What's better?

[lougotzz]

What do you guys think is better, buying uncured rock over the Internet, curing it and then putting it in a brand new tank. Or, buying cured rock over the Internet and letting it kick start the cycle in a brand new tank from die off?

[gjk]

You might be in for a big surprise how much die off there is loaded up in that rock. If it is anything like my situation, even the water movement in the sump starts producing skimmate and you may battle high phosphates/algae or cyano for an extended time. I will not do that again, but your rock may be cleaner than mine?

[lmh11706]

if its a brand new tank with nothing in and the rock is the first thing to go in then how about just putting the uncured rock right in the tank-that will definitely get the cycle going-thats what i would do-keep all the life u can in that rock-maybe it goes against the rules but ive done it

[DGee]

Search Craigslist and your local forums and look for someone tearing a tank down and buy their established rock. If you search for long enough you can find quality established rock for close to the same price you'd buy base rock.

There are lots of people getting out of the hobby with the bad economy so there are definitely deals out there.

[lancer99]

Originally Posted by DGee

Search Craigslist and your local forums and look for someone tearing a tank down and buy their established rock. If you search for long enough you can find quality established rock for close to the same price you'd buy base rock.

There are lots of people getting out of the hobby with the bad economy so there are definitely deals out there.

Unfortunately, live rock that has been in someone's tank for a long time is probably lacking in bio-diversity. I would agree with lmh11706, especially if you plan on using a DSB.

-R

[lougotzz]

Now will all that die off remain in my tank over time and cause nutrient problems though?

[Playa-1]

I would buy uncured rock

[lougotzz]

Originally Posted by Playa-1

I would buy uncured rock

Is there a link to show the exact steps to this? Also, when buying uncured over the Internet, does it need to be over nighted?

[DGee]

Lancer how do you figure? I would take live rock from someones established tank that was tearing down any day before starting from scratch with base rock.

Too many times have I seen people fight with high po4 levels because of how much was bound up in the base rock, then comes algea problems and fighting high nutrient levels from the get go... If you want diversity get healthy rock from someone and add a few lbs of fresh live rock from an lfs.

Lou, it really depends on the rock but imo its a gamble how much dead stuff you have to eventually skim off and let the bacteria build up enough to handle what could possibly be leeching nutrients into your tank for some period of time.

[lancer99]

Originally Posted by DGee

Lancer how do you figure? I would take live rock from someones established tank that was tearing down any day before starting from scratch with base rock.

Too many times have I seen people fight with high po4 levels because of how much was bound up in the base rock, then comes algea problems and fighting high nutrient levels from the get go... If you want diversity get healthy rock from someone and add a few lbs of fresh live rock from an lfs.

DGee, I'm not quite sure what you're saying here. The OP wasn't asking about base rock, rather LR. If you meant uncured LR, of course you're going to going to have PO4!

Originally Posted by lougotzz

Is there a link to show the exact steps to this? Also, when buying uncured over the Internet, does it need to be over nighted?

No need to have it overnighted...it has usually sat either dry or under a spray of saltwater.

I can't find a link, but the basic in-tank procedure is this:

1. After adding the rock, use as much water circulation and skimming as you can. It's also helpful to use a powerhead to blow off detritus from the rocks, daily.

2. Once ammonia levels are near zero (nitrite levels are irrelevant), do a 100% water change, or as much as you can.

3. Enjoy!

-R

[DGee]

Drinking and posting on RC is not always the smartest thing... I was under the assumption for some reason that he was asking about base rock.

[ludnix]

I'm not aware of any specific guides for curing live rock but I'm sure there's some on here.

When I started my tank I ordered 200lbs of uncured fiji live rock from my LFS. By getting it uncured I was able to get it for $2.22 per lb compared to the usual $4.99.

Mine was packed from the whole seller the LFS did not put it in their tanks at all. Here's a picture of it in the box.


Rock in tank before scrubbing.


