Curing live rock / what to do and what not to do?

[njbluefish]

Curing live rock?
I have a shipment of live rock that is due to arrive 2nd day. I wanted to get the best method for curing the live rock. I am setting up a 55gal and want to know if it is best to cure it in my tank? Some people tell me that I should use a 30 gal container to cure the rock with a power head and a heater. I would like to get maximum growth and preserve what is still living of course. Should I use the tank to cure the rock….if so, should I lay down a layer of sand LSB or Southdown? Water…… salinity should be 1.024 or lower? Temp……78 or no heater is required? Protein skimmer………. Yes or No? Filter if using a tank to cure……hang on or canister? Please inform me of your experiences and what works best. I have tow days to decide what I am going to do.
Thanks,
Mike njbluefish

 

[aarone]

Just mix alarge tub of salt water. Most people use the large 55 gallon trash cans. Put a heater and a powerhead in the tub. Make sure all of this is not in your house. This is where it gets stinky. After a few days you will notice a smell. Start doing water changes if you want to preserve as much life as possible. No sand is necessary to do the curing process.

 

[dreeves]

In addition to what was said above...
Before placing the rock into your curing container...put a couple of pieces at a time in a salinity mix of 1.035-1.040 for a few minutes each...this usually causes hitchkikers to evacuate the rock...gives you a chance to sift through them and keep what you want...be sure to check the water before putting more rock in...you may find something you want, and it will have to come out of the higher salinity quickly...
As for curing it in your tank...I would think it would be better to do a little pre-cure for about 2 weeks inside a seperate container then cycle the tank with it...

 

[njbluefish]

Thanks guys! If I do get some some hitch hickers, can I place them in my 65gal (first tank?) Thanks again for the suggestions and tips.
Mike

 

[njbluefish]

Can I use tap water to flush my live rock? I am currently using bottles of RO/DI from Wallmart @ $0.59 a gal. I wanted to save some money, but do not want to do major harm to the live rock/inverts in the rock. Your thoughts.........

 

[ackermsb]

If the tank has no living creatures in it then there is no reason why you couldn't cure all of the rock in the tank. If there are fish or inverts then use the container

 

[lesleybird]

Hi, Why go to all the extra work of a container when the tank is a new set up that needs to be cycled anyway? Just put it into the new 55 gallon with sand in the bottom. Run a skimmer if you are worried about keeping the creatures on the rock alive. No, don't rinse it in plain tap water....use saltwater like you use in the tank. Do a partial water change in a few days if the water gets too foul. I am so lucky to have a LFS that has a wonderful live rock curring tank running down the middle of the store. It is maybe 14 feet long and two to three feet wide. The water constantly runs from one end of the tank to the end of the tank where it kind of falls off the end in a little water fall and then is pumped back through a hudge skimmer to the other end wher it runs through the entire length of the tank again. After the rocks have been in this tank for a few days it is fully curred and ready to use! To bad most stores don't have this set up! Lesley