Ebay live rock purchase? Curing in garage? UPDATE/PICS

[mardeebo]

I am "hoping & praying" that I didn't just throw away $150 on ebay with a live rock purchase. I'll be sure to let you know how it works out. The guy (Frankie) has 100% pos feedback and answers all of my emails. $1.95/pound was a great price.

Anyway - I plan on curing it separately because I have fish & anemones in my tank currently. I've heard this stuff can really STINK and I'd rather not have that smell in my house. If that's not true, let me know.

Can I cure it in my garage? I live in Wisconsin and the temps right now are in the 40's & 50's at night. I'd use a rubbermaid container - would a couple 300W heaters keep the temp up okay? Should I cover it to keep any dust/dirt from getting in there?

Also - do I add any chemicals to the water during the curing process?

Thanks so much for your advice.
Deb

 

[lando]

I would be leary of curing it in the garage this time of year. Maybe the basement or something would be better. It may stink but not for too long. No need to add any chems to the tubs, just do water changes. A powerhead or two would be helpful.

 

[pearsont74]

is ur tank up and running? have you cycled yet...something I did was cycle with LR that wasnt cured....just do alot of water changes like you would do curing normally
I personally dont have anywhere to have a tub full of LR for 2-3 weeks and dont ahve that many spare PH so I decied to get all the LR i want and start my tnak with it and then once my cyclin was over and all my levels got down...I wouldnt have to deal with curing and all...cause even after you cure it....your LR could still have some die off in your main tank which will cause a mini spike of ammioun and could kill ur fish.
oh...as to the ebay thing....good luck...i recently had a bad occurance from a guy on ebay but on the other hand i found the local guy that I got my LR from....

 

[mardeebo]

Thanks Lando - I was concerned about the temp differences we get this time of year. Perhaps a corner in the basement will work - I'll give that a try.

Pearsont74 - My tank is well established - I just bought it (used) however - and the live rock was lacking IMO. I got a ton of stuff with the tank & have lots of spare PH & heaters so setting up a curing tank won't be a big deal.

I am pretty worried about any ammonia spikes once it goes in the tank because I have two gorgeous & happy bubble tip anemones. So it'll be curing until I feel 100% sure everything is okay - and even then, I only plan to add a few pieces at a time, not the whole 50 lbs that I bought.

If this ebay fella works out, I'll post the info. If not, heck, I'll post that too to warn everyone!

 

[lando]

Thanks Lando - I was concerned about the temp differences we get this time of year. Perhaps a corner in the basement will work - I'll give that a try.

You may be able to keep the water temp at the right level with a couple of heaters, but if one fails for some reason you are screwed. Good choice on the basement.

 

[pearsont74]

yeah....then ur best to do the tub thing
good luck

 

[mardeebo]

I got my shipment yesterday. We (seller and I) didn't realize the holiday weekend would throw a wrench in the deliver schedule so it was 7 days at UPS. I wasn't expecting much.

The rock was nicely shaped, different sizes like I asked for. No hitchhikers (but again, didn't expect any). Some color, but not much. It smelled good, actually - like seawater. No broken pieces. Overall, I'm pretty happy. I'm sure not as nice as from liverocks.com but perhaps a step up from just plain ol' base rock. I got 44 lbs, paid for 40. $113 including shipping for 40 lbs.

Here's a picture:

 

[RLG2182]

Hey... for $113... not bad!!

Would love to see the progression of your tank!

 

[SirLight1337]

That live rock looks like its been out of water for some time. Gonna have to let it cure for awhile.

Fresh cured liverock smells like BUTT. Rotten eggs would best describe it. Stunk up my whole house adding my 80+lbs to my tank. Good luck and keep us posted on your curing

 

[grimlock3000]

That live rock looks pretty dead. Live rock is normally only good for a day or two, three at the _most_ before siginificant die off occurs Also, that fact that the box did not smell is not a good sign. If the rock was full of life, there would be die off in shipping, and that die off should stink when you open the box after a week. It is quite likely that there was hardly any life on the rock to begin with, or that the shipping took so long, everything already died and the smell has already came and then left. Either way leave you with some good looking rock shapes that will soon be full of life from other things in your tank. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I would rather not get your hopes too high.

Still cure it though, it will just take a while for stuff to show out of the rock

I would not trust anyone that ships LR via NON overnight and 2 day delivery. For $150 (or maybe a little more), you could have had 40-50 pounds of live rock overnighted to you from any number of places the specialize in live rock. There is some good live rock on ebay, but it is hard to trust feedback ratings as a sign of if the seller is good or not. I have a friend who is absolutely terrible at ebay, he ships late, screws up item descriptions, overcharges on shipping, he sill have 98% positive feedback because people are affraid to leave negatives (since he would then leave them a negative...).

Also, curing live rock should smell like nasty eggs from the die off. Fully cured rock should smell like seawater.

 

[mardeebo]

Grimlock,

I was thinking the same thing - it probably didn't have much to begin with. But I wasn't expecting much for the price. I have some pretty nice pieces in my tank and this was just "glorified base rock" for me, personally.

I plan on getting my final lr shipment from lr.com. Some keys & gulf for variety.

I was afraid I'd end up with a bunch of broken rubble w/no detail. I do like how the rock looks.

It's curing as we speak.