cured or uncured

[ded08221]

currently i have a 55g fish only tank. i would like to upgrade to a reef but that isn't going to happen until around sept. i want to add about 45 more pounds or rock(i like the look of live rock) i was curious if i'm able to maybe buy some uncured live rock and save a few dollars. would it affect my fish as i waited for the rock to cure in the tank? if i can do this am i able to add it in at one time or should i do it in increments? i'm new to all this so if you could explain in detail that would be great. thanks

 

[Meloco14]

Just about all live rock, whether labeled cured or uncured, needs to be cured once you buy it. So you really don't need to pay attention to what websites or stores say about cured versus uncured. Once you get your live rock, no matter what type it is, you need to cure it. The reason for this is that during shipping some of the life starts to die off. As organisms die, they give off toxic ammonia and nitrite. The curing process allows this natural die off to occur safely in a controlled environment. So to answer one of your questions, no, you cannot cure your live rock in an existing tank that already has fish in it. The toxins from die off will kill your fish. But this problem is easily solved. If you have an extra tank lying around, you can use it to cure your rock. If not, go buy a brand new rubbermaid or similar plastic trash can. You can get one for as cheap as like $8 or something. Fill it with saltwater, heat it to about 80 degrees, and throw a small powerhead in there for circulation. You don't need to light it. Leave your rocks in there for about 3-6 weeks. Monitor your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels a couple times a week. You will notice a spike in all 3 levels, this is normal. It will eventually go down to 0. Once all three read 0, wait a couple more days, then your rock can be added to your tank. During this process you should make water changes a couple times a week also. If you search this forum for "curing live rock" you'll probably find plenty or more info on it. Also check out this article http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... cleid=2833
hope this helps

 

[ChrisRD]

If you can find cured rock locally and transport it home wet (ie. in buckets) you won't see any significant spikes and it won't need much curing if any.

If you have the rock shipped, then you'll need to recure it as mentioned above because of shipping die-off. Keep in mind, however, if you buy transhipped rock vs. buying cured rock from an online vendor you're going to have a LOT more die-off on the transhipped stuff. That stuff is out of water for days - maybe more than a week, vs. just being out of water overnight in the case of the precured stuff.

Another possible benefit with a vendor who cures large quantities of rock - transhipped rock that has had lots of die-off can actually get reseeded with all the life living in these large curing systems. Things that may not always survive the long shipping/import process.

In other words, IMO there IS a difference between transhipped and rock that's cured by a good vendor. If cured rock from a quality place, you may get a better end product than buying it transhipped and have a lot less work to do to cure it.

Also, on the lighting-during-curing thing...there's sorta two schools of thought. One is to go with no light so as to keep algae blooms from being a problem during curing. The other is to control nutrients through heavy protein skimming and water changes and leave the lights on so as to preserve any photosynthetic hitchhikers they may have survived the trip. I guess a happy medium might be a reduced photoperiod.

As always, JMO/JME...