Marco Rocks

[monti1]

I just added water and salt to what is going to be the begining to my new reef. I was thinking about using Marco Rocks for the majority of the rock in my reef. I know most people cure the rocks in a seperate container. With nothing being in my tank other than sand and water could I cure them in my tank? Thank you for any input


- Rick

 

[RicGio]

Sure...you could cure them in your tank. My Marco rocks kinda stunk though. I let them soak overnight in a brute trash can of RO/DI water first...that got rid of the majority of the stank.

 

[tentacles]

If there is no livestock in the tank it will be fine. The marco rock won't shed much if anything, but depending in the live rock, you may have to clean or just remove some of the sand.

 

[tgbaby1]

i have just started to cycle my marco rock in my tank and it does smell. i would do like RicGio said and put it in a container with a lid for a couple of days so it doesnt stink up your whole place.

 

[RicGio]

My Marco rock has been curing for 4 weeks...had a major ammonia spike...at this point nitrites are about 1 and dropping. Should be ready in another week or two.

 

[daven]

Same as RicGio. 180g tank with only Marco Rock and dry sand. Been going for about 4 weeks. Nitrates at 10. I didn't cure or soak, just straight into tank.

 

[bj32482]

mix with one part water and one part vinegar for about a day... then rinse really well and you should be fine

 

[Hop]

Interesting responses here.

It is best to cook them and expect them to leach po4 for about 4 months to a year.

 

[RicGio]

Is that based on personal experience, Hop? How bad did it leech?

 

[Hop]

Yes... I used 405lbs and my neighbor just used 100lbs with 20lbs of live rock from my tank. I'm not sure if I can measure it other than to say it was still better than buying all new live rock I had a few issues here and there but I don't have the equipment to accurately measure po4. Otherwise it is just information that I attained from searching the web and various sites from people who have the proper equipment to measure po4 in our situations(as you know our test kits are not the best for accurately measuring po4 as a great portion is taken up in algaes). Seems that it is the norm for them to leach for about that amount of time.