Does curing live rock really need a heater?

[flighttime42]

I have some live rock curing in a bucket with a heater and an air pump. I had to steal the heater and place it in my quarantine tank because I acquired some new fish for my other tank. I'm just wondering if I should actually go out and buy another heater or just wait 2 weeks or so until the fish are out of quarantine. Will the live rock be ok without the heater? Will it slow down the curing process? The room temperature is about 70 degrees.

Thanks

[peasofme]

yes

[Allmost]

well 70 is not lethal, deaths start to happen at 62 under.

but lower temps, lower the metabolism of the organisms and bacteria you are trying to cycle.

[mc-cro]

I had rock cooking in the basement for about the last 2 weeks with no heater, the water averaged around 65*, maybe even colder on some nights. I didnt notice a smell that most people talk about with cooking rock. fwiw, I did find a very large turbo snail in the rubber maid container, he must have been hidden down deep in the rock. Anyways, he was fine with no heater. I did pull him and thrown him back in the main tank.

so I decided to go ahead and put a heater in it last week, and I have noticed that I am starting to get the cooking rock smell. Maybe coincidence, maybe the bacteria needed the heat to get them really moving.

[flighttime42]

Alright. Thanks for the quick replies.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by mc-cro

I had rock cooking in the basement for about the last 2 weeks with no heater, the water averaged around 65*, maybe even colder on some nights. I didnt notice a smell that most people talk about with cooking rock. fwiw, I did find a very large turbo snail in the rubber maid container, he must have been hidden down deep in the rock. Anyways, he was fine with no heater. I did pull him and thrown him back in the main tank.

so I decided to go ahead and put a heater in it last week, and I have noticed that I am starting to get the cooking rock smell. Maybe coincidence, maybe the bacteria needed the heat to get them really moving.

Curing you mean right ?

and your observation is correct, that's why we keep Phyto and bacteria cultures in the fridge to slow down their metabolism, so they use less O2 and produce less waste and ... they basically go into hibernation .