Suffer, baby, suffer!
I rigged up a super ghetto skimmer when I was curing my rock and it pulled massive amounts of crap out.. All it was was a length of 2" PVC full of bio balls (don't even need them, really) and an airstone in the bottom. I drilled a hole around the water line for water to exchange a bit more (I think it was around 1" under the surface). The top of the pipe was perhaps 6" out of the water... I tilted it at an angle and all the nasty foam collected on the Rubbermaid tub lid. Better than nothing? And honestly, the only reason I did that was because I needed something to weigh down the airstone and when I saw what was happening and made those few mods.
Ever read Reef Invertebrates? Calfo really pushes for mass water movement and aeration - I found that my cure was really quite gentle when I did that. Protein skimming was secondary for him. My stuff was ready to go in 9 days (well, 10/11 pieces were done). I did 2 water changes when the NH4 creeped towards 1.0ppm and otherwise just added baking soda from time to time in case the pH started dropping.
I've got about 14lbs curing now using the same method (sans ghetto skimmer)... Thanks for taking all the choice pieces! Geez!
As for the smell - I kept the lid on as securely as possible. I had one tub curing right beside my bed and didn't smell that one at all. As soon as the lid opened, however.. WOOF.
If you really want to try and disguise that smell, how about leaving an open cup or bowl of bleach in the same room as the rock?
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