curing live rock...

[phishy11]

curing it...

help please..

[ocean motion]

Are you starting a new tank? If so... you can rinse/shake the rock off in a bucket of saltwater, or just put it directly in the tank....

[idog]

Okay, Phishy.

 

How bout you make this your tank help thread, hmmm?

You can post all your questions in one place then!

 

Sound good?

 

 

Alright, what is your question?

[jldesign]

if tank is empty and rock is uncured:

filled tank minus water displaced from rocks. mix up a bucket or 2 of same parameter tank water also same temp if possible. dip each piece into bucket one - swish - blow it with a turkey baster well - swish in bucket 2 - place in tank. NEXT. when bucket one is nasty move to bucket 2. gets them very clean and a chance to clean anything else off funky as well.

 

I did this last time to uncured and the amount of crud that came off and out of the holes was huge. at least the rock if free of loose decay before the tank.

 

let the buckets settle and look in them with a flashlight incase some little hitcher of interest is in them when your done - I had lots of dead worms, etc no goodies.

[phishy11]

i just set up my tank a couple days ago. I dont have anything living in there..but i will be getting the live rock tom.

Do i need a protein skimmer to cure the rock?

[nanoty]

No.

[Withers]

Nope, just situate the rocks how you like in the tank, and just let it run. All it really needs is water movement, but if you want to turn the lights and heater on thats fine too.

[phishy11]

Nope, just situate the rocks how you like in the tank, and just let it run. All it really needs is water movement, but if you want to turn the lights and heater on thats fine too.

 

 

Okay.

I got a saltwater test kit..since im getting a live rock do i need to get a reef test kit?

 

Dont i need to add calcuiom,iodide..etx to the water for the live rock?

[cooksalot]

Okay.

I got a saltwater test kit..since im getting a live rock do i need to get a reef test kit?

 

Dont i need to add calcuiom,iodide..etx to the water for the live rock?

 

glad to hear you decided to go with LR! how many pounds did you get?

 

for right now the only three tests you need to worry about are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. don't worry about anything else until your tank cycles. at that point you can test for other things (ph, alkalinity, calcium, etc. and if there is a problem at that point, we will help you fix it).

 

test for the three things mentioned above every day or every other day and let us know how it looks. ultimately you want 0 for ammonia and nitrite and under 20 ppm for nitrate. read the directions carefully and do the tests exactly as the directions say. depending on how cured or uncured your rock is, your cycle could be anywhere from a week to six weeks. just remember, no matter what your lfs tells you, you do not want to put any livestock in there until after the cycle is complete.

 

good luck!

[phishy11]

glad to hear you decided to go with LR! how many pounds did you get?

 

for right now the only three tests you need to worry about are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. don't worry about anything else until your tank cycles. at that point you can test for other things (ph, alkalinity, calcium, etc. and if there is a problem at that point, we will help you fix it).

 

test for the three things mentioned above every day or every other day and let us know how it looks. ultimately you want 0 for ammonia and nitrite and under 20 ppm for nitrate. read the directions carefully and do the tests exactly as the directions say. depending on how cured or uncured your rock is, your cycle could be anywhere from a week to six weeks. just remember, no matter what your lfs tells you, you do not want to put any livestock in there until after the cycle is complete.

 

good luck!

 

 

Thanks!

I got 15lbs of carribian live rock.

Wish me good luck:)

[spanko]

I don't know if I missed it but how big is this tank? You want about 1-1.5 lbs. per gallon of LR and at least 1lb gallon of sand.

[phishy11]

I don't know if I missed it but how big is this tank? You want about 1-1.5 lbs. per gallon of LR and at least 1lb gallon of sand.

 

its a 20 gallon tank.

[paneubert]

its a 20 gallon tank.

 

 

15 should be fine for now if you like how it looks. Remember that you will be adding rocks every time you buy a coral. So leave some room and some prime tank spots for your corals.

[phishy11]

15 should be fine for now if you like how it looks. Remember that you will be adding rocks every time you buy a coral. So leave some room and some prime tank spots for your corals.

 

At the moment i dont thnk i will be adding coral.

But who knows..i may want to later on..

[Gvtv44]

You will Glad to hear you got Live Rock!

[phishy11]

You will Glad to hear you got Live Rock!

 

 

ok,so i just put the live rock in my tank..

Now what?

should i be doing something or just letting the powerhead and filter run?

[avalanche1201]

just let it run phishy11. Nature will take its course as the LR cycles

[phishy11]

just let it run phishy11. Nature will take its course as the LR cycles

 

 

okay.

should i have the heater on?

[avalanche1201]

yea i think that would be a good idea

[idog]

Don't bother testing for anything but ammonia. That will signal the start of the cycle.

 

Post some pics. My LFS sells "Caribbean" rock. It looks like concrete. I hope you didn't get screwed.

[phishy11]

Don't bother testing for anything but ammonia. That will signal the start of the cycle.

 

Post some pics. My LFS sells "Caribbean" rock. It looks like concrete. I hope you didn't get screwed.

 

Here are some pictures..sorry there not that good. But it gives you a general idea of what my tanks looking like so far...

What do you think?

Be nice:)

[Scott Riemer]

phishy, I know I gave you some grief before, I'm sorry. But, I have to me honest here, it looks like you didn't get quality rock. Also, you need to put a solid color background on your tank, I reccomend black.

[phishy11]

phishy, I know I gave you some grief before, I'm sorry. But, I have to me honest here, it looks like you didn't get quality rock. Also, you need to put a solid color background on your tank, I reccomend black.

 

i got it for 20 bucks.

im not suprised.

well,what do i do now?

[Sushi]

i got it for 20 bucks.

im not suprised.

well,what do i do now?

try to make the best of it... like someone mentioned above, carribean rock looks like "concrete"

 

it's not that porous but it's not to the point where it's useless. the good news is, w/the pics that you posted, it actually looks like you got some nice shapes to work with. what i would do is go to home depot, buy a few sticks of the underwater epoxy putty (aquamend). set aside an hour or two to aquascape w/the putty, and try to make a few caves, overhangs, bridges, etc... if you've got a little bit of patience, you can actually make that pile of rock look presentable.

 

search "aquascape" on the forums and look at the members aquariums section to get ideas for aquascaping your tank. good luck

 

edit: for $20 that's actually pretty good

[Ryanhdd]

phishy, I know I gave you some grief before, I'm sorry. But, I have to me honest here, it looks like you didn't get quality rock.

 

Phishy, Yeah I am sorry too. You got screwed with your LR purchase at your LFS. You really need some rock that is very porous with lots of holes and stuff. This rock like Scott said looks like concrete. Hey I am not slamming you on your LR I am sure you can still have a good looking tank when your are done. Having this porous rock really makes your tank filter so much more. The more water that is pushing in around your rocks would be the best. But thats just my two cents. But keep us posted. See if you can take it back. I would order from Marine depot or Drs Foster and Smith. If you can take it back and he wont give you your money back then ask for a credit.