Is my Marco rock curing?

[reefheath]

Hi all,
I was wondering if my Marco rock that I have is actually curing or not. I read alot of the other posts on curing Marco rock, but mine isn't happening like everyone elses. Here's what I did and what's happening:

took 20 lbs of rock and thoroughly scrubbed them all individually with a sterile scrub brush (took a while) in de-chlorinated tap water. Let it dry out a few days after scrubbing the dirt and some algae/organics off. Place in 24g nano (new saltwater) with a heater, h.o.t. magnum running carbon, and two pawerheads for circulation.

Here's the possible problem: Mine isn't stinking the house up like alot of peoples rock did, it isn't clouding the water or anything else. I have two very small pieces of LR in there with it. Less than 2 lbs. I have nitrites (3 per quick test strips) and nitrates (30 or so as per quick test strips). I assume it's working, but did my scrubbing have that good of an effect on the outcome? Any advice or suggestions to speed it up are greatly apprecited. BTW it has been in there for 5 days.
Thanks!

 

[ricwilli]

I am currently curing marco rocks and I didn't bother cleaning it before curing it. I did get the bad horrible smell within the two hours of me putting in the rocks in the water. Why are you running carbon? The carbon will definatly clog up within hours. You will have to change it constantly. I suggest removing it and just run the pump and heater. I'm on my third week now and I've been doing a 100% water change every week.

 

[lancer99]

I think each batch of Marco rocks is different. My experience was similar to yours...rinsed off the rock, added a bit of LR, did two 50% water changes, and it was cycled in about 10 days. Smelled a bit but never got really stinky.

-R

 

[sw1tched]

I have about 30-40 lbs in a 5 gallon bucket (its plum full) with a powerhead. smelled nasty for about 2 weeks. I did 100% water changes once every 5 days or so. watched the ammonia spike hard & has since leveled off at 0. Im on week 4 & Im planning on puttin it in my sump this weekend.
-Joe

 

[reefheath]

Well, I'm running carbon for the smell. The HOT Magnum is nowhere near clogged up...I had hardly any stuff at all floating around when i put the rock in...so i'm not thinking there is much "gunk" in there. Could the carbe truly be that effective at keeping the smell down. Keep in mind, I'm using many ounces in that filter. It's similar to a hang on canister. I was thinking about using my bio wheel filter from my 10 QT but my question is, would that be counter productive for populating bacteria on the new rocks?

 

[reefheath]

oh, while i'm thinking about it. I've got it in 24 gallons of water. I only took out about 2-3 gallons when I put all of the rock in. Could my water to rock ratio keep it from smelling?
Thanks to all who replied...i appreciate your info!

 

[sw1tched]

the carbon will eat up the smell & the ammount of water to rock would help as well. If you pull the rocks out, they would probably smell, but in the water, you probably woudlnt notice it. I have more rock than water in a 5 gallon bucket, but Im just re-curing the rock. It was in a salt water tank a couple months ago...

 

[reefheath]

gotcha, i had alot of suspicions...but couldn't confirm myself. Thanks for the advice...I'm just ready for it to cycle so I can add it to my tank and start building some more things and hiding places. I'm probably gonna add a bacteria additive...that should speed things up some! Dont' get me wrong, I'm patient with stocking the tank (only 4 fish in a 95 gallon) ...but i want the rock quick.