starting new 55 gl. should I use cured or uncured??

lennon

lennon

Member
Hi all. I am getting ready to start the tank. I just wanted to know if I should use cured or uncured LR. I have heard that there is alot of smell if I use uncured..but I also heard it is best to kickstart everything. Not sure which way to go..I was planning on not using any fish to cycle the tank...so Is the LR better??
thanks for any advise!
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by bigarn
It will smell for awhile, but cycleing with the uncured rock is the way to go.

agreed!! the dead rock with all that death on it, is definitely the way to go lol
death rock muwaaahhhaaaa

edit: to clarify my words of dead rock, this means live rock that has die off from shipping but was once live at one point, not just base rock that never had life...
 
lennon

lennon

Member
Originally Posted by bigarn
It will smell for awhile, but cycleing with the uncured rock is the way to go.


PU is all I have to say!!!!
How long will it smell? and on a scale from one to ten..how bad is it.
It may go in my dining room...so that is a concern. I don't want people thinking
it's my cooking..
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
Hard to say .... it all depends on how fast it cures. I suggest entertaining outside on the ole barbeque for awhile.

 
lennon

lennon

Member
Originally Posted by bigarn
Hard to say .... it all depends on how fast it cures. I suggest entertaining outside on the ole barbeque for awhile.


That stinks! lol
If I use cured rock..will it affect it in a negative way? or will it just take longer to cycle?
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
If you use cured LR you can drop a couple of large raw uncooked shrimp from the grocery store in there to cycle with. It may smell, but not half as bad as the rock. Oh yeah .... buy extra for the barbeque, you might as well celebrate!
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
I started my 55 with "cured LR" from an online site. It really wasn't cured though, but it made the tank cycle much quicker.
I think the only time you need to add fully cured LR is if you're adding it to an established tank.
It would probably be cheaper to use un-cured as well. You can find it online for as low as $1.99/lb. I purchased mine for $2.50/lb, but it was free shipping...
Also, un-cured doesn't smell so bad it'll stink up your house. You can only smell it if you put your face up to the water, or if you take a piece out of the water and smell the rock itself. Other than that, you won't even notice.
Another way you can go about it is to buy lace rock, and only add a few pieces of LR to it. The lace rock will become LR eventually.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
well, it didn't have any purple algae on it or anything, but it did look ok, you know for $2.50/lb. It looks really good now.
 
lennon

lennon

Member
Originally Posted by jdragunas
I started my 55 with "cured LR" from an online site. It really wasn't cured though, but it made the tank cycle much quicker.
I think the only time you need to add fully cured LR is if you're adding it to an established tank.
It would probably be cheaper to use un-cured as well. You can find it online for as low as $1.99/lb. I purchased mine for $2.50/lb, but it was free shipping...
Also, un-cured doesn't smell so bad it'll stink up your house. You can only smell it if you put your face up to the water, or if you take a piece out of the water and smell the rock itself. Other than that, you won't even notice.
Another way you can go about it is to buy lace rock, and only add a few pieces of LR to it. The lace rock will become LR eventually.

Oh, I forgot to ask..how is the hobby going for you? do you love it? what is your maintenance schedule? and are there any equipment must haves that worked great for you...meaning brand names and such..thanks
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
Originally Posted by Lennon
Oh, I forgot to ask..how is the hobby going for you? do you love it? what is your maintenance schedule? and are there any equipment must haves that worked great for you...meaning brand names and such..thanks
I LOVE IT!!! I have so much fun. I've only lost a few fish...
but those were mostly all beginner's mistakes.
I change the water about once or twice a month, and it stays really clear. At this time i also vacuum a small layer of sand up, to get the detrious build-up off.
I have a pro-clear 75 wet-dry filter, and it works like a charm. It was nice too, because it came with a protein skimmer, which is also a must-have.
I'm looking to get a refugium eventually.
I used the florescent lighting that came with the tank, but i really want corals, so i'm looking to get a MH lighting system. The lack of lighting is also probably why my coraline algae isn't growing as fas as i'd like it.
I used CC at first, but decided against it, and recently switched to sand. I like it so much better. I haven't gotten any sandsifters yet, but i really need to.
The part i really love is my fish. They all have very distinct personalities, and i love watching them!!! :happyfish :happyfish :happyfish
What i recommend to anyone who will listen is this:
1. The concientious marine aquarist - #1 necessity

