Aptasia Rock for sale.... questions/ideas

So the LFS has some really nice live rock in 2 of their tanks that's been infected with aptasia for a while and they're getting rid of it for $1.99/lb. Since that's less than a lot of the base rock I find locally on CL and such I figure it's worth a shot to nuke it back to the base rock stage, and it looks 100x better than any terrestrial rock.

So I'm wondering what course of action would be best to thoroughly nuke the rock. It's mostly Tukani and Fiji plate/branch rock, very porous, looks GREAT, just... 'tasiafied.

Right now my plan is to put it in a 35g brute trashcan, add a hardy cup or two of bleach, some tap water, and a power head, close it up, and let it cook for 3 or 4 days. Will this be enough time for the bleach to saturate into the rock, or should I go longer?

After the bleaching I'll use Sodium Thiosulfate to drive out the chlorine, probably run that for another 24 hours.

Then it's going to sit in the sun and dry out for 3-4 weeks.

So the question is... will THAT kill Aptasia?



thanks all!

-Doug

 

How big are the aiptasias? I recently had a large show piece fiji come from an LFS infested with them. I put the rock in a rubbermade tub with a heater, powerhead and two peppermints. In less than a week, over 20 aiptasias were consumed. I think this was due to the fact that they were big peppermints and that they had only the aiptasia to eat.

 

it's about 60-80 lbs of rock. Biggest piece is about 12x18x4 plate. In all they completely fill a 90g tank.

And I'm not taking the chance with it. I want to nuke it back to the stone age.

 

Well if you're going to kill it, why not use Otty's method?

https://www.3reef.com/forums/blogs/otty/nuking-live-rock-67.html