How long to cure live rock?

[trigger11]

I just recently picked up a second tank that is a 55G. It has about 50 pounds of dead rock in it (Dry). The rock has not been in any water for about a year is what the previous owner told me. I ended up getting the whole setup for $125 so seemed like a pretty good deal to me.
What I am looking to do is set this tank up. Let it go through the cycle and all of that. I am planning on putting in some of the LR and LS I have in my 60G hex tank to seed it.
My question is- How long should it take to cure the rock doing it this way.

The rock looks pretty clean. Is there anything I should be concerned about? Eventually I want to put an anenome and clownfish it. I will have a MH light when I get ready for the anenome in a few months so should be ok there.
One other question I guess while I am here. Would this dead rock be considered base rock?

 

[earlybird]

You'd have to kick start a cycle with a dead shrimp or ghost feeding. Once amm, trites are at zero, your rock is cured. I'd add a few pieces of uncured not dried out rock to help seed your dead base rock.

 

[m0nk]

Yeah, basically at this point it's the same as "base rock" that you'll find at a LFS. Adding the live rock to keep in the same tank will certainly help seed the base rock, so maybe in like 3 months or so the dead base rock you have will become live again. Once you start seeing critters (pods, worms, starfish, etc) crawling around in the holes and have a good amount of coraline growth, the rock with be considered "live". Best of luck!

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by trigger11
My question is- How long should it take to cure the rock doing it this way.

The rock looks pretty clean. Is there anything I should be concerned about? I would be concerned as to wether the oprevious owner ever used copper based meds. IMO it will take about 4-6 weeks dependign on how much dead stuiff is in the rock, possibly less possibly more.
One other question I guess while I am here. Would this dead rock be considered base rock?

yes it will be considered base rock as the only life it will have after the cycle will be bacteria, some other microfauna will spread to the rock over time along with coraline but yes it is base rock not LR right now.
I answered in red.

 

[trigger11]

Thanks to everyone who responded. This should be a fun project for me. Yesterday I took the 55G outside and cleaned it out real good. Also filled it all the way up and let it sit over night. Checked it this morning and no leaks so that is good.

 

[renogaw]

fantastic remember, everyone here likes pics and lots of them
once you have the rock in the water, ask your LFS if they can test for copper before you add any inverts. I agree with reefkprz, that would be my only concern

 

[trigger11]

Sounds like a great idea to have the LFS check for copper. I doubt the previous owner used it though. They gave me everything they had and there were hardly any chemicals / testing kits etc. But better to be safe than sorry. Thanks again.

 

[ghettotang]

I thought turning the dead rock into live rock with coraline algae takes a while. I've read that it takes about 6 month to a year or long to become live rock. Is this true or not.
Thanx
Jay

 

[reefkprz]

its considered "LIVE": once it has been cycled as it is alive with bacteria, after about 6 months any fauna that is going to move over to the rock should have. so in this instance the rock gets better with time.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
its considered "LIVE": once it has been cycled as it is alive with bacteria, after about 6 months any fauna that is going to move over to the rock should have. so in this instance the rock gets better with time.
A bit better, but never near as good as fresh live rock.