2. the pocket handbook to marine fish - #2 necessity
(tells you about 500 different saltwater fish - what they eat, who they get along with, size tank they need, reef compatibility, hardiness, etc.)
3. have fun!!!

4. Remember, having a perfect tank is damn near impossible, so don't get too stressed when something goes wrong... it'll ruin the hobby for you.
Hope this helps!
 
lennon

lennon

Member
Thanks! Yes, I do have those books. I LOVE them!!
I want to do corals too..but I don't want the whole heat issue with MH. I don't want to have to get a chiller and all those extras. But I did hear that I would not need a wet/dry system if I am using a refugium? What is the difference in the filtration. Am I better off with the refugium being that I want to eventually have a reef tank?
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
A refugium would be better than a wet/dry. a wet/dry uses bio-balls, which are little balls of plastic, but they have a lot of surface area. This allows bacteria to grow on them, which removes unwanted ammonia, ates, and ites. a refugium on the other hand uses LS, mud, and different kinds of algae to remove the unwanted stuff from your water. This is because the algae thrives off of the ammonia, ates and ites in the tank, hence using it all up so it can grow.
if you want more info. on refugiums, visit this link: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/177970/topic-of-the-month-refugiums
 
just1nk4ng

just1nk4ng

New Member
Originally Posted by Lennon
Hi all. I am getting ready to start the tank. I just wanted to know if I should use cured or uncured LR. I have heard that there is alot of smell if I use uncured..but I also heard it is best to kickstart everything. Not sure which way to go..I was planning on not using any fish to cycle the tank...so Is the LR better??
thanks for any advise!

in my readings i learn you should use cured rocks because it helps your tank cycle faster
 
lennon

lennon

Member
Originally Posted by Just1nK4ng
in my readings i learn you should use cured rocks because it helps your tank cycle faster
did you really mean cured? I read lots about using uncured to cycle faster. If it is cured..then that is what I will get instead because I do not want to wait so long.
thanks
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
the tank cycles because things are dying off, therefore kicking the levels of ammonia, nitrates and ites up really high. This causes a growth of bacteria, which is the whole point of curing a tank. It makes the tank so that when you add living things to it, the bio-load will be able to handle the waste from those fish and whatnot.
If you add cured LR to it, there's nothing to die off, and therefore the tank won't even cycle at all until you add a shrimp or something. The shrimp thing takes a while too...
Adding uncured LR makes it happen faster because stuff on it is already dead, and just needs to regrow. you've basically started in the middle when you use un-cured LR. Keep in mind, there's a difference between un-cured LR and dead rock. Un-cured means there was something living on it at one time... this is what you want. most websites that advertise LR usually sells un-cured LR, or it will be un-cured once it gets to you.
 
lennon

lennon

Member
I guess I should go with uncured and deal with the smell..although someone said it smells only if you put your nose to the tank. Being that I am going to have a canopy..I don't think I have much to worry about.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
i had completely uncured LR, and i didn't notice a smell at all, ever. I'd agree to use the uncured to cycle a new tank.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
I used uncured rock in my tank. My tank is in my bedroom and the smell was sort of unpleasant for about 2-3 weeks. It wasn't nausiating, but it is definately a smell that I am glad that I don't have to have around anymore.
Uncured rock is 1/2 to 2/3rds cheaper than cured rock, and it contains material useful for feeding your initial cycle....so uncured is better economically and biologically for a new tank.
 
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