how to tell if live rock is cured?

[CoralBeautyII]

Ive been curing live rock now for a week. At first the water smelled, not that bad, kinda a strong earthy smell.
So i did a 90% water change the other day. Now the water has no smell at all, it smells pretty clean, however the ammonia test is still showing a reading of around 2ppm
but im not sure if the reading is correct since i used prime to condition the water..and wouldnt prime give a false ammonia reading because prime converts ammonia to non toxic leves?
im not sure if i should go with my nose or go with the reading?

 

[CnLHolman01]

If prime converts ammonia to non toxic levels, I would assume that you reading would be lower, than actual, not higher. I would also assume that with a 90% water change you removed most of the prime in the tank. I would wait till you get a 0ppm on that ammonia.

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13965474#post13965474 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CnLHolman01
If prime converts ammonia to non toxic levels, I would assume that you reading would be lower, than actual, not higher. I would also assume that with a 90% water change you removed most of the prime in the tank. I would wait till you get a 0ppm on that ammonia.

yeah but with the 90% water change came more prime, i had to condition the tap water of course. im not gonna waste RO on a curing process its not necessary.
The rock isnt in my tank, its in a rubbermaid, heated and aerated in the dark for curing

I will do another water change with a standard dechlorinator and see if i still get an ammonia reading

 

[crvz]

Well, if you have bad source water you could be binding something up in the rock. In general I guess tap is ok just for curing the rock, but are you running these rocks in a separate system than the display?

Rock will take quite a while to cure, I'd go by nitrite and ammonia readings well before your nose.

 

[Mariner]

how to tell if live rock is cured?

Sounds like the opening line of a joke. Possible comebacks could be...
1) Take it's temperature.
2) Cured? I didn't know it was even sick!

Ok, sorry

Seriously, I think it'll take a good bit more than a week to fully cure live rock. And I'd definitely trust the tests more than the nose.
FWIW,
Mariner

 

[CoralBeautyII]

The rock is 22 lbs of fiji premium from liveaquaria, they say on their site most of their rock cures within 1-3 weeks. I had it shipped overnight and the rock was still pretty moist upon arrival. There are only four large pieces of rock.

The rock is going into my established 220 gallon. I just wanted some extra rock to build up one side of the tank. So 22 lbs into 220 gallons

 

[WaterKeeper]

Have you ever tested your tap water? If so, did it have ammonia in it? Sometimes a slight excess of ammonia is added in areas where they use chloramine for disinfection. You might consider doing the next change using RO/DI formulated salt mix and rechecking ammonia. If it is showing close to zero wait three days and recheck. If it is still zero you can probably add it to your tank without problems.

 

[norgemorir]

Is there any benefit in a case like this to do a water change on the 220 and use the water pulled out of the display on the curing rock? then use the fresh ro+saltwater on the display like normal... or does that slow the curing process and skew something?

 

[CoralBeautyII]

I tested my tap water, no ammonia but there are nitrates 15ppm

I thought of using my tanks water for curing but the problem is the rocks are curing in my 220's water change bucket, 40g gray brute trash can ( i know i called it a rubbermaid but its not)

 

[nikon187]

looks like its time for another rubbermaid container I now have a total of 9 25G rubbermaids and i always seem to fill them with something..

 

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13966945#post13966945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nikon187
looks like its time for another rubbermaid container I now have a total of 9 25G rubbermaids and i always seem to fill them with something..

yeah i think your right :lol:

 

[Mikepl84]

i'm setting up my a 300 gallon tank. i'm curing with rodi and salt 1.025. have been curing my rocks for 3 weeks now. i'm testing my amonia at o and phosphate at .oo3 with the hanna checker. would u guys say my rock is cured. i also power washed them and gave them a bleach bath before starting the cure proccess about 3 weeks ago

 

[Lsufan]

Prime will only stay around for 24 to 48 hrs, so I don’t think it would throw the test off after a couple days. I’m not positive, but I don’t think prime would give a false reading on the ammonia test. The ammonia is still there, it just turns it into a non toxic form for 24 or so hrs. When ammonia & nitrite are zero the rock is cured with enough bacteria to convert ammonia & nitrite. Once it is at that point I would test for po4 to see if it is leaching po4. If it is I would go ahead & treat for it before putting it into the dt.

I would use rodi to cure the rock. The cleaner the rock the better. By curing it in tap water it is basically the same as getting liverock from someone else that u know has a tank loaded with no3, po4 & whatever else is in your tap. So I wouldn’t say u would be wasting rodi by using it to cure the rock. To me that is part of the curing process. Not only cycling the rock but cleaning the rock of po4 or whatever else & u can’t do that with most tap water.

 

[mcgyvr]

i'm setting up my a 300 gallon tank. i'm curing with rodi and salt 1.025. have been curing my rocks for 3 weeks now. i'm testing my amonia at o and phosphate at .oo3 with the hanna checker. would u guys say my rock is cured. i also power washed them and gave them a bleach bath before starting the cure proccess about 3 weeks ago

Yes your rock is likely cured..

 

[Rover88]

OOPS. Zombie thread. Hahaha