[xrobbx03]

DAY 1

Ok well i finally recieved my 25LB LR shipment after 5 days of tranist. If it wasnt for the free shipping i wouldve have denied the shipment. To my suprise i thought there would be almost nothing left to the rock but there was actually, it smelled bad but not as much as i expected it to. So as soon as i got my rock i brushed off all the dead stuff and rinsed them in saltwater. I put the rock into a 10 gallon spare tank with a powerhead, heater, and a small aquaclear hang on back filter since i dont have an extra protein skimmer to put in there. The water in the tank was at around 76-78 Degrees. I also am going to be doing a light schedule of about 6 hours a day. I dont want to over to it because i dont want any unwanted algea but also i heard light can speed up the process.

I will be posting step by step how i am curing the rock please feel free to let me know if I am doing anything wrong since this is my first attempt at curing LR. Im basing my process off of ways i read online and on this forum.

[xrobbx03]

DAY 2

I tested the water the second day and heres what i got for readings.

Temperature 78 Degrees
PH 8.0
Salinity 1.020
Ammonia 7.5 ppm
Nitrite 0.1 ppm
Nitrate 0.1ppm

Seems to me that the Ammonia spike has happened already. Am i Right?

[BubbaWPB]

Well, the ammonia spike is in progress.... you'll have to wait to see if it's reached it maximum yet... no way to tell until it starts coming down.

[Ninong]

A couple of points:

(1) The only reason for light is to preserve any potential photosynthetic animals (corals, etc.) or macroalgae that arrived alive on the surface of the live rock. In your case, probably little or none.

(2) An ammonia reading of 7.5 ppm is extremely high. This could be the result of the relatively small volume of water you are using to cure your live rock.

Even though it is not usually recommended to do water changes until after the ammonia spike comes down, because your ammonia reading is so high, I think you should do a 50% water change now. This will not really affect your curing process. The problem is that ammonia that high could kill off a lot of goodies that you don't want to die. I don't like to see ammonia above 3 ppm when curing live rock.

It's obvious from your readings that there is a lot of die off going on in your live rock right now.

P.S. -- The ammonia spike is not over until it has fallen back down to undetectable with typical hobby test kits and the nitrite numbers have risen. After the nitrite peaks and begins to fall, the nitrate will rise. Once the nitrate begins to fall you're on your way home.

[xrobbx03]

should i be testing levels everyday or like every other day or so

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by xrobbx03

should i be testing levels everyday or like every other day or so

It really depends on the circumstances. Usually you would test maybe just every third or fourth day when curing uncured live rock because it could take four to six weeks to fully cure it. In your case, I don't know. Maybe test every day until you see some movement in the right direction -- meaning the ammonia is coming down and the nitrite is rising.

[showfish]

I would agree with Ninong, do a water change to get that ammonia level down some. Not much life is going to survive at 7.5 ppm.

[xrobbx03]

ok i will be doing a water change on it

[xrobbx03]

some1 suggested using bacteria that the LFS sells to speed up the process. They said it would speed it up by like 25% so instead of it take around 6 weeks tocure it will only take 4-5. Will this work?

[xrobbx03]

DAY 3

Well i did a 50% water change of the water today and tested the water heres my new readings.

Nitrite 0.0ppm
Nitrate 0.0ppm
Ammonia Between 5.0ppm - 7.5ppm
PH 8.0
Temp 79 Degrees
Gravity 1.020

The Ammonia seemed to go down a tiny bit but not much as much as I thought i would after a water change. Looks like this is going to take a long time to cure this LR.

[Reefland]

I would do another change of 50%. Additionally, your salinity is on the low side, I would raise it to at least 1.023.

[xrobbx03]

how long should i wait to do another water change? Should i go ahead and do it tomorrow?

[BubbaWPB]

Originally Posted by xrobbx03

some1 suggested using bacteria that the LFS sells to speed up the process. They said it would speed it up by like 25% so instead of it take around 6 weeks tocure it will only take 4-5. Will this work?

It may speed up the process a bit, but it is sure to help speed up the emptying of your wallet into the hands of the LFS owners. Not necessary unless you've boiled all your rocks first (or killed all the bacteria some other way - like with antibiotics). There are plenty of bacteria on them already.

Impatience will cause heartache (and wallet ache) when dealing with a reef tank... take it easy. Relax. (I keep telling myself that, anyway - I've had plenty of disasters caused by impatience.)

Bubba

[Reefland]

With the ammonia still that high I would do another water change tomorrow.

[charlie]

Is there anyway you could get that rock into a larger container, something like a 30 gallon brute garbage can? It would give you a little more water volume to work with for one. Do you know anybody that has an extra skimmer? Heck, a seaclone would even help you.

[Reefland]

Ah shucks, I didn't realize all this was in a 10 gallon. There can't be much water in there! I think at the least getting a Rubbermaid container from Wal-Mart would be helpful. Gonna need more than a few gallons of water in there.

[xrobbx03]

but would it be possible to do it in the 10 gallon tank? I really dont have the room to do that. Plus the heater i have is a clamp on back not a sumersible so that means thats more money i would have to spend. I dont wanna be spending all this money to cure my rock.

[Reefland]

How much water do you estimate is actually in the tank? I would think you would at leat want 20 gallons worth of water. Much less than that and the ammonia is going to go through the roof with no dilution.

[xrobbx03]

with the rock in there theres probably 8 or 9

[Reefland]

In a 10 gallon tank? I would guess it is more like 3 or 4 having 25lbs of rock in a tank that small. Either way, even with 8-9 gallons more water would help your cause. If you can't do that, go with aggressive water changes daily. At least until you can get the ammonia substantially lower.