Curing Live Rock help

[Bojangles]

Can you cure live rock in fresh water? I mean will it demolish the bacteria? The rock is going to go to an already established tank and I dont want to have any problems with my fish getting paracites or anything. Further I dont want too many, or would to choose my hitchhikers, because I am unable to identify pest from friend and do not have a digital camera yet.

Any suggestion for methods? Please help thank you

 

[Bojangles]

I've heard of people DIPPING their LR into fresh so that many of the mobile hitch hikers flee from the rock to be collected seperately and sorted to s/w tanks. Any truth to this beyond mantis shrimp? Will the fresh kill the algae?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Can you cure live rock in fresh water?

NO.


I mean will it demolish the bacteria?
NO

The rock is going to go to an already established tank and I dont want to have any problems with my fish getting paracites or anything. Further I dont want too many, or would to choose my hitchhikers, because I am unable to identify pest from friend and do not have a digital camera yet.

Any suggestion for methods? Please help thank you

hold on.

 

[Anonymous]

I've heard of people DIPPING their LR into fresh so that many of the mobile hitch hikers flee from the rock to be collected seperately and sorted to s/w tanks. Any truth to this beyond mantis shrimp? Will the fresh kill the algae?

Thanks

the fresh dip is a total waste IMO. all that you will end up doing is taking alot of the life out of it.

do you have this tank running that will house this rock?

 

[Bojangles]

The tank is running, however it is not a full reef yet. It contains 5 asst damsels and a coral beauty and a few mushrooms.

I know I can expect pretty much anything to come on the uncured LR (that I'm getting in 2 days expected), but most of it is going to die even if I put it into s/w wont it? Right now I'm only running 2 stock 36" florescents w/ actnic coral growth bulbs and 1 48" 96w day lamp.

I didn't figure alot of the life on the rock that I am getting would survive with these low wat lights even if I tried... or?

 

[ricky1414]

The tank is running, however it is not a full reef yet. It contains 5 asst damsels and a coral beautyand a few mushrooms.

I know I can expect pretty much anything to come on the uncured LR (that I'm getting in 2 days expected)

If you add uncured LR to your tank, you will KILL the fish and the mushrooms that you currently have in your tank right now. IMO

 

[Baianotang]

LOL, no.

 

[Anonymous]

i agree that adding that rock straight to the tank is a bad idea.

put it in a rubbermaid container and allow it to cure.
use lots of flow and lots of skimming and lots of water changes.

most of the beneficial LR inhabitants don't require light directly. keep it in the dark if you must but definately cure it outside of your tank. and make sure wherever you do it that it will stay fairly warm.

 

[Bojangles]

Guys I'm not curing it inside my tank. I have 5 32 gallon rubbermaid trashcans that I used to move my 200g across the room. Which I was planning on using to cure the rock that I'm getting. Everyone just cures their rock differently.

Will most of the growing things die in the curing time (2-5 weeks) if it doesn't have light? What really does that leave besides crustacean, good and bad.

If I dip or cure the LR in freshwater what can I expect to get out of it?

 

[Len]

Do not cure live rock in freshwater. The guys are right; it will kill nearly everything on the rock if it's cured in FW. I also do not find utility in FW dips as the osmotic shock will not only drive out or kill the denizens you are looking to rid, but also a lot of other inverts that you want. The only time I'd do a FW dip or club soda spray is when I absolutely need to drive out something like a mantis shrimp, and I'd only do it on select rocks, not all rocks.

I'd do as Podman suggests: set up a rubbermaid with saltwater of correct salinity and temperature and cure the rock in there. over the course of 3-4 weeks. Make sure you have a lot of circulation in the curing container.

You don't need light during the curing process but some people use a fluorescent or two.

 

[Bojangles]

What I'm getting is that the "curing" process is to let everything that has already died in the shipping process rot away, while trying to preserve what is still alive. Then when I finally put it into my tank I will have to sort through the hitchhikers and eliminate the ones that I dont want and trust my cleaner animals do their job?

 

[Bojangles]

I guess right now I'm debating whether to buy $6.99/lb Marshall cured LR (on special normally $8.99) OR buying Haitian LR at $119/60lbs which ends up being about 3.92 /lb after curing and a months wait.

Worth it to buy uncured or go with the LFS stuff?

 

[Len]

You're correct: the trick is balancing getting rid of the rare nasties while keeping all the great stuff that we buy live rock for. FW will unfortunately kill most everything, good or bad. That's why everyone here advises against it.

Over the month being cured in SW, listen for clicking; Mantis shrimps are one of the most dreaded critters to catch and rid (from personal experience). One way to drive crustaceans down is during the last few days, lower the water level in the rubbermaid and use a spray bar to spray down on the rocks from above. Cruscataceans and such will migrate down naturally.

 

[Anonymous]

Most pet stores and online shops will also sell cured rocks. Just be sure to check their curing methods before you get into a mess.

 

[Anonymous]

personally, i prefer an uncured rock. why buy what has already been through the wringer? and at a higher price too.

 

[Anonymous]

holly crap I just became a squat!!!!!

HAHAHHA

Beers for every.......ummm me!!

 

[Bojangles]

Well what I was going to do is buy some Lr from E-Tropicals.com. Its an uncured rock on special a tad cheaper than their normal price. I was just trying to cover all the bases before I bought it...debating whether to buy more cured rock or go with some uncured rock in hopes of adding more life. However the conflict was whether I will get good rock or whether I'll just get undesirable rock that they cant sell as "show" pieces (what the LFS said would happen).

How is the life when you get the rocks, colorful, good life ect? Do you just get a bunch of small 2lb pieces or one 30lb piece that you cant really do anything with?

 

[Anonymous]

Well what I was going to do is buy some Lr from E-Tropicals.com. Its an uncured rock on special a tad cheaper than their normal price. I was just trying to cover all the bases before I bought it...debating whether to buy more cured rock or go with some uncured rock in hopes of adding more life. However the conflict was whether I will get good rock or whether I'll just get undesirable rock that they cant sell as "show" pieces (what the LFS said would happen).

How is the life when you get the rocks, colorful, good life ect? Do you just get a bunch of small 2lb pieces or one 30lb piece that you cant really do anything with?

although i have not bought from etropicals the size will vary. i don't think they give it much thought. any fishstore that saves the cruddy stuff for online sales will not sell much online.
generally, a 30 pound piece would be considered a 'show' piece. i would expect most peices to be in the 6 to 8 pound size.
i think your LFS just wants your sale.

 

[krullulon]

agreed i'd rather start out with a 30lb piece than 15 2 pounders.

i think a good way to go is to try and get a few large showpieces that form your base and then some smaller pieces that you can use to fill-out whatever shaping you want.

 

[Bojangles]

So are you guys saying that I should buy a few show pieces from the LFS and then buy a box of random stuff online to fill the space? I was kinda thinking of hand picking a whole bunch of tonga branch to go with the show pieces to kinda make it look cool.