Curing base rock in Rubermaid

reeferboy83 · 08/06/2009, 11:03 AM

I am thinking about getting some dry base rock and turning it into lr. I have read posts about putting the br in a rubermaid trashcan with a piece of lr and that way it can seed the br. Has anyone done this? Any suggestions would be great!

seapug · 08/06/2009, 12:03 PM

yes it works fine, but you probably won't get as much of the denitrifying bacteria that really makes real live rock work its magic.

I often use pieces of natural limestone sold by pet stores for reptile cages along with live rock. I give it a good blasting with the hose and drop in in my tanks. After a couple months it gets populated with pods and covered with coralline so looks identical to live rock. You could do the same thing in a separate container, but I'd recommend adding some sand along with the rocks to support more microfauna. Apart from that all you need is a powerhead, heater and patience.

reeferboy83 · 08/07/2009, 06:33 AM

Thanks for the info! I always thought you could cure rock that way, although it may not be as good as "real" lr, but I hate paying $9 lb for lr at the lfs!
I will post some pics of the process!

08/06/2009, 11:03 AM	#1
reeferboy83 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florence AL Posts: 86	Curing base rock in Rubermaid I am thinking about getting some dry base rock and turning it into lr. I have read posts about putting the br in a rubermaid trashcan with a piece of lr and that way it can seed the br. Has anyone done this? Any suggestions would be great! __________________ "Got Reef" Current Tank Info: 120g Glass Cages RR Rimless Octo 160 Recirc Skimmer 100g rubermaid sump, OceanRevive Arctic S026 Full Spectrum LED's

08/06/2009, 12:03 PM	#2
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	yes it works fine, but you probably won't get as much of the denitrifying bacteria that really makes real live rock work its magic. I often use pieces of natural limestone sold by pet stores for reptile cages along with live rock. I give it a good blasting with the hose and drop in in my tanks. After a couple months it gets populated with pods and covered with coralline so looks identical to live rock. You could do the same thing in a separate container, but I'd recommend adding some sand along with the rocks to support more microfauna. Apart from that all you need is a powerhead, heater and patience. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

08/07/2009, 06:33 AM	#3
reeferboy83 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florence AL Posts: 86	Thanks for the info! I always thought you could cure rock that way, although it may not be as good as "real" lr, but I hate paying $9 lb for lr at the lfs! I will post some pics of the process! __________________ "Got Reef" Current Tank Info: 120g Glass Cages RR Rimless Octo 160 Recirc Skimmer 100g rubermaid sump, OceanRevive Arctic S026 Full Spectrum LED's