gary henderson
New Member
Live Rock is being shipped to me from FL today! I'll receive it in Nebraska in a couple of day. How do I "cure" the live rock? Cure is a pharse I read in a different tread of this message board. but, no explanation!
Live Rock Arriving Soon - help a new mother.
- Thread starter gary henderson
- Start date
stacyt
Active Member
Curring LR is a simple thing. Normally most people will put the LR into a container of some sort, fill with saltwater, add a powerhead for water circulation, then let it run for a while. Normally you can tell by the smell of the rock when its done curing. Also check the water for ammonia. When the LR is done curing you will see the ammonia drop to 0. If you take uncured rock and put into your tank it will cause an ammonia spike, and if you have any critters in the tank it could kill them. When you 1st recieve LR there are alot of organisms that have died off from being out of the water. HTH
robchuck
Active Member
Here's a simple explanation (hopefully). During shipping of the LR, a certain amount of die off occurs for various reasons (i.e. no light, it's not submerged...). Having this die-off in and on your rock means that it's uncured; if you put it in your tank right away, it would cause a cycle, just like adding an uncooked shrimp or a damsel. Cured LR has most likely been sitting in a tank for awhile at a LFS where the die off goes throught the cycling process. Uncured LR smells really bad, and if you got it through mail order, you will most likely have uncured LR because die-off is almost inevitable.
rick58
Member
Gary, if this is a new tank you can cure the rock right in it. When you get the rock, clean it ( take a bucket of salt water and a brush and lightly scrub and remove any black or slimy stuff (dead stuff), and place it in your tank. Don't worry about scrubbing off any corraline algae, it will come back. Once in your tank arrange it nicely and wait for your tank to cycle. There will still be more than enough 'dead' stuff in the holes and crevices to start a nice hardy cycle. Once your ammonia and nitrites (not nitrates) have spiked and once again read zero do a water change (atleast 20 %) and add your clean-up crew (snails, crabs, shrimp, etc) they will finish the job you started.
As Stacy said keep the water moving and provide some light (it doesn't need intense light yet). Once your nitrites have spiked and are headed down you can start skimming.
As Stacy said keep the water moving and provide some light (it doesn't need intense light yet). Once your nitrites have spiked and are headed down you can start skimming.
wrassecal
Active Member
Oh well, you are a fellow sw enthusiast so I'll give it a shot. Where did you order the live rock from? You mention Florida. If it is lr that will be coming with a lot of growth like sponges corals etc like the Gulf-view premium I would be careful with "where" you are lightly scrubbing it. Otherwise, I totally agree with the advise so far. Your best bet is if your tank is new putting it in and letting it help cycle the tank. Also, make sure you have gotten off any clinging newspaper it may be wrapped in. HTH