Curing Live Rock: Different Options

[pagoona]

I currently have some uncured live rock on the way and I have two options:
1) Cure it in a separate Rubbermaid container
2) Cure it in my new display tank, which is all set up and ready to cycle
#2 sounds better at first, but if I cure it in a separate container I could easily make 100% water changes once or twice a week until it is fully cured, then I could put it in my DT and begin cycling. If I cure it in my DT, then I'll probably only be able to make 40% water changes at a time.
By the way, it's 45 pounds of fiji LR and my DT is a 50G, and the Rubbermaid tub holds 20+ gallons. This will be my first time curing live rock, as I've only bought pre-cured live rock from the LFS in the past.
What do you guys think?

 

[saltn00b]

you will need a bunch of buckets and a steel brush or a tooth brush to scrub off all of the dead and decaying tissue and dunk repeatedly. you should not be performing 100% changes ever, especially in a tank you are trying to cycle. the water may get very polluted , but it should settle out quickly, especially if you skim heavily. just keep ammo under 1.0 ppm and you should be fine, killing 2 birds...

 

[1journeyman]

I used a new tooth brush to scrub my rock.

 

[reefkprz]

I would go with option #2. by doing so you will be cycling your tank. I would of course rinse the rock well and swish it around alot or blast it with a powerhead in a bucket before putting it in the tank, to knock off the deadest stuff. I personally dont scrubb off all the dead stuff because there may be lots of live stuff that gets scraped off as well. a lot of people do scrub, I dont. either way works.

 

[dogstar]

I also would go with # 2..
No need to do 100 % changes or every week or whenever when cycleing...just monitor levels and do changes as needed to keep levels low as said, to keep from killing any more stuff then neccessary...cycleing in the main tank helps to establish filters and sand, ect...

 

[pagoona]

Alright, looks like I'm going to cure my rock in the DT. Another site's procedures for curing live rock said to perform 100% water changes twice weekly, so that's where I got that idea. So I basically need to monitor the levels and only do a water change when the levels deem necessary?
When I do water changes, is it a good idea to rescrub the rock in the water I remove?

 

[slomo]

Hi sorry i'm late answering, I have a 36g with 45lb LR. I cycled it in my DT and it takes a long time... i don't know if it would have been anyfaster doing it the other way? I did scrub it but not with a toothbrush just a new scrub brush. I never took it out for another scrub.. but mine was cured but shipped from this site. i live in virginia and the rock from Florida... 3 days to recieve it. I am two months into the tank and still have nitrates... 20 everything else is 0 or normal. Good Luck

 

[1journeyman]

Nitrates exist in the tank unless you have an export for it. (Macro algaes, deep sand bed, etc.)

 

[saltn00b]

nitrates will not naturally cycle out of your tank, which is basically one of the main reasons we do water changes. other things like journeyman was suggesting help reduce them to zero. even some corals will 'eat' nitrates (but that does not mean put coral in a tank with a nitrate problem)