Curing live rock without salt
- Thread starter Gtt1988
- Start date
MattFrancis
New member
If everything was already dead, what would you be curing? Lol, you'd be giving the rocks a bath basically. It won't hurt to run the rocks in freshwater to get any dust/debris out of them before putting them in your tank. But remember, curing is so all the dead organisms die off and won't create an ammonia spike in your tank, if everythings dead on the rock, there's nothing to cure.
Hope that helped,
matt
mike_cmu04
New member
You will have to use saltwater to properly cure the liverock
Tahoe Reefer
New member
If the rock was dried with bio matter on it I would assume fresh water would facilitate the decomposition of the dead bio materials however, the balance of bacteria and algae required to "cure" the rock for your reef will only take place in salt water.
returnofsid
New member
I don't think you understand the process of curing rock.
All the dead material, will decompose, in saltwater OR freshwater. The process of curing is in building up a biological population that will "eat" ammonia, converting it to nitrites, and then further converting nitrites to nitrates. As the dead material decomposes, it produces ammonia.
Cleaning the rock, with freshwater, will help in removing most of the dead material, but there will still be LOTS of decaying matter, in and on the rock. Once you add it to a saltwater tank, it'll usually create a cycle. Curing the rock, before hand, will populate the rock with the beneficial bacteria, that will consume ammonia. However, the curing process will require saltwater.
salty joe
Active member
I have some nice rock that sat in putrid salt water for quite awhile. I soaked it in RO/DI water and after a week it was foul. I have changed the water 5 or 6 times, probably once a month or so, now I can barely smell a stank if I take the lid off the Brute and stick my nose right up to the water. I'll change it a few more times before using the rock. I don't view this so much as cooking or curing but as a means to rehab rock that's gone bad. The quick way is with acid and or bleach, but since I'm in no hurry I just used water.
Of course I'll have to take my sweet time adding livestock as the bacterial population ramps up on the rock.
Of course I'll have to take my sweet time adding livestock as the bacterial population ramps up on the rock.
jimmy frag
New member
soak the rock in any water with a power head would be fine. after a week or so rinse the rock. as far as bacteria coming back alive, no going to happen. you mush add bacteria from another sourse to re colonize the rock
elegance coral
They call me EC
The rocks will have dried organic matter in/on them. You won't be able to remove it, simply by rinsing them off. You will need to dissolve the organic matter. The easiest way, I know of, is to soak them in a bleach/water bath for about 24 hours. Then rinse them well and soak in a dechlorinator bath. Then rinse a couple more times and make sure all bleach smell is gone. This will take a couple of days. You can use microbes to dissolve the organic matter away, but it will take weeks, if not months. After the organic matter is gone, you can soak them in muriatic acid/water to dissolve a thin layer of the surfaces of the rock itself. This will remove the phosphate contained on the rock surface. This will greatly reduce algae problems after the tank is up and running.
I have a similar situation. I have about 10 lbs of live rock that has been drying out for about 3 months. I am upgrading my 75 to a 150 and want to add the 10lbs of "dead" live rock. I have about 100+lbs in the 75. Would it hurt or start a cycle with it only being 10lbs to add to the upgrade when i transfer everything over or would i need to cure it in a separate container? Sorry not trying to hijack the thread just have a similar question.
samstersam
New member
Mike thats the thing. It isn't liverock anymore. Its dead rock.
I wouldn't waste salt mix on a dead rock. I'd put the dead rock in freshwater (RO or RO/DI though, not tap) with a powerhead. I'd leave it in for a day, drain, end put new water in for a few days, while daily draining the dirty water with new, while swishing it around getting rid of dead organics.
Next, I'd purchase some live rock and put the dead rock in together in a rubbermaid (with the appropriate salinity of course) and while curing the live rock, youd be catalysing the dead rock to become live.
OwenInAZ
New member
The funny thing is, you could put brand new sand and completely dead rock (washed thoroughly and subsequently dried out in the sun all summer in Phoenix for example), with completely freshly mixed saltwater and STILL get the bacteria you need to start your cycle. Trust me on this one 
Birdmanbrian
New member
Cycle tank in 6 days...
Cycle tank in 6 days...
You can use Bacteria In a Bottle to cycle any tank in approximately just six days, check this out for details:reading :reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPxExG-FbvI&feature=player_embedded
Cycle tank in 6 days...
You can use Bacteria In a Bottle to cycle any tank in approximately just six days, check this out for details:reading :reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPxExG-FbvI&feature=player_embedded
Chris27
New member
Back to the OPost.....you say cure the rock. If you in fact want to cure it for use in a new tank, it's best done in SW. If you want to break up and dissolve the organic matter prior to curing, then FW is just fine.
At any rate, if you intend on putting cured live rock in a SW tank, it's best just to cure the rock in bins with SW, a heater, powerhead and skimmer for at least 4 weeks. That way any organic matter left in the nooks and crannies is broken down and run through the nitrogen cycle leaving you with a nice strong bio-filter. At that point, you can toss them in a new tank resulting in little to no cycle.....which means....the tank will be ready for livestock almost immediatly after the rock is in.
A few large rubbermaids from Wallmart, filtered water, and a bag of salt won't cost much, and it's pennies on the dollar cheaper then purchasing live rock at $10/lb from the get go.
At any rate, if you intend on putting cured live rock in a SW tank, it's best just to cure the rock in bins with SW, a heater, powerhead and skimmer for at least 4 weeks. That way any organic matter left in the nooks and crannies is broken down and run through the nitrogen cycle leaving you with a nice strong bio-filter. At that point, you can toss them in a new tank resulting in little to no cycle.....which means....the tank will be ready for livestock almost immediatly after the rock is in.
A few large rubbermaids from Wallmart, filtered water, and a bag of salt won't cost much, and it's pennies on the dollar cheaper then purchasing live rock at $10/lb from the get go.
I did what Chris indicated with my rock that went through an 8.0 ppm Ammonia cycle and death. I had the rocks cure in saltwater wiht powerhead and heater HOB skimmer on one tank, and no skimmer in the tub.... The rock in the tank cycled 1 week earlier than the rock in the tub. I attribute that discrepancy to sand being in the tank and now sand being in the tub.
In all the process took 4-5 weeks. I moved the rock to my now 125g tank, where I allowed it to continue curing for another 3 weeks before moving livestock over. The rock has come to life with sponge, aiptasia, and lots of fan worms. It never had aiptasia (not sure where that came from), but, was alive with fanworms and all kinds of stuff before. Now there's stuff coming out of it everywhere... It did go through a massive algae cycle which I attribute to the decaying matter. If I were to do it all over again, I would have given it a muratic acid bath while it was curing to kill the phosphates in the rock.
But, other than that minor detail, it's doing awesome. approximately 5-6 months after the original crash.
In all the process took 4-5 weeks. I moved the rock to my now 125g tank, where I allowed it to continue curing for another 3 weeks before moving livestock over. The rock has come to life with sponge, aiptasia, and lots of fan worms. It never had aiptasia (not sure where that came from), but, was alive with fanworms and all kinds of stuff before. Now there's stuff coming out of it everywhere... It did go through a massive algae cycle which I attribute to the decaying matter. If I were to do it all over again, I would have given it a muratic acid bath while it was curing to kill the phosphates in the rock.
But, other than that minor detail, it's doing awesome. approximately 5-6 months after the original crash.
