What's better?
- Thread starter lougotzz
- Start date
You might be in for a big surprise how much die off there is loaded up in that rock. If it is anything like my situation, even the water movement in the sump starts producing skimmate and you may battle high phosphates/algae or cyano for an extended time. I will not do that again, but your rock may be cleaner than mine?
if its a brand new tank with nothing in and the rock is the first thing to go in then how about just putting the uncured rock right in the tank-that will definitely get the cycle going-thats what i would do-keep all the life u can in that rock-maybe it goes against the rules but ive done it
Search Craigslist and your local forums and look for someone tearing a tank down and buy their established rock. If you search for long enough you can find quality established rock for close to the same price you'd buy base rock.
There are lots of people getting out of the hobby with the bad economy so there are definitely deals out there.
There are lots of people getting out of the hobby with the bad economy so there are definitely deals out there.
lancer99
New member
Unfortunately, live rock that has been in someone's tank for a long time is probably lacking in bio-diversity. I would agree with lmh11706, especially if you plan on using a DSB.
-R
lougotzz
New member
Is there a link to show the exact steps to this? Also, when buying uncured over the Internet, does it need to be over nighted?
Lancer how do you figure? I would take live rock from someones established tank that was tearing down any day before starting from scratch with base rock.
Too many times have I seen people fight with high po4 levels because of how much was bound up in the base rock, then comes algea problems and fighting high nutrient levels from the get go... If you want diversity get healthy rock from someone and add a few lbs of fresh live rock from an lfs.
Lou, it really depends on the rock but imo its a gamble how much dead stuff you have to eventually skim off and let the bacteria build up enough to handle what could possibly be leeching nutrients into your tank for some period of time.
Too many times have I seen people fight with high po4 levels because of how much was bound up in the base rock, then comes algea problems and fighting high nutrient levels from the get go... If you want diversity get healthy rock from someone and add a few lbs of fresh live rock from an lfs.
Lou, it really depends on the rock but imo its a gamble how much dead stuff you have to eventually skim off and let the bacteria build up enough to handle what could possibly be leeching nutrients into your tank for some period of time.
lancer99
New member
DGee, I'm not quite sure what you're saying here. The OP wasn't asking about base rock, rather LR. If you meant uncured LR, of course you're going to going to have PO4!
No need to have it overnighted...it has usually sat either dry or under a spray of saltwater.
I can't find a link, but the basic in-tank procedure is this:
1. After adding the rock, use as much water circulation and skimming as you can. It's also helpful to use a powerhead to blow off detritus from the rocks, daily.
2. Once ammonia levels are near zero (nitrite levels are irrelevant), do a 100% water change, or as much as you can.
3. Enjoy!
-R
ludnix
New member
I'm not aware of any specific guides for curing live rock but I'm sure there's some on here.
When I started my tank I ordered 200lbs of uncured fiji live rock from my LFS. By getting it uncured I was able to get it for $2.22 per lb compared to the usual $4.99.
Mine was packed from the whole seller the LFS did not put it in their tanks at all. Here's a picture of it in the box.
Rock in tank before scrubbing.
I originally hadn't read that you were supposed to scrub the rock of any decaying matter so I just threw it all in the tank. Later I ended up removing each piece and giving it a good scrub and replacing it. This helped remove some of that large chunks of dead matter accelerating the process.
I had ordered more rock than I wanted so I could cherry pick the pieces to keep. The excess rocks were sold back to my LFS when they were all cured. Trading in the rock as cured live rock gave me enough credit to negate the price of the excess rock but I was able to get rid of the ugly pieces.
Once my cycle was complete I started seeing a lot of life popping out of the rocks. I never got any big hitchhikers like crabs or an octopus but I certainly got the usual share of pods, stomatellas, stars and bristleworms.
When I started my tank I ordered 200lbs of uncured fiji live rock from my LFS. By getting it uncured I was able to get it for $2.22 per lb compared to the usual $4.99.
Mine was packed from the whole seller the LFS did not put it in their tanks at all. Here's a picture of it in the box.
Rock in tank before scrubbing.
I originally hadn't read that you were supposed to scrub the rock of any decaying matter so I just threw it all in the tank. Later I ended up removing each piece and giving it a good scrub and replacing it. This helped remove some of that large chunks of dead matter accelerating the process.
I had ordered more rock than I wanted so I could cherry pick the pieces to keep. The excess rocks were sold back to my LFS when they were all cured. Trading in the rock as cured live rock gave me enough credit to negate the price of the excess rock but I was able to get rid of the ugly pieces.
Once my cycle was complete I started seeing a lot of life popping out of the rocks. I never got any big hitchhikers like crabs or an octopus but I certainly got the usual share of pods, stomatellas, stars and bristleworms.
lancer99
New member
Tswifty
New member
Seriously... go dry rock. Like BRS Eco Rock or Marco Rock... save yourself the headache of all the pests and nuisances that can hitchike in.
I'll never start with "wet" rock again... cured or uncured. I've gone through too many issues that friends of mine never even had to mess with. Plus, dry rock is so much cheaper.
Good luck.
I'll never start with "wet" rock again... cured or uncured. I've gone through too many issues that friends of mine never even had to mess with. Plus, dry rock is so much cheaper.
Good luck.
lancer99
New member
Well,...I dunno.
I've set up 16 tanks with uncured, semi-cured, and completely cured live rock.
And one with dry rock.
The one with dry rock was the only one that ever got a cyano outbreak.
-R
D' kingfisher
New member
I'll go with the uncured or dry rock..save you some money for equipment..
lougotzz
New member
So what I can second day uncured rock than?
I set up my last tank with dry rock I didnt really like it.
So as im to understand it, uncured rock is basically cheaper, with the hope that life has lived on it and its up to me to get rid of any death, where as cured rock, this is all done, and all the life on the rock is what made it from uncured rock?
Now theres a chance there will still be a lot of life on the uncured rock right?
I set up my last tank with dry rock I didnt really like it.
So as im to understand it, uncured rock is basically cheaper, with the hope that life has lived on it and its up to me to get rid of any death, where as cured rock, this is all done, and all the life on the rock is what made it from uncured rock?
Now theres a chance there will still be a lot of life on the uncured rock right?
