Curing LR and help with ID

[MrX1oo1]

Just bought 22 lbs of fiji LR i plan on curing it in my 24gallon nano since its not set up yet. My question is should i scrub it before i put in the tank, scrub it in the tank, scrub it in SW outside of the tank? not quite sure on that one. oh and what should i scrub off of the rocks? like everything dead i can see or just a light brush over to remove loose dead things.

As for IDing i have a few things i was curious about a few things on my new LR heres a few pics the ID is after this one

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_0350.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

Not sure what the brain looking thing is or the small coral looking structure is. im sure its coral but not sure what kind, also will it come back alive later?

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_0352.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

The next four pics are kinda hard to see so i took a few. im not sure what this spikey looking thing is. kinda looks like an anemone or a urchin or something, just hoping its not aptasia.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_0354.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_0357.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_0360.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_0361.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

[MrX1oo1]

bump

[ReefEnabler]

I'm not sure you should scrub it at all actually, except maybe in areas with excessive die off. You might be better of just squirting the rock with a baster, or just swivelling it with your wrist very quickly to shake off all the major stuff, and just let the curing process take care of the rest.

the cleaning part should be done in a seperate SW container. there will be enough dead material on the rock itself to provide food.

I've read from a few authors that scrubbing the whole rock can remove some of the beneficial life.

[xxpipedreamxx]

I have never scrubbed rock. It will be fine as is, in the tank. As for ID's, the "brain looking thing" appears to be a sponge. The rest, I can not tell from blury photos.

[kzickovich]

looks like aptasia yes get rid of it or it will infest your tank

[rustybucket145]

Id's

Dead coral, dead coral, something neat, dead coral....


You buy live rock for the LIVE stuff on it. That looks absolutely nothing like aptasia.

Put the rock in your tank and quit over-analyzing it :D DO NOT SCRUB IT!!! It will then be DEAD rock, you could have saved yourself a bunch of money and just bought DEAD rock.

BTW, that rock doesn't look very live to me....

[chk4tix]

If it was live rock, I dont think leaving it out on a towel to take pictures helps any of the "live" left in it. However I am over cautious about these things. The sponge looks nice, but I dont think they are suppose to be exposed to air.

[Ruskin]

If you're curing it in a brand new system just toss it in without the scrubing. I would get it in the tank and then try to take some better pictures of what you are curious about. I dont think you can say that that is Aiptasia without a better photo. I would think if it was it would be all closed up on itself seeing as it is out of water in those pics. If it is decided it is Aiptasia after a pic or two, you know where it is and can rid it pretty quickly.

[sohal1025]

I agree also JUST PUT IT IN ALREADY!!!!!!

[rustybucket145]

YEAH!! Do It!!! :D

[Ruskin]

so is it wrong to say... is it in yet? ;)

[killagoby]

Try to keep it moist whatever you do. You don't want the stuff dying!

[MrX1oo1]

yeah chill out already people dang it was on that towel for a whole two minutes. thanks for the info though for those of you that work helpful and not criticizing.

[aquarius77]

Personally, i would not cure rock in a tank i intend to use as my reef, it is a really nasty process, smells real bad... I would scrub everything i could off of the rock, i would do it every few days and do water changes along with it in a cure bucket or tank.
Most of the junk on/in there is either dead already or you dont want any part of it in your reef tank. All that black crap you see is death and needs to come off.

[uscharalph]

I'd put it in the tank without scrubbing it. Then while you're still in your cycle, you could scrub it , in saltwater out of the tank, if it starts getting nasty, otherwise just let it cycle.

[jamiep]

Put it in your tank, after a week give it a good blow over with your powerhead. I wouldnt worry about you hitchhickers

[ReefEnabler]

"so is it wrong to say... is it in yet? "

ROFL.

I understand why some people might want to cure LR seperately to roost out unwanted hitchhikers, but I will use the display myself. I don't think it really limits your ability to remove hitchhikers much, especially if you don't aquascape until everything is cured or partially cured; it will give you a chance to go over each rock again. Starting the aquascaping about a week into the cycle sounds good to me. I'll just do it in parts, so that I don't disturb too much nastyness at any one time, and I'll probably be done aquascaping right about when the cycle is done :)

[MrX1oo1]

but from the picture does the live rock look like its dead or has little live ness to it? I bought it from Drs foster and smith so it should have been good stuff. It actually came that way, it had very little wet newspaper on it. I had it out of the box for maybe two minutes tops. right now im emailing their site just to make sure i didnt get screwed. thanks again guys and gals

[MattG]

Your rock looks just fine. It could have a little more coralline algae on it but that will come with time. Leaving your rock out of the tank for 2 minutes or even an hour isn't going to have a significant impact on the life that is on the rock. Don't forget that this stuff is NOT typically shipped in water from the collection site. Its exposed to air for days.

I can't make out what you wanted an ID of. It's definitely not aiptasia though. Just relax and let the tank cycle.

[MrX1oo1]

heres a better pic of the spikey guy

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/mrx1oo1/IMG_1214.jpg

[Roger928]

A quick sw rinse, then into the tank. Monitor ammonia, etc.. do water changes as needed. Do run the skimmer.

[MrX1oo1]

bump