I originally hadn't read that you were supposed to scrub the rock of any decaying matter so I just threw it all in the tank. Later I ended up removing each piece and giving it a good scrub and replacing it. This helped remove some of that large chunks of dead matter accelerating the process.

I had ordered more rock than I wanted so I could cherry pick the pieces to keep. The excess rocks were sold back to my LFS when they were all cured. Trading in the rock as cured live rock gave me enough credit to negate the price of the excess rock but I was able to get rid of the ugly pieces.

Once my cycle was complete I started seeing a lot of life popping out of the rocks. I never got any big hitchhikers like crabs or an octopus but I certainly got the usual share of pods, stomatellas, stars and bristleworms.

[lancer99]

Originally Posted by DGee

Drinking and posting on RC is not always the smartest thing... I was under the assumption for some reason that he was asking about base rock.

LOL, wouldn't be the first time for me either

-R

[Tswifty]

Seriously... go dry rock. Like BRS Eco Rock or Marco Rock... save yourself the headache of all the pests and nuisances that can hitchike in.

I'll never start with "wet" rock again... cured or uncured. I've gone through too many issues that friends of mine never even had to mess with. Plus, dry rock is so much cheaper.

Good luck.

[lancer99]

Originally Posted by Tswifty

Seriously... go dry rock. ....
I'll never start with "wet" rock again... cured or uncured. I've gone through too many issues that friends of mine never even had to mess with. Plus, dry rock is so much cheaper.

Good luck.

Well,...I dunno.

I've set up 16 tanks with uncured, semi-cured, and completely cured live rock.

And one with dry rock.

The one with dry rock was the only one that ever got a cyano outbreak.

-R

[bglegs]

I'd buy uncured because you have a chance of hitch hikers and better price

[D' kingfisher]

I'll go with the uncured or dry rock..save you some money for equipment..

[lougotzz]

So what I can second day uncured rock than?

I set up my last tank with dry rock I didnt really like it.

So as im to understand it, uncured rock is basically cheaper, with the hope that life has lived on it and its up to me to get rid of any death, where as cured rock, this is all done, and all the life on the rock is what made it from uncured rock?

Now theres a chance there will still be a lot of life on the uncured rock right?

[gildorph]

I did some of both when I started my tank: uncured Haitian rock and Tonga branch and cured fiji aquacultured rock ... all from LA. Can't really complain on how it turned out. I did the scrubbing and dunking of any dying matter. My cycle was very fast as a result.

[lougotzz]

DId you cure your rock in your tank or a seperate container?

[Playa-1]

Originally Posted by DGee

Drinking and posting on RC is not always the smartest thing...

I'm guilty of this too

[Playa-1]

Originally Posted by lougotzz

Is there a link to show the exact steps to this? Also, when buying uncured over the Internet, does it need to be over nighted?

When I was shopping for it, some of the liverock importers would have step by steps on how to process the rock when you receive it. I personally wouldn't pay to have it over-nighted but many people do. It's hard to justify the expense of over-nighting liverock when you don't know how much effort was taken to preserve the life on the liverock in the first place. But then again the sooner you can get it in the water the better. Maybe there is a shipping option that's more reasonable in pricing but doesn't take a week to arrive.

[gildorph]

Originally Posted by lougotzz

DId you cure your rock in your tank or a seperate container?

My tank when I first set it up. I used the rock to cycle the tank. I got a clean up crew once cycle was over before any other livestock to deal with the "junk" that died off from the uncured rock. Some of that is inevitable with uncured rock.

[bigworm175]

+1 on using uncured live rock to setup a new tank. It'll help cycle and you will end up with far more life. Just be careful of the unwanted hitchhikers. I have set up a couple tank this way and been very happy with the biodiversity. I buy Florida rock from my LFS and the amount of life is amazing. I've gotten anywhere from small mushrooms to an urchin. Good luck!

[Frick-n-Frags]

you could also use mostly well cured rock, then cherry pick a couple of loaded uncured pieces to spike the bio-diversity without real hard cycling and dieoff and remaining nutrients.