How bad is the smell...Curing Live rocks

[Gtot]

rate from 1-10

10 being the foulest smell you ever smelled

how bad can it get..i want to get some live rocks and i want to cure it myself..i want to know how bad can it get

what does it smells like

dead? rotten? fish?

 

[krullulon]

it depends on how much rock you're curing and how much die-off there is.

it doesn't smell like rotten fish so much as just stuff that's dying. have you ever smelled really nasty skimmate from a protein skimmer? it smells a bit like that...

i cured ~120lbs in my tank in the living room, and my house smelled like crap for about a week and then gradually improved. i'd say it was a 5 on your 1-10 scale -- way worse than a cat's litter box, but not as bad as a dead cat under your sofa.

 

[Anonymous]

From the smell of ocean breeze (nice LR from a local reefer who is taking the tank down) to rotten smell of a person't mouth with decomposing gum and white puss ozing out...

 

[SpicyBalls]

i've cured up to 30 lbs at a time, smell isn't that bad... hardly notice it.. i'd say a 3 for more rock, i'd increase it..
_________________
Ferrari Mondial

 

[hillbilly]

If you remove dead and dying sponges and corals at the start of your curing process, and use a good skimmer, you may not notice much smell at all.

 

[Bojangles]

I live on the west coast and I think it smells alot like low tide on a hot day to a slightly lesser degree. I actually liked the smell in my room with my 80 lbs. It wasn't like completely fowl, just like evaporating sea water.

I've had ex-girlfriends with worse smelling morning breathe LOL 8O

 

[tazdevil]

way worse than a cat's litter box, but not as bad as a dead cat under your sofa.

I don't want to know about the second part. When I cured mine, I had a 20+ on the stench-o-meter, until I found the one piece of live rock with a dead chicken liver sponge on it, those things give off the most foulest stench.

 

[pcragg]

I've done it twice,
The first time was uncured fresh fiji. It didn't smell at all, and was fully cured after two weeks. There was an amazing amount of hitchhikers on the rock. I give it a 0.

The second time was not so fresh uncured Tonga. It took about six weeks to cure. And weren't so many hitchhikers on the rock. The first two weeks the WHOLE house smelled like a swamp. I give it a seven. The incredible Tonga rock shapes made it worthwhile though.

Do everything you can to get the freshest rock possible.

 

[Gtot]

well...the LFS i got to is selling cured rocks for 7.99-8.99 a lbs. do you think im better of buying what he has on his display or get bulk rocks?

 

[Anonymous]

Check out the quality of his "cured rock" by looking at it, smell it, etc. If it is worth $8-$9 a pound, go for it.

However, often time "cured rock" has such a fast turn over that it is not fully cured at all. Furthermore, if you do the curing correctly, I am sure you will have much better rock for lower price, and learn something to brag about.... just my 2 cents.

 

[iphy]

Ages ago when I setup my first reef, I cured the rock myself. Got a box of fiji LR (50lbs) wrapped in wet newspaper. I got an old toothbrush and stood at the sink for hours scrubbing all the dead crap off it, then dumped it in the tank, did some aquascaping, set the skimmer for high, and waited. I don't remember any smell at all. Well, the skimmate stank; but it always does. I had a ton of cool hitchhikers grow out of that rock. I think the experience was really cool.

The only thing I worry about, now that I am older and more experienced in the hobby, is where does all this uncured LR come from? I am betting it's not from environmentally friendly sources. I just moved into a bigger tank, and all my additional LR came from other folks' tanks. But, if I were starting new, what would be the responsible way to get LR?