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View Full Version : Curing 400lbs of Liverock..


paljets
06/03/2006, 10:08 PM
Ok..

I need to know the best way to do this..

I live in Arizona.. It's 100+ degrees outside..

How would you all recommend curing this amount of rock?

I could do it all "in tank" but I'm worried of the smell..

Or would I be better putting it in 3 BRUTE trashcans.. And curing outside??

But would the heat be an issue??

Recommendations??

I've never cured this volume of rock before.

--paul

paljets
06/04/2006, 10:57 AM
No one has any thoughts??

RichConley
06/04/2006, 11:05 AM
Dont put it outside...it''ll get hot.

Is this a new tank?

If it is, I'd just put the rock in the tank, barebottom, tons of flow, with the skimmer, and let it run for 2 or 3 weeks.

paljets
06/04/2006, 11:06 AM
I've heard that before..

So, the smell shouldn't be too bad then??


Yes, it's a new tank..

--paul

RichConley
06/04/2006, 12:04 PM
i wouldnt think so...run some carbon. SHould help. The skimmate IS going to smell though when you empty the cup

Kurt03
06/04/2006, 12:29 PM
it will probably smell some, where is the tank going? If its a tank going into like a dentists office or something like that i would cure the rock in brute trash cans and transfer them when curred. If this is at your home just put them in there and let it go. Mine smelled for a few days but then it was done, i think it also depends where you get your rock from, TBS rock is shiped in part water so there would prob be less dieoff. But i wouldnt want to buy 400lbs of TBS rock lol $$$

paljets
06/04/2006, 02:37 PM
I'm buring 10 boxes from SDC.. Out of LA..

There will be an ocean clear canister filter.. I'll make sure to add carbon to it.. Just to make sure I can keep the smell down..

Should I have the sand in the tank while I do this?? Or leave it out And put it in 3 -4 weeks after I add the rock??

Thanks for your thoughts..

RichConley
06/04/2006, 02:56 PM
Leave it out for now. Its just going to collect crap if its in there.

MountainReef
06/04/2006, 03:08 PM
If you continually and ammonia remover to the tank the water will not get as toxic and so you should have less die off / less smell

paljets
06/04/2006, 03:24 PM
I think I'm just gonna get two brute trash cans.. Keep them in the bathroom..

Have a powerhead in each one...

Leave the covers partially on.

Would you "Skim" this water?? Or just change it once every week??

--paul

paljets
06/04/2006, 03:25 PM
I think this will work best since I won't have the tank till the 3rd of July..

And I'll have the LR next week..

--paul

RichConley
06/04/2006, 03:56 PM
skim it, and skim it heavy.

Danfish
06/04/2006, 04:13 PM
Skimming it is pretty much a must, else it will be some NASTY water.

Also I'd get 1 or 2 spare trashcans so you can move them from one can to another when doing water changes. I used 50gal rubbermaid storage bins and ended up using 3 (with only 45 pounds of rock).

Also be sure to scrub them down between water changes, knocking off alot of the dead debris on them before moving them to clean water will help keep the smell down greatly.
Infact with my batch the first bath of water they were in was horrible, smelled like low tide and was so nasty dirty you couldn't see the rocks 2 inches below the surface.
I did a water change the next day and scrubbed them down (in the nasty water so all the dead mess could be thrown out with the waste water) and the second bath didn't smell remotely as bad.

I was doing 100% water changes the first few times. I'm not sure if that is a great idea, but that water was horrific. I did all the curing in my pool house which has AC, so none of the smell got into my home.

reef bini
06/04/2006, 04:19 PM
I have done this before,just put about 6-10 heavy duty power heads in the buckets and move the rock around evry day.

What is SDC in LA?

Is that a store?

chucksta1
06/05/2006, 01:24 AM
When you say cure it, do you want to kill everything on it, which would be cure it or cook it, or do you want to preserve as much life on it as you can?

Danfish
06/05/2006, 01:27 AM
You want to preserve as much life as you can, but it normaly has so much dead stuff on it from transport that putting it directly into your tank would cause an ammonia/nitrite spike big enough to hurt/kill the whole tank.

So you "cure" it in a seprate tank/bin so that it can have its spike, grow bacteria to neutrallise the ammonia/nitrite and then be safe to move into the display tank.

Scrubbing off the dead stuff on the surface of the rock helps cushion the spike inside the cure vat, it also tends to shorten the time it takes to cure the rock.

Note that as it processes the ammonia/nitrite it makes a TON of nitrate. So when being cured you tend to keep it very dark so algae doesn't grow. Also you run a skimmer to try and take out as much of the nitrate as possible.