Live Rock must be "cured"

[hrdneglcry]

Hi. I am buying some Lie Fiji Rock. Somebody told me that it is not tank ready when it arrives. They said is must be "Completely cured" before it can be added to the tank. What does this mean, "cure"?

[charlesr1958]

Hopefully this link will be of use to you.

Live Rock / Sand

Chuck

[John Hamilton]

Have you used his live rock? If so, what are your impressions?

[hrdneglcry]

Here's the link for the auction where I won the rock. It is being sold as "cured". Another person who won a similar auction from the same seller told me that it was not fully cured, and that I could not put it right into my tank. The seller said I can put it right in. The seller also said I would need to buy a calcium supplement, and an Alkaline supplement. He recommended Kent A&B. He said the Purple Coraline Algae would die without the supplements. I read somewhere that the algae could grow with no help. Also I read that some of the better ocean salts have the stuff for the coraline algae already mixed in. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

[hrdneglcry]

OOOPs...here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

[John Hamilton]

What has been told to me is that you need to cure it regardless what a seller may say. When I got mine home all that I did was clean it REALLY good (it was full of mud) with some RO and put it in my tank to cycle along with it.

I don't think you need to buy the supplements, my purple algae is growing like crazy without it.

I have yet to see LR that has all the growth on it that is always shown in the pictures, but I have been doing this for less than a year.

[smidoid]

Shame about that mud John, it can be full of really useful bacteria.

[hrdneglcry]

OK. The rock is supposed to have some die off from ground shipping. If I have to scurb it off will I kill all of the purple coarline algae? I thought of setting up a 20 gallon salt tank just to cure the rock. I hear salt water enthusiasts often speak of protein skimmers, and I was told that they are useful for curing live rock. Has anybody here used Diatom filters? I love them. They polish the water, and do the jobs that no other filters can do. For example: When I get new crushed coral, I just dump it in the tank without rinsing it. Depending on the size of the tank the diatom filters make the water crystal clear within hours. That is good considering I have tried dumping the coral in without a Diatom filter, and a day, or two later the water was still cloudy. I think the Diatom Filter would help in the curing tank. Anybody else think so? My main concern is keeping the coraline algae alive. I can wait until the rock cures, but I'm afraid I am not going to know when that is.

[John Hamilton]

Shame about that mud John, it can be full of really useful bacteria.

You know, you are 100% correct and of course the person I got the rock from did not explain the benefits of the mud anytime while telling me to clean it off!

[John Hamilton]

OK. The rock is supposed to have some die off from ground shipping. If I have to scurb it off will I kill all of the purple coarline algae? I thought of setting up a 20 gallon salt tank just to cure the rock. I hear salt water enthusiasts often speak of protein skimmers, and I was told that they are useful for curing live rock. Has anybody here used Diatom filters? I love them. They polish the water, and do the jobs that no other filters can do. For example: When I get new crushed coral, I just dump it in the tank without rinsing it. Depending on the size of the tank the diatom filters make the water crystal clear within hours. That is good considering I have tried dumping the coral in without a Diatom filter, and a day, or two later the water was still cloudy. I think the Diatom Filter would help in the curing tank. Anybody else think so? My main concern is keeping the coraline algae alive. I can wait until the rock cures, but I'm afraid I am not going to know when that is.

Your algae, more than likely, will surrvive. I would not use the Diatom until after it cycles. That's just my opinion. As smidoid pointed out, you may remove beneficial organisms if you clean it.

[hrdneglcry]

So should I just put the rock right into my 120 where I want to put it? The seller said there would be some die off as it was shipped on Tuesday, and it will arrive tomorrow. I'd be more than happy to put the rock right into where it will permantly go. Should I not scrub it, or anything.

[smidoid]

So long as there's nothing in the tank other than salt water and a basecoat, I'd leave it as it is. VERY heavy soiling could be removed gently, but make sure you use tankwater, not freshwater or you'll probably kill a lot of beneficial stuff that comes with it.

I can only get cured LR round where I live which I think is a crying shame. Even though you can't see them, lots of stuff comes with the rocks - I've got tiny corals and filter feeding worms popping up out of mine all the time. Many are quite "shy" and you have to creep up and watch for them to appear.

A nice freshwater rinse would kill everything in sight leaving you with expensive rock: JUST ROCK!

[hrdneglcry]

Hey,
I already have the tank populated with fish. I will probably add the live rock tomorrow when it comes. Any cautions, or suggestions?

[smidoid]

Ummm. Didn't notice that. [D'oh!]

Do you have a QT by chance? Or somewhere else to cure the LR?

One problem of curing LR is that the nitrate (and in particular) ammonia/nitrite levels can rocket as an inevitable die-off occurs.

Perhaps worse is the fact that you might pick up some nasties - you can get these with cured LR too but these seem less likely. Uncured LR is basically straight out of the ocean so you get loads of goodies and a fair share of nasties: things like Mantis shrimps are not unheard of, but I'd be more worried about parasitic trophants which will not have had the time to die away as they most likey will during curing.

Part of the curing process is to put the rock away from "other" livestock so that parasites cannot find and attach to hosts and complete their life cycle.

[hrdneglcry]

Hi. I can set up a salt tank in a 20 gallon, but it is a bare bottom tank with no crushed coral. It is heated, and filtered, and I can put one of my Diatom filters in there as well. I have a light for it if I need to use it. The live rock was cured for 2 weeks before it was shipped to me, but I was told that it would need to be cured some more because of the week long shipping transit time. Can I put it into a 22 prepared salt tank with a bare bottom? Do I need to light the tank, or not? Please keep in mind that the rock was cured for two weeks, but it needs a little more curing time. If you could get back to me ASAP on the questions in blue it would be a great help because I am gettin the rock tomorrow. Thank you.

[smidoid]

I don't see that as a problem - the 20gal would class as a quarantine tank in this case and you SHOULD quarantine everthing - including weed, I'm told!

It'll be fine so long as the water is covering everything - if anything gets dry for long periods, particularly in a warm room, it will die off.

Light is a tricky one, but personally (and this is me, others might have a different view) I treat live rock as I would any other living creature. A lot of the life in LR is photo sensitive - even stuff you can't see with the naked eye - so for my money it's worth giving it a normal photoperiod either in front of a window or with a cheap tube. Doesn't need to be flashy or expensive for that short time.

Regular water changes are in order (gets rid of the poisons that decay will cause) and if you have the gear, a small powerhead (ideally near the surface) will help keep the water moving - and help keep any filter-feeders alive.