Saltwater & Reef

stratmaster · 04-19-2010, 11:33 PM

Quick question about curing rock, I've had 50 pounds worth of rock curing for two weeks in a 30 gallon with a couple a powerheads going and doing water changes frequently. well I tested it today, no ammonia, no nitrite and the trate is pretty low too. Does this mean it's good to go in my 180?

Thanks,

Steve

neilanh · 04-20-2010, 12:38 AM

probably. How long has it been since you did a water change? If it's been more than a few days I think you're all set.

stratmaster · 04-20-2010, 01:16 AM

Yup, two days actually. Only thing is I had a massive fish loss due to an ammonia rise a while ago because I did not let some live rock cure long enough. Ever since then I've been paranoid and don't want to rush it. I might just give it an extra day or two, can't hurt right?

Steve

thincat · 04-20-2010, 03:33 AM

Yes, another way is to add a little fishfood and see if the readings stay stable for a day or so after that. either way it is good to be curious.

neilanh · 04-20-2010, 09:44 AM

If you are worried about it (I would be too) just add it like a piece at a time and wait several days between to make sure your main tank stays stable.

Krypt · 04-20-2010, 10:02 AM

+1 for adding small amounts of it over time. If your unsure about it, add 5 pounds, wait a day, test, and if it's all clear add 5 more, then repeat til done and you got yourself a nice aquascaping project that'll take you a week and a half or so.

mrg02d · 04-20-2010, 02:48 PM

I just dodged a bullet similar to this. I bought 7 lbs of dry rock from my LFS and began plunking pieces in the DT. I got to one that looked a little funny (had some brown stuff on it) and decided to boil it. After I boiled it, it had this awful stench to it. I wasnt sure what the heck it was (thought the brown stuff was just dirt) so I put it into a bucket full of old tank water. A few days later, AMMONIA OFF THE CHARTS!!! YIKES!

The rest of the rocks are all sitting in the bucket. Im guessing the rocks I added already are okay as nothing bad happened. (WHich Im sure would have )

I dont really want to cure the rocks (as in, wait for good bacteria to show up), I just want to get rid of the decay. Is this okay? My tank has been up and running (cycled) for 11 months now. Im just adding rocks to the tank.

Is it okay to keep doing water changes until the ammonia is at zero? Seems letting whatever rot for a little while would be faster than waiting for a cycle. Plus, I dont have any extra power heads. The rocks are just sitting in a bucket of old tank water. Each time I do a PWC on the DT, I use that water to replace the bucket water.

Matt

thincat · 04-20-2010, 03:05 PM

What do you think cycling is. It's letting the organic stuff get broken down by bacteria. Yes, PWC's are the best way to reduce ammonia.

mrg02d · 04-20-2010, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thincat

What do you think cycling is. It's letting the organic stuff get broken down by bacteria. Yes, PWC's are the best way to reduce ammonia.

Yea, I know that cycling reduces the ammonia, but that letting bacteria form and do the work is best. With what I am doing, I am mechanically reducing ammonia. So as the junk is turning into ammonia, I am simply pouring it out rather than letting bacteria turn it into nitrites and then into nitrates.

By my method, I could have zero ammonia, but no good bacteria either. The benefit I am hoping for is less time. The problem I see is maybe having some junk still inside that really needs bacteria in order to completely rid the rocks of ammonia producing junk. I am also concerned that if I DO let the rocks truely cycle and form all the good bacteria, that I could face a crash in the DT when all this extra bacteria finds it has very little to eat.

Matt

Krypt · 04-20-2010, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrg02d

Yea, I know that cycling reduces the ammonia, but that letting bacteria form and do the work is best. With what I am doing, I am mechanically reducing ammonia. So as the junk is turning into ammonia, I am simply pouring it out rather than letting bacteria turn it into nitrites and then into nitrates.

By my method, I could have zero ammonia, but no good bacteria either. The benefit I am hoping for is less time. The problem I see is maybe having some junk still inside that really needs bacteria in order to completely rid the rocks of ammonia producing junk. I am also concerned that if I DO let the rocks truely cycle and form all the good bacteria, that I could face a crash in the DT when all this extra bacteria finds it has very little to eat.

Matt

With the way your handling your curing process, you will be setting yourself up for a nitrite spike. When the material is decomposing and the ammonia is released, the bacteria that convert it from ammonia to nitrites will be present on the rocks and start to grow. They will release nitrites and since your just going by the ammonia levels, the bacteria that convert nitrites to harmless nitrates won't have a chance to grow and when you put those rocks in the tanks, you'll get a nitrite spike which is just as deadly as ammonia.

Your best bet is to let them cure all the way, ammonia to 0 and nitrites to 0. Curing them all the way won't cause a crash to your DT, in fact it's just the opposite.