Curing Dry Rock?

[Wesley630]

Hi all,

 

Im new to this reefing stuff and trying to make it the most cost effective i can (i know it can be very expensive to get going.) So i have been looking at the Bulk Reef Supply's Reef Saver Rock which is mined rock and not pulled from the ocean. From everything I have read you have to cure your rock to kill off any pests on the rock. I'm wondering if i can put the rock into my tank and just dose it with the starter bacteria or if I need to cure it in like a 35 gallon trash can before hand, since it never came in contact with ocean water and presumably no pests. I have live sand (bagged) that i plan on using as substrate. Since i have this thread going I'm curious if its a good idea or if its possible to put some kind of media in my bio wheel filter. I have my tank, sand and two filters but i'm working on getting rock and trying to figure out if it would be a better idea to just get live rock and spend the extra bucks.

 

Thanks all for the help.

[dandelion]

Dry rocks are cheaper and doesn't come with any potentially undesirable hitchhikers. Live rocks are easily 5 times the cost and may come with desirable/undesirable hitchhikers.

 

If the tank that your filter is running on does not have any nuisance algae or diseases you may put the filter media in the trash can with your rocks. Get a bottle of pure ammonia at your cleaning supplies store (make sure there aren't any surfactant). Dose ammonia to about 1ppm (works out to be 0.5mL per 1.5 gallon for me). Keep the water circulated and heated. Leave the cover off and top off with RO/DI water. Once ammonia turns into nitrAte within 24 hours you're good to go. I tried covering my bucket with a plastic bag to reduce evaporation but it seems like it also prevented nitrifying bacteria from entering the bucket too, making my cycle almost 3 months long.

[SaltyBuddha]

New as well and in the process of curing some Fuji dry rock from BRS. I only have about 10 lbs so I'm just using a 5 gallon bucket with a circulation pump. The link below seemed to be the most helpful and insightful for a process to follow. Good luck!

 

http://www.reefaquarium.com/2013/curing-rock-for-marine-aquariums/

[flatlandreefer]

Live rock comes with a lot of bio diversity but that also can include pests.  Dry rock comes without pests but zero bio diversity which also means there is nothing to die off so you do not need to cure it and you can put it straight in your tank.  I chose to start with BRS reefsaver without any live rock.  If I were to do it over again I would have chosen BRS dry pukani, more holes for unique aquascaping and things to hide in.  I think the best option would be to start with 90% dry rock and 10% live rock from a known source that would be pest free.  An extra bonus of dry rock is you can order more than you need to have options of which rocks to use for your scape and you can add more later if you want to tweak your rock work.

 

As far as your biowheel I'm going to let somebody else address that, not the ideal setup for a reef tank. 

[HecticDialectics]

Anything with a heater and powerhead works imo. I always cured my dry rock for 6 or 8 weeks this way. Its filthy. Blow it off every few days with the powerhead. You can do the same in the tank. Dont add sand until you're at week 7 of 8. All the black trash and sediment from dry rock will make it dirty and get trapped in the sand. Easier to clean all the detris out without the sand.

 

Id buy a tiny piece of live rock from your local lfs to get it started. This will work better than "starter bacteria"

[Wesley630]

1 minute ago, HecticDialectics said:

Anything with a heater and powerhead works imo. I always cured my dry rock for 6 or 8 weeks this way. Its filthy. Blow it off every few days with the powerhead. You can do the same in the tank. Dont add sand until you're at week 7 of 8. All the black trash and sediment from dry rock will make it dirty and get trapped in the sand. Easier to clean all the detris out without the sand.

So no matter what curing even if its mined dry rock and not ocean dry rock it needs to be done? I think that's more the question im asking. The only rock i know doesn't need to be cured was the reef rock 2.1 from BRS.

[HecticDialectics]

3 minutes ago, Wesley630 said:

So no matter what curing even if its mined dry rock and not ocean dry rock it needs to be done? I think that's more the question im asking. The only rock i know doesn't need to be cured was the reef rock 2.1 from BRS.

Yes if anything needs to be done even more so. It will still be dirty and you gotta populate it thoroughly with bacteria.

 

It just won't have pests and is much cheaper.

[Lula_Mae]

4 minutes ago, Wesley630 said:

So no matter what curing even if its mined dry rock and not ocean dry rock it needs to be done? I think that's more the question im asking. The only rock i know doesn't need to be cured was the reef rock 2.1 from BRS.

A quick look at the 2.1 shows that even that needs to be cured (in the description).  Any live rock or dry rock will need curing, which is just the process of establishing the nitrifying bacteria on the rock.  Doesn't matter where it comes from, if it's dry, it needs curing.

 

You could, as someone suggested, pick up a piece of live rock from an LFS to seed your rock (I'd inspect carefully for pests) or use the ammonia method, and I'm sure there's others.  Just gotta give your rock time to cure so you can establish a healthy reef.

[Wesley630]

1 minute ago, HecticDialectics said:

Yes if anything needs to be done even more so. It will still be dirty and you gotta populate it thoroughly with bacteria.

 

It just won't have pests and is much cheaper.

I know part of the curing process is to populate the new healthy bacteria but wouldn't simply running water over it thoroughly be enough to get the dirt removed so it wouldn't dirty the tank? 

[HecticDialectics]

1 minute ago, Wesley630 said:

I know part of the curing process is to populate the new healthy bacteria but wouldn't simply running water over it thoroughly be enough to get the dirt removed so it wouldn't dirty the tank? 

 

Nope. That stuff is stuck on good. It'll flake off and come outta the crevices for weeks.

