24 hours.(Make fresh mixture if done in sections), (more dilution is needed if you go with an acid, i.e. muriatic)
4) Hose or power wash the rock again.
5) Let it dry for a day.
6) Place it in some newly made SW for a few days with a power head and check for PO4.

If you work at it diligently, I don't think this will take you more than a week to do.

[thegrun]

Originally Posted by downbeach

Here's what I would do:
1) Put the rock in a container of tap water and let the dried material rehydrate for a day.
2) Hose or better, power wash the rock to remove as much rehydrated material, as you can.
3) Place the rock in a container and etch it with a mixture of 50/50 vinegar and tap water, with a power head for 24 hours.(Make fresh mixture if done in sections), (more dilution is needed if you go with an acid, i.e. muriatic)
4) Hose or power wash the rock again.
5) Let it dry for a day.
6) Place it in some newly made SW for a few days with a power head and check for PO4.

If you work at it diligently, I don't think this will take you more than a week to do.

I like everything listed but I would cycle the new rock before adding it to the tank. Unless you keep all the old rock in the sump you are going to reduce the bio-filtration and risk the possibility of a new cycle if you overwhelm the remaining bacteria population.

[zippgirl]

I love taking dry rock and building structure with help of pond foam. Out of all the dry rock i have used pukani is the prettiest but the nastiest. I would not put it in an established tank, there is a lot of dried dead material in it. Cure it first