# Texas Holey Rock...bleach bone white?



## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

Bought some holey rock off EBay and its got a tint of brownish pink to it and was wondering how to get them super white? I soaked them mild bleach for a day and couple spots got much whiter so what do I do? I'm not talking about taking algae off, just prepping it from the field to super white. Thanks!


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Stronger levels of bleaching will remove the colors that are organic, like dirt. But then there is a lot of difference in limestone colors. It can come in a range of colors. Some almost brown, some grey and some which is truly white. If the rock you have is brown, it may be brown all the way through due to the materials in the sediment that formed the rock. Not much to do to make it white.


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## lucid_eye (Apr 12, 2009)

I have had luck with sand blasting the rock, and using a strong acid works as well.


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## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

Don't want to go through with acid and it looks like there is some room for improvement to get whiter.


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

Even if you get it nice and white looking before you put it in, eventually it will get covered with algae and won't look white anymore. I guess what I am trying to say is don't worry about it.


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## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

Pizzle said:


> Even if you get it nice and white looking before you put it in, eventually it will get covered with algae and won't look white anymore. I guess what I am trying to say is don't worry about it.


True, but that's like buying a used fish tank with water stains and algae and not cleaning it before you set it up...just doesn't make sense. Were not talking about $0.69 lb rocks here.


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## PaulineMi (Apr 3, 2008)

Bleaching the holey rock turns it white unless what PfunMo said applies. Mine all turn white when bleached except for an area on a couple of pieces that stays a light tan. I've had my Texas holey rock for about 5 years. They get a twice a year bleaching. It's a MAJOR PIA but I like the white look in my tank.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Since there are many different shades of limestone it sometimes is worth not buying untill you see the rock. If you think how the rock is formed from sediment as things settle to the bottom, you can see that at different times over millions of years there will be different plants and animals leaving the deposit. That makes the colors vary somewhat. This area was once an ocean bottom but as the water dried and the level dropped, there are places which got lots more dirt from the shore. Those will be prone to having more dark colors mixed in. If you have a rock that is made of solid white material, you can bleach it to white. But if you have a rock that is a natural yellow or dark grey, bleaching will change little about the color. As I cut or drill rocks, I often find different layers down through the rock. It's kind of like looking at history from millions of years ago.


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## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

I appreciate all the feed back and the way I was looking at it is that they are in fact eroding with the top layer being the darkest but it makes sense that they do have different shades and all the bleach and acid in the world won't make some rocks white.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

If there is a top layer that is darker, it may just be from the soil around the rock. In that case bleaching may make a lot of difference in the color. This might be a good time to gamble--with small change. A 1/2 gallon is pretty cheap if it might get an expensive rock brought around to the color you want. There will be no real difference too the fish whether you use a strong mix or weak. When you are done soaking, rinse it and that will dilute it so that you then have a weak mix if any is left. See what it looks like and if it looks good, let it dry so any remaining chlorine will gas off and you will have done a good job. It may/may not work but to me, it is worth a dollars worth of bleach to find out.


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## PaulineMi (Apr 3, 2008)

And in my experience it sometimes lightens a bit when it dries.


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## inurocker (May 9, 2011)

al7601 said:


> Pizzle said:
> 
> 
> > Even if you get it nice and white looking before you put it in, eventually it will get covered with algae and won't look white anymore. I guess what I am trying to say is don't worry about it.
> ...


Makes perfect sense, nature made the rock the color it is and will make it other colors when you put it in your tank.
More like painting a fish because nature didn't make it the color you like. 
Don't get me wrong wash the rocks to make sure they are tank safe, but from there on you are making work for yourself.


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