CURING LIVE ROCK

© www.livestockusa.org, 2001-2008

We don't know if we can say anything
about curing live rock that hasn't been
said before ... many times in many places,
but we bet we can say it differently!
Here's a set of instructions and
ideas for your handy reference.

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If you only learn one thing here,
the most important thing is that the
solution to pollution is dilution.

You can cure a hundred pounds of live rock
in twenty gallons of water if you change
the water every day (or hour?) or more.
You can cure a hundred pounds of live rock
in a thousand gallons of water
without ever having to change the water.

The most common mistake made in curing live
rock is to try to "save" $10 or $20 on
salt mix and let the curing rock kill itself
with ammonia by not changing the
water often enough.

The solution to pollution is dilution.

We're big fans of Rubbermaid-type tubs and
trash cans. Garages and or basements are handy
if you're happily married. During summer, outside
is not out of the question with a good safely-used
extension cord ... most of the stuff is waterproof.

Once you've ordered your rock, it's time to get
the water ready in the bucket, can, vat, tub,
or vessel of choice (or, in your tank, if it's
a new set-up.) Be SURE to scroll down at the end
of the article and look at Ray's tank, where he
cured his Tonga, and a note about the process from
him. THANKS AGAIN RAY !! :):)

One of our customers shared his "vessel of choice"
with us, which is a great curing set-up.
Thanks to Brett of Marlette, MI for sharing
one of his photos with everyone!

Brett's Curing Set-up

The kiddie pool works great as Brett shows above.
Big tubs are good too, but get sturdy heavy duty ones.
I might use a 35-gal. tub for 40-65 lbs. of rock and
have a 12-gal. tub for rinsing and washing.
Having room for more water gives you a buffer
against ammonia burn, but you still have to change it.

Salinity and temperature are the two key parameters
at this point. You should be somewhere around
1.020-1.021 s.g. and the low '70's ...
73 or 74 degrees F. is fine. 75 degrees is OK,
but I like it cooler, so daytime heating
doesn't overheat the water.

Also, the lower salinity (besides the temp)
will help the rock cure faster. The first
week it will not negatively affect the rock
to have it at lower salinity and cooler temps.
After the second week you can raise the temps or
salinity to levels near where you will be
keeping it in the tank.

Note these are not suggested parameters for running
a tank, but for curing the rock most quickly.
Warmer and saltier will work, but slightly more
slowly. 1.022 s.g. is fine, as is 75 degrees F.
It will not cause a problem to go higher
than that, it will just cure more slowly.
Other things (like your attitude) will
be more important in determining the
outcome of your curing. :)

When the rock comes in, you should inspect it.
Using a putty knife, or screwdriver, or maybe
a preferably gloved finger, search for
soft spots. Sponges are often disguised on
the surface and are essentially invisible.
You can only tell it's not rock by pushing on it.
Using bare fingers, expect to find things like
hydrozoans or bryzoans with glass needle daggers
of pain and names like fire this and fire that.
Chip any soft spongy parts away.

Sometimes there may be soft algaes, or many
animals like an anemone, but you should recognize
non-sponge things. Sponges die in the air, so
forget them .... they will regenerate from the
smallest of spores left anyway.
Getting rid of the sponges will take a week or
more off of your cure time ... they'll die and foul
your tank worse than anything, so get rid of them
first while washing your rock from the get-go.

Now after cleaning each piece, shaking it out as
you do so repeatedly, put it in the tank or tub.
Carefully get all the grime and grunge and rubble
you can out of the bottom of the box, watching out
for bristle worms and mantis shrimp ... toss them out,
or confine them, if you want them and are
a glutton for punishment. They are virtually
unheard of from our customers, live. But you
may see them in the bottom of the box DOA.

This gooey, grungy, mucky, ugly stuff in the bottom
of the box is the most valuable pound or two
you get! It should be 20 bucks a pound at least.
It is the most bioactive stuff you'll ever hold.
It's ready to have a bioactive explosion in your
tank ... there is no better seed. Put this
in your tank as if were gold. Some people
beat the daylights out of it in a bag
(use about four plastic "fish bags" and a
mallet ... uh, er, so I heard) to make sand
out of it before they put it in. Good if you
had a bad day ... or want sand. It will NOT hurt
the bioactive properties of the PHG
(precious holy goop).

The other best things on your rock, you can't see.
Those are the seeds and spores of everything
that lives in the ocean ... no tellin' what ...
maybe corals like acroporas and leathers,
or mushrooms, clams, and blue sponge.
I've seen it all grow out of live rock three
or six months after I got it.

The sad truth is that most of the Pacific live rock
is held a couple weeks or more out of the water, often
on the floor of a warehouse, before it leaves L.A.
Then it goes to the store or distrubutor, so
the time involved kills most of the good stuff
on the rock that might have been there.
Fresh rock that hasn't sat around for a couple of weeks
or more makes all the difference down the road.
Though purple coralline may survive a couple weeks out
of the water, little else does.

Now that everything is in the tank or tub, there
are two major new concerns: circulation and
ammonia removal. A couple of strong powerheads
should move the water around enough. Some kind of
skimmer should be hooked up to help pull out
excess proteins, of which there will be plenty.
Otherwise prepare water for every other day (or more)
water changes to keep the ammonia from getting too high.

