Cured or uncured?

[Zante]

I am setting up a 150 US gallon reef.

I have everything ready to add the live rock.

My friend at the LFS has suggested getting uncured rock: cheaper, more life but will stink for a while. I need two crates, so the LFS would be able to do a very good price as it is what they call "in and out".

Tempted, mostly due to the "more life" part, but I have no experience of curing, I am pretty much a noob for reef in general.

What do you suggest?

[alexander_ktn]

When you are setting up a new tank you can use the uncured live rock without a problem.

I only use uncured live rock and have gotten quite a few corals that way as well as other nice hitchhikers like porcelain crabs etc.

You can of course also get some unwanted stuff, but that's the same with cured live rock and usually can be dealt with.

[thegrun]

+1, there is some risk of getting unwanted hitchhikers but the pluses outweigh the minuses.

[NeilFox]

Go for the uncured. Don't worry about ammonia levels in the same way as you normally would. The rock will get pretty nasty. Change the water a few times, initially after the first trhree or four days. You will not compromise the nitrogen cycle since the rock is carrying it. Siphon as much dead stuff out as you can. Do this and you will have some first class rock. Keep your eyes peeled for unwanted hitchhikers at this stage. Now is the time to get rid of them. The tank will most likely be cycled in about a month. Once your nitrite drops to zero you can add some hardy creatures. Expect the rock to continue to "cure" though (maybe for three or four months). Alot of detritus will form in pores of the rock as a result of the decomposition proccess. A turkey baster will be your best friend at this point. Don't worry, this won't affect water quality too much and you will be way ahead of using dry rock at this stage. Just try to get as much detritus out of the system as you can now.

One of the reasons I mention this is, although I hate BB tanks. Now is not the time to add sand. Wait till everything is fairly clear before adding your sand or you will create a phosphate trap nightmares are made of.

This is the only way to cycle a tank for long term use unless you are going with a Zeovit system or something similiar. The reason being is that you will have a biological system that includes all the zones in the rock, this will even help with nitrate. You will have a very stable and forgiving base to work with.

Hope this is helpful.

Neil