Curing cement for DIY live rocks--pH issues.

[FireViper]

There are a lot of great posts regarding curing DIY rocks. Some suggest curing them dry, others wet. We opted for putting our DIY rocks into a 10 gallon aquarium with a heater and a power head. After a few days, no more crud is coming off the rocks and the water is crystal clear. The rocks have been in the tank for a couple weeks now. . . .

Here's the issue. Curing cement drives up the pH of the water and allegedly when, after lots of water changes, it remains below 8 it should be okay for the next step. Unfortunately, our tap water has a pH of 9.3, both self tested and per our water districts website. Using our tap water, the pH will never get below 9.3.

Any thoughts on how to know when our rocks might be ready?

Thanks!

 

[FireViper]

and another beginner question. Will adding the gunk from the skimmer, when the rocks have the right pH, help the rock develop into live rock?

 

[OldReefGuy]

you should cure your rock in RO/DI water. Its going to take you forever now to get rid of that phosphate thats leached into your rock. What cement did you use BTW? and I wouldnt add any gunk from the skimmer into your main tank...but a small piece of LR from LFS/fellow reefer and eventually, all the rock will become live.

 

[FireViper]

portland type II plus crushed aragonite and sand. . . .

 

[DougSupreme]

definitely RO water near the end

 

[Daddi0]

I have heard of people putting cement items in the toilet tank to leach. Every time you flush, the item gets fresh water.
Cheers! Mark