Curing Rock and how much?

[Calappidae]

I'm setting up my 125g real soon. Normally I get my rock from the LFS pre-cured, but for the ammount I need it's alot cheaper to get it online. How exactly do you "cure" live rock? I've been researching with lots of mixed answers so I'd like to hear what you guys got to say. Does sand need cured also?

Also is 90lbs. enough for a 125? I know the rule of thumb is 1.25 pounds per gallon but like most rule of thumbs it's questionable. I'd still like 125 lbs. but I also would like alot of swimming and crawling space as well.

[Waddleboy]

To cure the rocks you need to put all the rocks in heated salt water at the correct specific gravity and i like to add a protein skimmer to it. You then let them sit and go through the cycling process. Usually ever 3-4 days or faster depending how funky it is getting, I will do a 30% water change on the container and let it go. I also test every other day till i see ammonia really starting to take off and then i test every day till the cycle is complete. Then I will transfer it to my main tank

also depends on the rocks you get. Live vs dry and each have their advantages and disadvantages.
Live rock comes pre cured so least amount of die off and can have lots of cool living things. Sometimes you can get corals or feather dusters. Also the rocks looks more real with coraline so the tank looks better. The problem with it being alive is sometimes you can pick up a nasty unwanted hitch hiker like a mantis shrimp, gorilla crab, nuisance algae, and whatever else you can think of.

Dry rock is exactly what it sounds like rock that was either found and dried out or is carved out of an old ocean. It is usually more porous and is 100% pest free. Some say pukani rock from BRS leaches phostphates and in general they dont make the tank look as real. Also cycling can take longer because you are lacking the bacteria to start it up.

Lastly you can do a combination of the two and do some percentage like 80 dry/20 live or whatever. That way you can seed the dry rock with the live rock. Danger is you still can get pest but it is reduced because you arent using as much live rock.

From what I have seen most people go the mixing of the live and dry. I personally only use dry because i dont want to risk putting anything in my tank. I am also lucky to have another reef tank so i can always steal a rock or place a dry rock in to seed it.

And sand needs to be cycled to but you can do this in the main tank either while the rock is curing by running the tank without the rock, or after your rock is cured, add it to the main tank and let it cycle which should take no longer than a couple days week max usually. The sand doesnt have as much of die off usually so the cycle is shorter and if the rock you are adding is fully cured, it will have no problem handling the die off. I would watch it but dont be surprised if you dont see a large spike.

Also i think 90lbs is a good place to start. I usually follow 1lb/gal ish but i really do it based on look and how i want the tank. You can always add some to your fuge if you have one. Hope that helps

[thegrun]

One thing you may need is an ammonia source to start the cycle unless the dry rock you use has a lot of dried organic matter on it. I like to use pure ammonia (without surfactants) for a quicker start to the cycle, but a couple of dead raw shrimp works well also. I skip the water changes myself unless the live rock I use has corals attached that I am trying to get to survive the cycle.

[thegrun]

As fas as how much rock to use I would use at least 100 pounds. If you go with much less than a pound per gallon your bacteria population is going to be limited so your fish population will also need to be smaller. You can place a lot of it in your sump if you want a more open look to your display tank.