New Tank Live Rock Cured or Uncured?

[Old Glory]

Hi I will be setting up a 90 gallon FOWLR and will be adding 60lbs of dry rock as a base and 50 lbs or so of live rock.

What are the pros and cons of using cured/uncured live rock? Will be using it to cycle the tank.

Is it better to get uncured so you get more life forms or is cured better to avoid pests?

My thoughts were a mix of both from different areas to get a good mix of bacterias and other critters...but I am really only guessing this would be good.

Thanks!

OG

[Reefing Madness]

The bacteria will grow wether its Lace Rock or Live Rock-uncured. Live rock fully cured allows for a much shorter cycle time for the tank. But, with the amount your adding to the tank, it will still go through a cycle. the Live Rock carries with it a wide array of bacteria and hitch hickers to your tank, some good some bad.
Benefits of Live Rock - Live Rock is Your Best Choice When Setting Up a Saltwater Fish Aquarium
I would use 10-20lbs of Live Rock and the rest Lace Rock
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/g...ral_pagesid=31

[leebca]

The benefits and uses of LR are given in this post: What is Live Rock, Anyway?

Biological filtration will take place on any provided surface inside the aquarium system. So the type of decorations or rock won't matter so much for this filtration. However, LR provides others benefits noted in the above post -- but it isn't necessary at all as long as you'll provide sufficient biological filtration.

Regarding the cured/uncured question. . .It depends. It depends on what state the LR is in and how much decay is present or amount of die-off that will likely occur. If it is minimal, I would do it in the system from the start and not spend the time curing it. If you spend the time curing it outside the system the time is still spent. But if the curing is substantial, best not to put it into the aquarium and do it outside, just so your system isn't 'overdosed' with decay and die-off.

I went over some of the concerns you might have regarding unwanted lifeforms in this post to someone else's recent inquiry. You should read this too: Adding Live Rock to old aquarium This post gives good details on the pros and cons of just dropping LR into your system, even though your system isn't up and running yet.

If you will be curing it yourself outside of the system, I would prefer the most uncured to get the most lifeforms and the greatest/highest level of 'living' rock. But, this is just my personal preference, since I'm patient enough to eliminate the unwated lifeforms. 25-40 years ago, before fuel prices went over the top, I imported living rock, in water, and quarantined it to sort out the unwanted life forms. Not practical today but WOW! what life forms there were in that.

Just a general note, have you read through this post? Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

Good luck!

[Old Glory]

Hi thanks for the awesome info. I did read through that post and printed it out as a reference. I am planning on using about 100lbs of "rock"...50-60 dry and 50-60 "live". I think I will go with cured to avoid the mess and potential hazardous critters.