[Wesley630]

Just now, HecticDialectics said:

 

Nope. That stuff is stuck on good. It'll flake off and come outta the crevices for weeks.

Sweet thanks for all the help.

[flatlandreefer]

Don't confuse curing with cycling though.  Cycling your tank is the process of establishing bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate so your fish/corals don't die when introduced, this process can be done with uncured rock in your tank.  The debate of curing dry rock is whether the dry rock has dead organic matter within the rock that will cause nutrient issues down the road if it is not thoroughly cleaned (not necessarily cured) before adding to the tank.  There are plenty of tanks out there that use dry rock that is added straight to the tank without any separate curing process other than an initial tank cycle with the rock in the tank. 

[Wesley630]

1 hour ago, flatlandreefer said:

Don't confuse curing with cycling though.  Cycling your tank is the process of establishing bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate so your fish/corals don't die when introduced, this process can be done with uncured rock in your tank.  The debate of curing dry rock is whether the dry rock has dead organic matter within the rock that will cause nutrient issues down the road if it is not thoroughly cleaned (not necessarily cured) before adding to the tank.  There are plenty of tanks out there that use dry rock that is added straight to the tank without any separate curing process other than an initial tank cycle with the rock in the tank. 

So would that be a better option when using mined vs ocean dry rock? Also if you did do it that way would you use a bigger clean up crew to begin with to help clean up any possible organic matter that may fall off during the curing/cycling process (obviously no clean up crew until after the tank has cycled.) And if so i'm assuming nessarius snails or a substrate type snail would be a good starter. Would you even put your substrate in while cycling/ curing?

[flatlandreefer]

10 hours ago, Wesley630 said:

So would that be a better option when using mined vs ocean dry rock? Also if you did do it that way would you use a bigger clean up crew to begin with to help clean up any possible organic matter that may fall off during the curing/cycling process (obviously no clean up crew until after the tank has cycled.) And if so i'm assuming nessarius snails or a substrate type snail would be a good starter. Would you even put your substrate in while cycling/ curing?

 

No extra cleanup crew is necessary and yes put your rock and sand all in the tank and then fill it up and dose with dr tims ammonia per instructions to complete cycle. 

 

If you are worried about your dry rock being dirty; pressure washing it, or a vinegar/acid bath would be more appropriate.  There are many articles on this site that explain both the cycling process as well as cleaning dry rock if you use the search bar.  I have never cleaned mine I just put it in and cycled it.  Either way I would do a search and see what you can find that will explain both processes in more detail. 

[Clown79]

Curing any rock is the natural process for it to build bacteria, its the cycling process.

 

Its unnecessary to cure dry reef rock in a seperate container, just add it to the display and cycle it in there. There are no pests so its a total waste of time doing it in a separate container.

 

I use liverock in every tank but 1, never cured it out of the dt either.

[dandelion]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

Curing any rock is the natural process for it to build bacteria, its the cycling process.

 

Its unnecessary to cure dry reef rock in a seperate container, just add it to the display and cycle it in there. There are no pests so its a total waste of time doing it in a separate container.

 

I use liverock in every tank but 1, never cured it out of the dt either.

I like doing it outside of the tank because 1: I can use a smaller bucket, less waste of water and 2: I can easily pour out the nitrate rich water  and rinse the rocks after the cycle before putting into the tank. 

[Wesley630]

6 hours ago, dandelion said:

I like doing it outside of the tank because 1: I can use a smaller bucket, less waste of water and 2: I can easily pour out the nitrate rich water  and rinse the rocks after the cycle before putting into the tank. 

Isn't nitrate rich water part of building up good bacteria though?

[Pinner Reef]

It's the bacteria that break down ammonia into the nitrates. You don't need nitrate rich water for building up the bacteria. If you have nitrate rich water the bacteria are already there.

[Wesley630]

10 minutes ago, Pinner Reef said:

It's the bacteria that break down ammonia into the nitrates. You don't need nitrate rich water for building up the bacteria. If you have nitrate rich water the bacteria are already there.

Oh I thought the bacteria turns nitrates Into nitrogen gas and that's one of the "feeding" steps.

[Pinner Reef]

Only Anerobic Bacteria can make the final transition from Nitrates to Nitrogen. This type of bacteria can only be found deep in the sand where there is very little oxygen present. We as aquarists' are unable to properly recreate such zones within our aquariums. As such, we foster all of the Aerobic bacteria, who live in oxygen rich areas. It is these types of bacteria that break down ammonia into nitrites (both highly toxic to fish), then nitrates (not very toxic). Because we can't foster Anerobic bacteria; we do water changes to keep the nitrate levels within acceptable ranges. 

 

That said, it's not a bad idea to use nitrate rich water as the bacteria are already present and can colonize the rock much more quickly.

[Wesley630]

8 minutes ago, Pinner Reef said:

Only Anerobic Bacteria can make the final transition from Nitrates to Nitrogen. This type of bacteria can only be found deep in the sand where there is very little oxygen present. We as aquarists' are unable to properly recreate such zones within our aquariums. As such, we foster all of the Aerobic bacteria, who live in oxygen rich areas. It is these types of bacteria that break down ammonia into nitrites (both highly toxic to fish), then nitrates (not very toxic). Because we can't foster Anerobic bacteria; we do water changes to keep the nitrate levels within acceptable ranges. 

 

That said, it's not a bad idea to use nitrate rich water as the bacteria are already present and can colonize the rock much more quickly.

Well thank you for the awesome info!