boiling rocks
- Thread starter zoowks
- Start date
I don't recommend boiling rocks, since the potential does exist for some forms to crack from trapped pockets of moisture.
Soaking in a tub with hot water and bleach, scrubbing as necessary is more than adequate. Keep it simple.
Soaking in a tub with hot water and bleach, scrubbing as necessary is more than adequate. Keep it simple.
I personally boil all of mine. I first use a soft wire brush and brush them down under hot tap water. I then put em in a big pot using as much seperation between as I can get and bring them to a rolling boil for 30 minutes. Change the water and re-boil. Never had one blow on me yet. ;o)
I would think 1- salt raises the boiling point of water 2-kills through osmosis
Rocks do explode under heat if they have any water in them. James0816, you've been lucky so far. I wouldn't continue to do it.
First off there really is no need to sterilize rocks if you don't get them from in or very near a water source (lake, stream, ocean, etc). Think about it, what aquatic pathogen could they be carrying??? In my tanks a quick rinse to get the dirt off and in they go. Never had any problems with doing this in the past 20 years.
Second boiling is really not effectual at killing viruses at all and only kills about 85% of bacteria. One of the standard tests that I ran when I worked in the lab was for thermophillic spores. I would heat the sample to 108C under 2atms for 10 minutes in the autoclave then incubate them at 55C for 72 hours. Amazing little things would grow like crazy even after being put through this treatment. If you are really concerned with pathogens, soak the rocks in a 10% bleach solution overnight. This will wipe out 99.99% of the bacteria and about the same percentage of viruses as well. (If it is clean, smooth, and nonporous it will only take 10 minutes).
First off there really is no need to sterilize rocks if you don't get them from in or very near a water source (lake, stream, ocean, etc). Think about it, what aquatic pathogen could they be carrying??? In my tanks a quick rinse to get the dirt off and in they go. Never had any problems with doing this in the past 20 years.
Second boiling is really not effectual at killing viruses at all and only kills about 85% of bacteria. One of the standard tests that I ran when I worked in the lab was for thermophillic spores. I would heat the sample to 108C under 2atms for 10 minutes in the autoclave then incubate them at 55C for 72 hours. Amazing little things would grow like crazy even after being put through this treatment. If you are really concerned with pathogens, soak the rocks in a 10% bleach solution overnight. This will wipe out 99.99% of the bacteria and about the same percentage of viruses as well. (If it is clean, smooth, and nonporous it will only take 10 minutes).
