Is my live rock cured?

[readingbabelfish]

Hi, I bought some basic live rock and it has been in the container curing for over a week... I have been monitoring it and the ammonia is at 0 but nitrites are at .08 ppm. I have done 2 partial water changes so far. Is it safe to move to my show tank? I figured since the ammonia is gone there is no more die-off to be had so it can be moved. Let me know what you all think. Thanks

[Bloodydecks]

from your info, i would say it is safe to move. The nitrites are the bi-product of the Ammonia, and as long as the Ammonia is Zero...you should be good to go.

One other thing i like to do with cured rock, is to smell it. Dead stinks..if the rock has a dead smell, then there is still some curing to be done.

[readingbabelfish]

Ok, that's what I thought too. Thank you much!

[leebca]

If nitrites are detectable, then the rock has not established enough of the right kinds of bacteria to process the poisonous nitrites to harmless nitrates. Do not use the rock until the water, before any water change show any detectable ammonia or nitrite UNLESS the tank it is going into contains nothing more than live rock (no inverts and no fishes).

[readingbabelfish]

And why does the rock need this bacteria if the display tank already has that bacteria? i don't understand, I thought that the curing of live rock was to get rid of any die off that had occurred in shipping? Why won't the rock form this bacteria in the display tank? What would happen if i did put the rock in the display tank now, with no die off, it wouldn't foul the water would it?

[Bloodydecks]

Redingbablefish, I agree with you The nitrites are the waste of the Nitrosomonas bacteria...if there is no longer any ammonia, then there in no longer any orgaic die off.....so I don't follow how moving this rock into your tank will negatively effect the water, especially since your other tank is already cycled through the nitrogen cycle.



Maybe Leebca knows something I don't (wouldn't be the first time lol) I look forward to his reply, as I am interested in learning something I may not have known of.

[leebca]

If you measure nitrites, then the rock is still releasing ammonia and converting it to nitrite properly. Yet the rock can't handle the nitrites yet. How does anyone know that the rock in the aquarium now can handle that amount of nitrite being produced? We don't because we can't measure it the amount of nitrites being produced, only the amount of nitrite in the current cure tank.

But we know the new live rock can handle the nitrites if the current readings show no nitrites. No risk here.