live rock curing process?

[adicus]

I purchased the Walt Smith Premium because it is not a fully curred rock. The last nano tank I set up was plagued with unwanted creatures - the usual suspects. I have moved up to a larger tank and would like to start out with NO unwanted creatures.

I am considering an option to the curing process which I think might further kill them off. I am considering mixing the salt with tap (untreated in any way) water. It will contain a little chlorine and any other additives that my local water company chooses to add. Then I will add some concentrated Iodine and flatworm exit to the mix. The small amount of chlorine in tap water should dissipate by the end of the first day, hopefully cleansing during that first day.

Cook it for a week - Drain and rinse thoroughly refill with RO/DI Salt water and cook it for another two weeks.

Will there be any BAD side effects of this process? I will be inserting the rock once cured into a new tank with only live sand.

Any feed back would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think so, your plan sounds pretty straightforward. Main question in my mind is how one manages to keep all the goodies that come on uncured rock while eliminating the baddies. I took the bad with the good, mostly worked out fairly well, 'cept for that one mantis shrimp.

 

[Len]

I purchased the Walt Smith Premium because it is not a fully curred rock. The last nano tank I set up was plagued with unwanted creatures - the usual suspects. I have moved up to a larger tank and would like to start out with NO unwanted creatures.

I am considering an option to the curing process which I think might further kill them off. I am considering mixing the salt with tap (untreated in any way) water. It will contain a little chlorine and any other additives that my local water company chooses to add. Then I will add some concentrated Iodine and flatworm exit to the mix. The small amount of chlorine in tap water should dissipate by the end of the first day, hopefully cleansing during that first day.

Cook it for a week - Drain and rinse thoroughly refill with RO/DI Salt water and cook it for another two weeks.

Will there be any BAD side effects of this process? I will be inserting the rock once cured into a new tank with only live sand.

Any feed back would be appreciated.

:welcome:

What pests did you get on your live rock? Most of the pests we see aren't imported via live rocks (though I haven't seen Walt's rock in a while). There's a higher likelihood pests were introduced with fish and corals.

Using tap instead of RO will unlikely help you kill anything as the chlorine levels aren't very high (has to be safe for human consumption). I would just use RO/DI water.

Iodine poisoning also scares me a bit. I know iodine dissipates pretty fast in saltwater, but I really don't know what kind of long term effects it will have.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Most of my pests came in post liverock introduction. I think they came from lfs!

 

[sdbarton42]

ew! that sucks about them coming fom the lfs!!!!!

how do you prevent that?

 

[Anonymous]

It's called "quarantine". Everyone should do it.

 

[namor]

I would not cure the rock with tap/saltwater Tap water usually has some phosphate along with floride and clorimine, Just cure it as you normally would then inspect the rock for potential bad critters, Years ago I got a mantis shrimp in with some rock I bought, I had it curing in a bin and started hearing the click click of the mantis, I took each rock one by one and poured some club soda water in the rock, the club soda stunned the mantis and I picked him right out.

 

[Len]

ew! that sucks about them coming fom the lfs!!!!!

how do you prevent that?

For fish and crustaceans/snails, quarantine for a few weeks.

For corals, I dip everything extensively. I use Flatworm Exit, Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure, and TLF ReVive for my dips. I also inspect the coral for any hitchhikers.

For clams, I add a freshwater dip. I also inspect the clam and scrub off what I can from the mantle.

It's a shame, but there are a lot of pests in this hobby now. Be careful what you add.

 

[jmeader]

In my mind, the purpose of buying live rock is to get as much life, also known as biodiversity, to survive in the system I'm providing for them. I kill as little as possible and quarantine for a very extended period of time with no fish, shrimp, coral, or any other form of hosting systems present. When I first pull it out of the box, all I do is a quick clean in saltwater, then into a large container with a sponge filter. What I do next depends on the level of curing the rock has already been through. The ammonia levels over the next few days will tell me that.

 

[adicus]

ew! that sucks about them coming fom the lfs!!!!!

how do you prevent that?

For fish and crustaceans/snails, quarantine for a few weeks.

For corals, I dip everything extensively. I use Flatworm Exit, Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure, and TLF ReVive for my dips. I also inspect the coral for any hitchhikers.

For clams, I add a freshwater dip. I also inspect the clam and scrub off what I can from the mantle.

It's a shame, but there are a lot of pests in this hobby now. Be careful what you add.

Len: Thanks for the advice. I still have a couple of questions.
In using the dips you listed - How long do you leave them in the dip mixture?

And secondly I would love to have a clam in my new tank, but I read an article that under certain conditions they "go sexual" and polute the whole tank and can kill everyting in it. Can you confirm or deny that statement? THANKS!!

 

[Anonymous]

In my mind, the purpose of buying live rock is to get as much life, also known as biodiversity, to survive in the system I'm providing for them. I kill as little as possible and quarantine for a very extended period of time with no fish, shrimp, coral, or any other form of hosting systems present. When I first pull it out of the box, all I do is a quick clean in saltwater, then into a large container with a sponge filter. What I do next depends on the level of curing the rock has already been through. The ammonia levels over the next few days will tell me that.

Pretty much how I (used to) do things, and in line with my own reasoning as well.

Adicus, consider a clam.