Best way to clean rocks...

[JayK1320]

So I am looking for the best way to clean rocks before putting them in the tank. I think the rocks are to big to boil in anything I have got, they are flat but wide...

I am thinking of cleaning them down in the tub the best I can and then baking them in the oven?

Start out low, 150ish, and slowly bring the temp up to 400 and bake for 20-30 minutes. I think this will bake off/kill anything that could be on or in the rock. Then wash it once more with just water.

Is there a better way to do this? I see no reason that it would not be okay to bake the rocks, as long as I do it nice and slow they will not crack from a thermal break, right?

 

[Adam-011]

Just dont make any drastic temp changes put it in the oven like u said put the the temp on 150F for ten mins 200F 5m 250F 5M ect. all the way to 400F then cook for 20M then just turn it off and let the whole thing cool down for 40M. Good Luck.

 

[chesterthehero]

SHOULD be ok... should being the word to watch.... rocks explode can explode like glass if heated/cooled to fast... id wrap the in tinfoil before baking them.. not that this will help with anything other than if they decide that they do want to explode you wont have to spend 5 hours cleaning out every lil part of yer oven...

 

[ewurm]

Rocks that are safe in a tank, such as most igneous rocks, have endured temps far greater than you could produce. I wouldn't worry too much. I soak mine in bleach.

 

[JayK1320]

Thanks everyone for the answers, I got it all done. Scrubbed em, baked em, and scrubbed them again.

They are in the tank and its all setup. I am blown away I think it looks awesome, so here are some pics of before and after. I used to think it looked good when I first set it up, I cant believe how far I have come in knowledge and making their place a little more natural. Next on the list is getting the gravel out and some sand in.

Let me know what you think

The pics start out from my original setup, the couple of changes and now. Sorry for the new ones being so cloudy, I didn't wait for everything to settle, I did a WC today as well...at least I cleaned the glass after!

 

[chesterthehero]

looks good..

balancing rocks scare me though.. id ziptie that rock to the wood to keep it from floating insted of just putting it on top.. but im overly cautious...

 

[koop171]

Like the setup you got going. When I did mine I just ran them under the hottest water I could get out of my tap then scrubbed them real good. I know it wasn't the best way to go about it but I didn't know any better at the time.

 

[RBE17]

The new setup looks really nice. I like the addition of the rocks and driftwood.