# Cleaning Lava rock



## jay11 (Jan 27, 2012)

Hello all, i aquired a large tank from a friend about a year ago. Its a 160 gallon bowfront. Before i could set it up i was sent overseas with work for the better part of a year. I am home now and have started cleaning everything and sorting out the plumbing. 
My question is about the Rocks. The previous owner had quite alot of lava rock which i plan to use. The other day i opened one of the containers the rocks are in and found mould on them. It almost looks like white dust or cobwebs but its not. I tried to rinse and clean one of the rocks and found that they are quite brittle and parts were breaking off. 
Is there any way to celan the rocks without damaging them? What and how can i clean them properly. Any help is much appreciated.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I would do it in a few steps

First soak them in a bleach solution, then I would boil them for a bit, and then just to be safe, put them in a bucket with some extra dechlorinator to make sure any traces of bleach are gone.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

I guess a power washer is out of the question.... Put them outside to freeze a bit and then heat.....oooorrrrrr.....take a blow torch to them. That should definitely kill off anything.


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## malajulinka (Mar 29, 2008)

Don't boil rocks. They like exploding. I should think lava rock, with all its inclusions, would like exploding especially.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

ok, bleach and scrub gently with soft brush, rinse well and soak in extra dechlorinator for a while


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## malajulinka (Mar 29, 2008)

Sounds safer. Unless explodeyness is what you're looking for!


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