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| General Reef Discussion In this forum we discuss issues related to keeping marine and reef aquariums in a friendly flame-free environment. |
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01-06-2006, 09:15 PM
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#1
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65 Gallon Reef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chelsea, MA
Posts: 885
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Mission: Cure LR
DAY 1
Ok well i finally recieved my 25LB LR shipment after 5 days of tranist. If it wasnt for the free shipping i wouldve have denied the shipment. To my suprise i thought there would be almost nothing left to the rock but there was actually, it smelled bad but not as much as i expected it to. So as soon as i got my rock i brushed off all the dead stuff and rinsed them in saltwater. I put the rock into a 10 gallon spare tank with a powerhead, heater, and a small aquaclear hang on back filter since i dont have an extra protein skimmer to put in there. The water in the tank was at around 76-78 Degrees. I also am going to be doing a light schedule of about 6 hours a day. I dont want to over to it because i dont want any unwanted algea but also i heard light can speed up the process.
I will be posting step by step how i am curing the rock please feel free to let me know if I am doing anything wrong since this is my first attempt at curing LR. Im basing my process off of ways i read online and on this forum. 
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01-06-2006, 09:16 PM
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#2
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65 Gallon Reef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chelsea, MA
Posts: 885
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Day 2
DAY 2
I tested the water the second day and heres what i got for readings.
Temperature 78 Degrees
PH 8.0
Salinity 1.020
Ammonia 7.5 ppm
Nitrite 0.1 ppm
Nitrate 0.1ppm
Seems to me that the Ammonia spike has happened already. Am i Right?
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01-06-2006, 09:38 PM
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#3
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I've got the REEF rash!
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 34,114
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you haven't had enough readings to know that.What size tank?nano.
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01-06-2006, 09:54 PM
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#4
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The Bitter Mod
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,586
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doubtfull
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01-06-2006, 09:56 PM
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#5
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A Chaotic Fishy
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Alpharetta, Ga
Posts: 1,256
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realistically, any amm that high would be considered a spike...
considering that the rock was just shipped and youre adding it to the tank for the first time... you can pretty much say that the cycle has started. Just give it some time and keep monitoring.... youll start to see changes soon
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Tony/.
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01-06-2006, 10:10 PM
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#6
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Ghetto Reefer 101
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: georgia
Posts: 1,446
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i wouldnt put light on it....the ammonia is from all of the dead stuff....it will stay high for a bit, than nitrites will be real high....you are looking at about 6 weeks, so buckle down
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125AGA, BareBottom, 30gsump, MRC-2, (MRC)CR-1, REEFKEEPER controller, LittleGiant return, 540w of T5s on IC660s&WH7s
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01-06-2006, 11:47 PM
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#7
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65 Gallon Reef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chelsea, MA
Posts: 885
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i was afraid of it taking that long. Can i seed it with some rock from my main tank will that make the cycle go faster?
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01-07-2006, 12:46 PM
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#8
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 56
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YOu can, or you can buy some Bacteria from your LFS, they usualy sell bottles of it, that will prolly speed it up by about 25% I Let my 18lb single rock that I just recently recieved cure for about 5 weeks under no light, with a POS Seaclone protein skimmer, and the readings were low, with almost no Ammonia, and trival nitrates/nitrites. So, I would say about 6 weeks for your shipment, if you buy the bacteria you can prolly cut it down to 4-5 weeks. |
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01-07-2006, 01:43 PM
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#9
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65 Gallon Reef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chelsea, MA
Posts: 885
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ok sounds good i will take a trip out ot my LFS today and see if i can find that bacteria. Ive seen it before in one store i just cant remember which one it was so looks like i will be shopping today.
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01-07-2006, 05:10 PM
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#10
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65 Gallon Reef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chelsea, MA
Posts: 885
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Update
DAY 3
Well i did a 50% water change of the water today and tested the water heres my new readings.
Nitrite 0.0ppm
Nitrate 0.0ppm
Ammonia Between 5.0ppm - 7.5ppm
PH 8.0
Temp 79 Degrees
Gravity 1.020
The Ammonia seemed to go down a tiny bit but not much as much as I thought i would after a water change. Looks like this is going to take a long time to cure this LR.
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01-07-2006, 05:23 PM
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#11
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Human grounding probe
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 1,896
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For lands sakes it's only been two days. Heck I eat 2 day old pizza off the stove. Curing is a nice way to say rotting, and two days isn't enough time for it to even start really gettin foul. There are is a ton of dead organic matter in any shipped rock especially if it took 5 days to arrive. You can speed the curing process but only minimally by using bacteria. When I cure I always use light, yes this may cause an alge bloom but the alge was already there to begin with let it do it's job and eat the crud. I also remove the rock daily for a scrub/dunk/swish in the WC water wich I also perform daily. Adding your own LR won't make a noticable difference so I wouldn't even bother. I have had rock cure in as little as three weeks. But that was a fluke. The fella I ordered it from was from SLC and was on the way through so he delivered all the LR in a SW filled cooler. I still got readable ammonia due to the stress of the move. I don't add diddly to my tank unless it's completely run it's course. Be pacient, this hobby requires it.
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70T/RR: Wannabe bare bottom hair algae factory
Bare Bottom and hate it!!!! 
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01-07-2006, 07:55 PM
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#12
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65 Gallon Reef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chelsea, MA
Posts: 885
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im only using a 10 gallon tank for 25lbs of rock is this a problem?
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01-07-2006, 08:57 PM
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#13
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I loves me a water change
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: WI
Posts: 7,901
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I think that's fine. Over the coming weeks you will see the nitrite and then nitrate become significant, with the ammonia and nitrite dimishing over time to nothing or trace amounts. It's hard to wait for rock to cure, we all know!  Just try to be patient...the time will be over before you know it!! 
And welcome to TRT!!! w000000000000000t!!! |
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01-07-2006, 10:12 PM
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#14
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A Chaotic Fishy
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Alpharetta, Ga
Posts: 1,256
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if youre getting impatient already, youre only setting yourself up for disaster IMO. You dont try to feed a porterhouse to your 14month old baby.... just take your time.
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Tony/.
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01-08-2006, 10:17 AM
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#15
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squid
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Somonauk, IL
Posts: 1
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I cured my second shipment of liverock, right in the display tank, after 10 days of 24/7 lighting and flow in a walmart tub. The hair algae was over an inch long. It 2 days per rock, in the display, with a lot of crabs and snails, and after 10 days the "curing" was done, algae gone, and no spikes. The crabs, snails, and 7" of gravel and sand did it. 10 months later no algae, no cyano, no problems.
> Wave98  |
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