The Protein Skimmer is Necessary (I am looking at you, Nano Reef)

[OnTheReef]

I wonder if you still went skimmerless after "cooking" the rock, if the problems would have alleviated.

Yes, I wondered that too. However, given how productive the skimmer has been, I am very disinclined to test that theory.

By the way, just in case some are not familiar with the term "cooking", the live rock is placed in a saltwater bath with heat, light and powerheads and water changes done until whatever nuisance you are trying to eliminate has completely disappeared and there are no detectable nutrients in the water. Most of my coralline algae seems to have survived this process, although not all.

 

[rygh]

@OnTheReef
Unfortunately, that "cooking" term has many meanings to many people. I wish we had better terms.
Some consider a nice acid bath cooking.
Some take it literally, and give themselves paly poisoning.

 

[OnTheReef]

@OnTheReef
Some take it literally, and give themselves paly poisoning.

Chills my blood to think how close I came to doing something just like that. I was going to boil some live rock in the backyard. It mildewed in storage and I wanted to see if it I could salvage it. I had never kept zoas / palys on that live rock, but still, who knows what might be lurking in the old growth.