Cured vs Uncured Live Rock
- Thread starter slugmore
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sedor
New member
Uncured rock basically means it was pulled from the ocean, probably sat on a barge or something for a while and when then transferred from a warehouse and out to you.
Cured rock has generally been sitting in your LFS for a month or so in tanks with flow and adequate temperature.
The difference is that uncured rock will have a lot of die off when you introduce it to water. If introduced to an established tank (which you should never do) it will create quite the ammonia mess pretty quickly. You should for safety measures always cure LR in a rubbermaid tub or something similar even if you bought it from your LFS (either that or add it very slowly)
I had a tank crash once because I was breaking down a small biocube that had about 15 lbs of LR in it. It had some aiptasia and nuissance algae on it so I figured I would just unplug the system and let it sit for a week before I added it to me new tank. BIG NOOB MISTAKE! The lack of flow and heat essentially turned my rock back into uncured rock and when I added it to my new tank it started a cycle and I lost almost everything.
Cured rock has generally been sitting in your LFS for a month or so in tanks with flow and adequate temperature.
The difference is that uncured rock will have a lot of die off when you introduce it to water. If introduced to an established tank (which you should never do) it will create quite the ammonia mess pretty quickly. You should for safety measures always cure LR in a rubbermaid tub or something similar even if you bought it from your LFS (either that or add it very slowly)
I had a tank crash once because I was breaking down a small biocube that had about 15 lbs of LR in it. It had some aiptasia and nuissance algae on it so I figured I would just unplug the system and let it sit for a week before I added it to me new tank. BIG NOOB MISTAKE! The lack of flow and heat essentially turned my rock back into uncured rock and when I added it to my new tank it started a cycle and I lost almost everything.
Hi,
I can not speak for other companies, because I am unsure of how they handle their rock. All of our rock is purchased direct through the collector's of that particular region. We purchase in very large qty's, on a weekly basis, and do not buy any rock out of any of the Los Angeles wholesale facilities that has been sitting around.
Our rock is pulled from the water, boxed, crated, and shipped via air freight to the states. Once the rock clears customs it is then forwarded via the airlines on to Indianapolis. We then unpack and tank every bit of rock we receive in our large holding pools. The time from the ocean to our pools is right at about 48hrs. We have approximately 5,000gal's of water within our rock holding system that contains very vigorous water flow and surface agitation, large commercial size protein skimmer, constant kalk drip, and 400w metal halide lighting to ensure that we maximize the amount of life on the rock.
When a fresh batch comes in we consider this being uncured. The uncured rock generally has more dieoff of plant life, sponge life, and other macro fauna that do not the 48hr trip from the ocean to our pools. During the first week most of the dead / decaying life is mostly gone, and generally by 1.5 - 2 weeks out from arrival that fresh batch is completely cured and ready to go into a system.
As a side note, we have had thousands of customers over the years who have purchased our uncured rock and have hardly seen a cycle within their tank. This is not to say that you would have the exact same experiences, but I can tell you that when the rock is handled properly and cared for like it's an actual living organism it really does make a huge difference.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Jeremy
I can not speak for other companies, because I am unsure of how they handle their rock. All of our rock is purchased direct through the collector's of that particular region. We purchase in very large qty's, on a weekly basis, and do not buy any rock out of any of the Los Angeles wholesale facilities that has been sitting around.
Our rock is pulled from the water, boxed, crated, and shipped via air freight to the states. Once the rock clears customs it is then forwarded via the airlines on to Indianapolis. We then unpack and tank every bit of rock we receive in our large holding pools. The time from the ocean to our pools is right at about 48hrs. We have approximately 5,000gal's of water within our rock holding system that contains very vigorous water flow and surface agitation, large commercial size protein skimmer, constant kalk drip, and 400w metal halide lighting to ensure that we maximize the amount of life on the rock.
When a fresh batch comes in we consider this being uncured. The uncured rock generally has more dieoff of plant life, sponge life, and other macro fauna that do not the 48hr trip from the ocean to our pools. During the first week most of the dead / decaying life is mostly gone, and generally by 1.5 - 2 weeks out from arrival that fresh batch is completely cured and ready to go into a system.
As a side note, we have had thousands of customers over the years who have purchased our uncured rock and have hardly seen a cycle within their tank. This is not to say that you would have the exact same experiences, but I can tell you that when the rock is handled properly and cared for like it's an actual living organism it really does make a huge difference.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Jeremy
