Wade Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I got 25lbs of dry live rock from BRS a few weeks ago and have it curing in a 33 gallon barrel since then. I've got a heater and two power heads in there. The rock was good and stinky after the first week. I've changed out the water about once a week since then for a total of 4 water changes now. The ammonia still shows to be about .4 I also throw in a little API Quick Start each time I change the water. Not sure if that's helping or hurting the process. I'm thinking I should be in the nitrate phase by now, but maybe it takes longer than that. It's been a long time since I've cured some rock. Anything different I should be doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Fwiw it took me 9 weeks before my ammonia and nitrite dropped to zero when curing my rocks. And that was outdoors in the heat of summer, and that should have sped it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 What have you added to "cure" the rock? Most dry rock I've seen has been very clean and without adding existing tank water, bacteria, or a food source I wouldn't expect there to be much going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 My BRS definitely had die off. From what I'm not sure but there was definitely a substantial ammonia spike. There was a little organic material on it, that I couldn't identity or completely remove, when I added it which probably caused it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 What have you added to "cure" the rock? Most dry rock I've seen has been very clean and without adding existing tank water, bacteria, or a food source I wouldn't expect there to be much going on. I'm curious about this too. I just bought a bunch of rock from there and didn't expect it to cycle like it has a bunch of die off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I'm about to build a tonga structure from BRS and take my 90 rimless offline from the main system while the rock cycles. I'm planning on adding seachem bacteria in a bottle to help the process and each day I'm going to do a 10 gallon water change by sucking out water and bleeding in water from the running system then replace fresh into the system so I can add bacteria in as fast as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Somethings screwy if you still have ammonia after 4 weeks. I don't see that you are doing anything different that what I've done at times. Have you checked your test kit against another test kit or on water from another source? Also, if you test immediatley after doing a water change with RO or RO/DI the ammonia is still left in the water and .4 is about what I would expect if you did about a 30 - 40% water change. A good experiment to see what's happening is to do pH, ammonia, alkalinity, calcium and nitrate tests on your tap water, new RO or RO/DI, new salt water and your tank water before and after a water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Great timing on this post 4 me. I'm starting to cure some livestock I got from someone else last weekend. I let it dry out, and been wondering what's the best way to get this going. Now I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Can't you throw it in the oven to help the process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I don't want to derail this thread but I have to ask more about this. I hadn't considered dry rock to cycle like that. I was planning on aquascaping with the dry rock, adding sand, water, etc, and letting things stabilize in the tank, in the house. I really can't have a big stinky rotten smelling tank in the house during the weeks to come. Is the best way to do this to cycle it in a tub in the garage? Would adding something like Dr Tim's help it along faster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Actually, I've been dumping out all the water and adding fresh ro/di and then throwing API Quick Start since it says it has nitrifying bacteria. I did use old tank water last time i did my water change on my DT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I cycled mine in the tank on my kitchen counter. Assuming you're talking dry rock like BRS or other mined, hasn't been in water for a few million years, rock, there's nothing physical, smell or otherwise that would suggest that the tank has to go through a full cycle. You should be fine curing/cycling it wherever, it just is going to take 3 or 4 weeks to complete it. I scaped my whole tank and about a week later realized that I had ammonia in it so just waited it out. You're not going to end up with a mucky mess or anything unless there is a lot of physical material that needs to break down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 So the first several times did you add SW back into the trash can or only RO/DI? You won't get cured LR with FW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 I meant to say fresh SW RO/DI. Sorry about that. I'll do another water change tomorrow on my DT so that water will go to the rock. Should I add it to what's already in the barrel or do a partial/total water change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Have you tested the ammonia in the fresh saltwater before you made a water change? Unless you are actively doing something to remove the ammonia frrom you RO/DI you probably have the ammonia left from the chloramines after the carbon breaks the chlorine/ammonia bond (see Victoly's thread on chloramines in tap water from a few days ago). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Honestly, I assumed that the RO/DI would not contain any amonia. As soon as you think you know something about this hobby you realize you don't know anyhting about this hobby:) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 are you seeing any algae beginning to form? I've been curing my rock from BRS since November. I actually found a gorilla crab in one of the pukani rocks, so I'm not sure how 'dry' this rock was before being sold to BRS. I wouldnt worry about changing the water in the curiing tank more than once every two weeks. The first two weeks for me were the smelly weeks. After my second water change, it stopped smelling. But if you aren't curing the rock with any old SW, or seeding it with existing LR, your curiing process will take much longer. Are you seeing any pods or microfauna forming in the tank? If not, I'd take a scoop of your old sand (if you have some) and add it to the bottom of your curing vat. Also, pickup an OLD piece of LR thats been in a solid/mature tank, and toss it in the bottom of your vat. This will also help speed the process along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I have dry BRS tonga branches and dry rock in my 90, other than giving it a rinse I wasn't planning on cycling it on its own. I do already have 100lbs of LR that'll also be going in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 No algea or anything that I can see. It's in a 33 gallon barrel with the lid just layed on top so to keep the light out so I wouldn't get any algae. I've got some seasoned rubbled I can pull from my refugium and put it in there. I can also put the sponge back in my refugium to gather some nutrients for a few days and put that in there too. I'm goingon vacation for a couple of weeks so maybe when I get back it'll be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I didn't realize it could take that long to cure. I thought it was 4-6 weeks. I'll have to throw in some sand and cured rock. I can't wait that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 No algea or anything that I can see. It's in a 33 gallon barrel with the lid just layed on top so to keep the light out so I wouldn't get any algae. I've got some seasoned rubbled I can pull from my refugium and put it in there. I can also put the sponge back in my refugium to gather some nutrients for a few days and put that in there too. I'm goingon vacation for a couple of weeks so maybe when I get back it'll be good to go. I would definitely seed your tank with what you have in the sump and the sponge will help as well. Remember, you dont really care too much about nitrites/ammonia/nitrates at this stage, so a little spike isnt going to kill anything in the tank. On my first batch I also ran an airstone, but it caused a lot of salt creep. If you have it, it wouldnt hurt to throw a golf ball sized chunk of chaeto with pods into the vat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 (edited) I didn't realize it could take that long to cure. I thought it was 4-6 weeks. I'll have to throw in some sand and cured rock. I can't wait that long. With dry rock one should be trying to do two things. One is to cure the rock and the second is to cycle the rock. To cure the rock you place in a container at 80 degrees w/ a power head and plain RODI for a couple of days and then test for PO4 readings. If rock is leeching PO4 you export it thru the normal means. 1. water changes 2. running GFO (not recommended as too expensive) 3. Acid washing 4. Lanthnum my choice.as it is fast, effective and cheap. Once the rock has leeched out all PO4 (cured) then give it a good rinse in RODI and place into saltwater w/ a good ammonia source to raise ammonia level to at least 5ppm. This should start the N cycle process and you csan monitor and record the results to trace the cycle by testing for ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates until you acheive 0.0 Ammponia and Nitrites and see a good Nitrate spike. This will give you the end point of the Nirtifying bacteria, and the beginning point of the growth of your De-nitrifying bacteria; which will become the backbone of your bio-filter. Once your rock has reached this point it is a good time to move to the DT display tank. This can be all done in the DT, but you must run it like a QT quarantine tank. No substrate, no filtration only circulation. Skimming of GFO rreactor can be used in this manner. And be sure to wipe down DT after rock has cured and you begin the N cycle. At this point is when you would add substrate and then replace cured but uncycled rock and saltwater mix.. Edited April 4, 2013 by andre hebert 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Why wouldn't he want substrate in the curing tank? I keep substrate in mine as there are a lot of beneficial critters that like to graze the rock, and take up residency in them. I.e. bristle worms, coco worms/feather dusters, micro snails, etc. I dont put much, but just about 1/2 inch of substrate. Plus, by keeping some substrate in your live rock tank, you can then migrate the active sand/substrate to your new tank or sump. You'll already have a ton of inhabitants to seed your dry sand with. Rather than buying a bag of mud or substrate that likely has pests or predators. I should add I keep substrate on both ends of the tank, not in the middle. I have a riser to keep the rock off the bottom of the tank. If you're interested I can post pics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 I think AH's point about not having substrate in the tank during the curing process is that if the rock is leaching PO4, which is undesirable in our tanks, some of it may get bound up in the substrate to get leached back later. Once the rock is cured (PO4 free), you can add substrate for the cycling process. I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Ah, ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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