I've heard alot of conflicting stories on this website about curing live rock...........Looking at this from a scientific point of view, the bacteria which grows both inside and outside of the live rock does not need light to grow the coralline algae does need light and should be provided with such throughout the curing process, R/O is uneeded also......The best and easiest method is to leave your rock in a warm, dimmly lit place...You can use the crappiest salt on the market (ViaAqua lol)....The only thing that you can do to shorten cycling time is to frequently change the water (100% water changes if possible). A protein skimmer is also helpful in the curing process and helps to control the smell from dieoff..
Curing Live Rock
- Thread starter acrocrazy
- Start date
WorldNation
New member
coralline will, so will a lot of the others.
*looks at his curing rock* yuppers. brown and bare as can be ;p
*looks at his curing rock* yuppers. brown and bare as can be ;p
ive been doing this for over ten years...and i work at an aquarium..own my own maintanence company and am good friends with alot of the people you look up to in this hobby such as Scott Michael and Julian Sprung...from my own experience and those of my colleagues...this is the best way to go..you can read it in our upcoming book Aquarium Macroalgaes...ill send YOU a free copy
It can start from any of a number of things..one possible reason for algae being introduced into a "bare" aquarium is..and this is a theory..which will take alot more research...but in the slime coat of fish their May be spores from a mother plant...this is still being researched...another reason maybe water quality...if nitrates and nitrites are forund in any aquarium...algae can grow...for example i have a few holding tanks at my shop which have never had live rock...but algae still blooms...ive also had lr in tanks and algae never blooms..
the curing time could be from anywhere from 2 weeks to a month..however long it takes for the ammonia to dissapate..once again frequent 100% water changes will greatly reduce the curing time...also after the rock is cured in my vats i dose with calcium and run mh's preferably 11000k for 13 hours a day
Sindjin
New member
IMO, there is a difference between CURING and CYCLING.
CYCLED Live Rock simply refers to the N cycle... CURED Live Rock is live rock that is done shedding dead, decaying material. The CURING process takes a lot longer. 6-12 weeks depending on the rock. It not only sheds externally but internally as well.
In a lighted environment, the shedding process takes even longer due to the algal systems. In a dark environment (cooking), it speeds up the process because algae is not an issue.
CYCLED Live Rock simply refers to the N cycle... CURED Live Rock is live rock that is done shedding dead, decaying material. The CURING process takes a lot longer. 6-12 weeks depending on the rock. It not only sheds externally but internally as well.
In a lighted environment, the shedding process takes even longer due to the algal systems. In a dark environment (cooking), it speeds up the process because algae is not an issue.
