Curing Pukani

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

So I went with BRS Pukani for live rock, and then found on here that its tough to cure, and that most suggest acid washing it. I did not listen, and I put 45# in a 20 gallon brute and its been curing for 2 weeks now. I have done 2 100% water changes, and scrubbed the pukani during both water changes. Just tested again and I have NH3 = 4 NO3 = 0 NO2 = 0. That is about half the NH3 I had before the first 100% water change. Is there anything I can do at this point to move this process along, or am I just going to be stuck in a several month long cure? ie can I use biospira or something to get the cycle in this brute to go somewhere? I know patience is key, but is it really supposed to have 0 change after 2 weeks, I thought I was supposed to be about half way home already

 

[NedFlounders]

I have the same rock. I used muriatic acid and water from the garden hose. I don't recall the ratio, but most say 10:1. It cleaned it in record time. I've had no problems whatsoever with the rock since putting it in the tank.

Note: If you use this method, it is not to be taken lightly. Use a mask, goggles, protective clothing, and have PLENTY of OUTDOOR space.

 

[homer1475]

Just did this for my 80. My method consisted of soaking the rock in plain RO/DI and using lanthanum chloride to rid the rock of phosphates, this took about 2 weeks. The smell was horrible with all the dead organics in the pukani. Then another month in SW to cure.

 

[jgraz]

Cleaning it and curing it are 2 different things.

Acid washing with muriatic acid or vinegar will just strip a thin layer of the rock away for the purpose of removing any organics that may or may not be present. regardless of whether you do this or not you will need to then cure the rock.

In your case you skipped the acid wash and went right to the cure. this is fine but you will still need something to assist the cycle or it will be a long waiting game. WC's at this point might be counterproductive if you are waiting for the cycle to complete. They will however help to remove any phosphates that may be leaching from the rock......if any. Each WC right now is removing some of the Ammonia that is needed to feed the next part of the cycle, thus lengthening the time it will take.

My suggestion, let it be and find a small piece of Live Rock from a fellow reefer or LFS that you can use to introduce the necessary bacteria to feed the remaining parts of the cycle. There are also Additives you can buy, Dr. Tims comes to mind, that will instantly cycle the tank. I have never used them so I can't really comment on them. Good luck

 

[Dmorty217]

I have the same rock. I used muriatic acid and water from the garden hose. I don't recall the ratio, but most say 10:1. It cleaned it in record time. I've had no problems whatsoever with the rock since putting it in the tank.

Note: If you use this method, it is not to be taken lightly. Use a mask, goggles, protective clothing, and have PLENTY of OUTDOOR space.

+1 if you're worried about phosphates leaching back into the tank for a few months then this is your best option

 

[infpalex]

Just did this for my 80. My method consisted of soaking the rock in plain RO/DI and using lanthanum chloride to rid the rock of phosphates, this took about 2 weeks. The smell was horrible with all the dead organics in the pukani. Then another month in SW to cure.

+1

This is what I did to clean mine too and haven't had any problems. To cure mine I did use one of those bottles of bacteria, and it only took a couple weeks.

On a different tank I skipped the lanthanum chloride step with the same rocks and had some terrible phosphate problems, so I am so glad I did that this time. The rock itself is just gorgeous, there is NOTHING like it out there. It's so porous and light, and you can make some just awesome shapes out of it. So even with the trouble, it's totally worth it!

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

Is the phosphate issue so bad it cant be overcome with gfo? I would assume that if it I would be best fish only until the phosphate issue dissipates? I keep hearing conflicting thoughts on whether to add bacteria during or after the cure. I will quit doing water changes now that the smell in my basement is tolerable and just top off. I did watch a video where a guy said using a pump with a venturi helped get the cycle moving so i threw my skimmers pump in last night. I bought dry rock to not bring any hitchhikers, so adding live rock seems sort of counter intuitive. I know my NH3 is reading somewhere between 4 and 8 so I assume this is still plenty feed a nitrogen cycle.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

I need a way to test PO4 my rocks are definitely turning green in this brute. Since I have no NO2 or NO3 I have to assume its PO4 feeding it?

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

PO4 was .25, after further reading the green color is the start of coralline algae it seems? So I went ahead and threw a bottle of bio spira in there to kick off the cycle. Maybe next weekend I will be cycling a tank?

 

[CStrickland]

Id be surprised to see coraline growing in the dark
Phos leaching is a known issue with Pukani, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's so much easier to cook out the phos now while you're curing the rock. Check out some of the threads on lanthanum chloride if you don't want to acid bath it.

 

[Volcmreefer]

Following this guys. I will be giving my pukani an acid bath this weekend. Going to run a 10:1 ratio. How long should I let it sit before adding baking soda to neutralize?

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

So if I use lc in a 20 gallon brute how much do I use? I have to do 100% water changes using salt water each time? Is there a typical number of times this needs to be performed?

 

[CStrickland]

LC makes the phos precipitate out of the water as grit. You can suck that out with a gravel vac or run a filter to catch it. There's probably a big thread in the chemistry subforum with instructions for dosing etc. This might be a good place to start http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2049855 You'll want a good phos test too. It takes as long as it takes, it'll be done when it stops leaching. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. But still, better than having the phos released into your tank. IMO for dealing with pukani, phos removal is waay more important than curing off the dead stuff / ammonia and growing bacteria. That's awfully hard to screw up.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

well I guess I will just let this keep cycling, and pick up a hanna checker, and some SeaKlear Phospate Remover, and precipitate as much PO4 out of it as I can before I put it in the DT. At the moment I am wishing I had gone a different way with my rock.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

I think what it comes down is the muriatic acid step should not be skipped. I have NO2 and NO3 now but my NH3 has not changed. Ive added two doses of phosbuster pro, and PO4 hasnt changed either. FML this rock is just filled with dead matter. I now have added my 2 mp10s to the brute to try and get this water moving over this rock more to hopefully encourage some kind of change.

 

[mbemount]

It took me around 2 months or so with my first batch of pukani when I was doing LC only before it stopped leaching phosphates. I went the acid route with my pukani in my most recent tank.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

Within 48 hours of adding the MP10s to the Brute my NH3 was down to 0. Something tells me its not a coincidence.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

So I am a bit confused. My Nitrite is not 0, but its less than .05, its been steadily dropping the last several days, but my Nitrate peaked about a week ago and seems to have gotten a little since then. I have not performed any water changes. My understanding is that the cure is complete when Nitrate stops rising, so am I done? Should I do like a 50% water change and see what phosphate and nitrate do after a water change?

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

I went ahead and performed a 50% water change at the end of 4 weeks. Within 24 hours NO3 and PO4 were both back to the same level as prior to the water change. I figure I will let it sit for 2 weeks and repeat.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

So it has now been a little over 6 weeks. I performed a 50% water change at the end of week 6, NO3 was still somewhere between 10 to 20 ppm after so I performed another 25% water change 2 days later which appears to have knocked it back to somewhere between 5 to 10 ppm. Considering going to the hardware store and getting a different container that I can put my protein skimmer in with this rock because this stuff is is just a nutrient sink. I think its going to make a beautiful aquascape if I can ever get it to a state where it will not just feed nuisance alga. At the very least I will continue doing 25% water changes weekly in the hopes that sometime in the next month or so it will actually be cured.