I often use Bak-Pak skimmers for this with great
success, but any skimmer will do. I'll often throw
a carbon filter of some sort on for this too.
But just for this, I don't usually run carbon in the tank.
In a couple or a few days, you might need to rewash
the rock and recheck it for areas of die-off
that need to be removed.

Flip the master switch to shut off the juice
(I keep all the electrical equipment used on
one multi-plug strip ... that way I can flip one
switch and everything goes off at once, so
I don't have to remember if I unplugged the
heater) and siphon about six or seven gallons
of water into the "sub-tub" - the smaller
12-gal. tub. Go over each piece again
to reclean and recheck for sponge or other
die-off areas and remove them.

Siphon up to half or more of the water out of the
tank or tub the rock has been in, and toss it,
replacing it with warmed new water.
I make mine in 5-gal. buckets or a small
20-gal. trash can, to have it ready in
advance, heated and all.

So now the rock has been cleaned and recleaned,
and you probably have a couple or three days before
you should change more water. You should be
testing for ammonia and if it's spiking high,
make a water change. Don't skimp on water now! :)

The solution to pollution is dilution.

Of course, the whole time the protein skimmer
has been goin' nuts and you can't believe how
often it's full and needs dumping.

I think it's a waste to make tests as often
as some indicate at first (daily), because you don't
need to be a marine biologist to tell it's bad!
Most folks without a degree would agree, it's bad!
Unless you like watching the colors on the charts,
bars, in the tubes and such. :)

After a week, test the water every two or three days as
the ammonia level drops. Somewhere between two and
three weeks, the skimmer will stop wheezin',
and the ammonia will drop to zero.
We have many customers report that it cures in two
weeks to three, because it is A) so fresh, and
B) they kept changing water and skimming heavily.

After the first week as things begin to calm down
you might see the first signs of life on your rock,
but it usually takes two weeks. Inspect it regularly
during the second week and beyond, particularly
at night with a flashlight to see what you can't
in the daytime. This is the best way to find
any unwanted hitch-hikers.

When your ammonia goes down to zero, you've done it!
There are now more ammonia-eating bacteria than ammonia
being created. Now you can grow a bacteria farm
in order to support the animals you want!
It's the bacteria farm that does it, don't forget!
Your live rock is cured, and it is time to move it
to the tank if you did it in tubs elsewhere.
While I would be careful to not move the curing water
I would be equally careful to get every bit of sand,
rubble, grunge, etc., of the bottom of the curing
vessel and put in in my tank or sump. Who knows
what might be there?

When aquascaping, it may take several
arrangement attempts to find one you like best.
Good rock and a good set up look like a real reef.
There a plenty of pictures in books and on the Net.
Just watch those nose smears on the glass.
Our customer photo page has many EXCELLENT
examples of how one can creatively make an absolutely
authentic appearing sea scape with our live rock.

Open, airy holes, hangovers, but SOLID OF
CONSTRUCTION is the key. I lived where there
are earthquakes, and shaky set-ups can break a tank!
Make sure everything is wedged in hard, perfectly,
or glued, so as not to move and in no question of falling.
Remember ... you are going to be placing corals on
it, and it must hold them, without the chance of
falling. You'll have enough of that placing the corals
anyway. Wait until you see how that 3" Elegance
opens up to 8", with the weight of the meat
causing it to fall off from where you put it ...
I once had a Galaxea fall into a Leather and kill it.

So, after much looking, moving, and re-arranging
of your rocks, you'll finally be satisfied
with their place and position. You are now
ready to acquire your first specimens.
It cannot be overstated to go slow at first.
Remember any copper will kill all the good
stuff you've worked so hard to keep alive,
so never consider it.

Always quarantine new fish elsewhere before you
put them in your reef. It is entirely possible you
will introduce many parasites, bad bacteria,
viruses, and diseases on pieces of corals you
purchase. How can they possibly be sanitized
against such? There are probably things on them
that haven't been identified or named, much less
have we a way to cure them! But dip your corals,
just as you would a fish to sanitize them, before
putting them in your tank. Any SPS dip, Iodine
solution like Lugol's or the such will do.

It's a fact of life, but a properly cared for tank
should be fairly immune to these things; they may
even be food to corals. Under the stressed
situations of excess ammonia, dirty
water, etc., these things can be devastating.
In a healthy, clean tank they rarely have an effect.
Some people wait a few weeks after the rock is
cured before introducing anything so some
parasites will die off, starving without a
host prior to introduction of any potential host
species ... most don't have the patience or
resolve for that!

Taking your "significant other" (wife, husband,
girlfriend or boyfriend), or any housemates
(children, roommates, siblings, parents ... whomever)
out to dinner often during the curing process
may be recommended or desired.
(If you have a dog, it may need a fresh air walk too!)

HAVE FUN with your rock!

birdfish
Kept my first corals in 1977!

Thanks to our customer Ray of Ellicott City, MD for
both his comments and his photos!

Here is what he shared:

Thanks again for the great Tonga reef rock.

I've many things still alive and making
their way around now in the reef.
The zoanthids are moving into location,
and I've spotted a feather duster worm today.

I think that by treating the rock well and
providing the best conditions possible throughout
the curing process, the process itself is not
only drastically shortened, but more life makes
it through as well. I know, "well, duh."
I’m looking forward to the next few months
with my nose pressed against the glass!
I'll be in touch again!

Thanks for the photo Ray!

Other related articles ...

SALINITY

TEMPERATURES

HYPER-SALINITY

(Hyper-saline baths ...
we don't recommend them!)

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