I have some pukani dry rock that is in a bleach bath right now. I plan to cure it for at least 4 more weeks after the bleach bath. After the rock is cured, can I let it dry so I can aquascape it? Isn't some bacteria going to grow on the rock during the curing process? Will letting it dry kill that bacteria again?
Curing LR
- Thread starter eb_reef
- Start date
mcgyvr
New member
Yes you will need to cycle the rock if you let it dry out and all the bacteria dies..
The curing you are doing now since you have pukani should be all about getting the bound phosphate out of that rock.. Its notorious for that..
You really don't want that process to happen in your tank..
So you are curing now to remove or at the very least check for phosphate (monitor phosphate/run GFO or lanthanum chloride,etc... to remove it/water changes,etc...) Once you are sure that there is no phosphate then you can start your aquascaping.. Then start the cycle on the tank to get that bacteria going/colonizing..
If you just plan on stacking rock (thats all I've ever done) then you can do that in a tank of saltwater and not worry about your bacterial population dying..
But if you do aquascape the faster you do it the damper it will stay.. the more bacterial will remain.. the shorter the cycle after can be..
