ghetto curing to live rock :)

[Scorpion]

i have a question... i want to add about $50 CND (don't know how much in lbs that will be... but i need more regardless) worth of live rock. i was thinking about getting uncured and curing it myself. i have 2 4gal buckets from home depot and a can spare a powerhead from our tank while we cure. is this too "ghetto"?... or do i have to use a big rubbermaid container? also... how do you go about curing live rock? a lot of water changes? what about salinity? and is it even worth it? thanks :)

[BCOrchidGuy]

Where do you live, you can get some live rock and get a larger amount of base rock, put them in the tank and the live rock will seed the base rock. If you live in the Vancouver area my LFS sells base rock that is in with the LR so it already has pods/algae and bacteria, and it is listed at $3/lbs but they will sell it for $2/lb....

[Scorpion]

:shock: REALLY?!... is it just as good as Fuji live rock?... look wise? i'm in vancouver. where is this LFS of yours? it would be greatly appreciated :)

[BCOrchidGuy]

It is base rock, dead coral, no colour it is white, but it will grow coraline algae if you keep it under actinic light for a month. Get some live rock and lots of base rock, King Ed Pets.. .Kingsway and Edmonds in Burnaby.

If you don't keep it under actinic light it will just grow algae, not a biggie if you just want colour.

Does it compare to Fuji rock? no not at all, but it is a good substitute and it works well for filling in and fragging corals onto.

[Dale D]

You can cure it in buckets if you want.

It would be easier to do it in one larger container though. Just keep the salinity the same as you would in a reef tank, put in a powerhead or two for circulation and a heater and you are set.

Some people do water changes during curing and some don't. It will work either way.

You will want to do the curing somewhere other than your living room, because of the smell. :shock:

You will know the rock is cured when you can pick a piece up and smell it and it smells like the ocean and not a sewage treatment plant.

The time it takes to cure will depend on what is on the rock when you get it. For example, if there is alot of sponge on it, it will usually take longer to cure.

[sumpfinfishe]

Hi Scorpian, yes there is no problem in curing your own live rock in buckets, with powerheads and heaters. Like Dale mentioned, keep the salinity and temp. the same and "off you go" and yes smell is the best indication of cured rock. Curing is a simple but sometimes timely and stinky process. All your doing is killing off anything that has partially died from shipping or that will die in a reef setup. This can take weeks and even up to a few months, but with a small amount of rock it shouldn't take too long. As for water changes, I find that one or two doesn't hurt, and might even help speed up the curing alittle. Multiple changes however are just a waist of time and salt if you want my opinion.

As for using ornamental or bleached rock, I would use dead rock if it was to be place partially in or on the sandbed(base or foundation rock) and then some nice pieces of live rock ontop. :D

cheers, Rich

[Jedi68]

Scorpion: You got PM

[canadawest]

Ummm... what's the problem with just adding the new uncured rock to your tank?

If you already have an established tank, and the tank is large enough and already has more live rock than you are adding, I don't see a problem with just letting it cure in your main tank.

You should have plenty of bio-load handling capacity with your existing live rock and sand to handle the minor curing spikes.

I would just add a bit at a time, say less than 25% of your existing live rock at a time, and save yourself the trouble, inconvenience and smell of curing the rock separately in another tub.

Of course this is assuming you already have an established tank with live sand and more live rock already in it than you are adding.

Just my $0.02 worth...

[canadawest]

PS... I forgot to add that the existing creatures in your main tank will also help speed up the curing process.

Hermit crabs, bristle worms, copepods and amphipods, shrimp, etc, will all help by feeding off the decaying matter on the curing rocks, thereby helping to speed up the curing process.

You don't get this added benefit by curing in new water with no creatures.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Yup Andrew, I just made the assumption there wasn't an existing tank, good points.

[Scorpion]

the tank has only been up for about 4 months now.... give or take a week or so. we have 18 lbs of live rock now... but want to get it up to 1lb / gal.... and the tank is 33 gal. i'm too scared to add uncured directly to the tank cause i heard that cleaner shrimps can't take ammonia too well.

anyways... i think that i'll cure my own rock. i want to try it. also... in a 4 gal bucket... how much rock do you think i can put in?

so... 1 100% WC per week should be ok?.. right?

** edit **

also... can the container that i use to cure rock be air tight so that the smell doesn't get too bad? hmmm... this sounds like a st00pid question. :)

[Scorpion]

Scorpion: You got PM

i do?... i don't see any :(

[sumpfinfishe]

With a strong powerhead in the bottom of the pail, I would only fill the pail to say half full and then place a heater in. If you want more just use another pail. I would change the water every two weeks, as it's best to let the rock cure for 3-4 weeks. You also need to keep the pails free of lids as you want fresh air to also circulate over the rock. You could keep the pail in a garage or garden shed.