Curing dry live rock

booth2010 · Jan 27, 2014

So I've seen many ways but what's the best? I just bought 50lbs from reefrocks.net and it will be in tomorrow. Should I just put it in a tub with saltwater a heater and a power head and close the lid and wait till all levels hit 0? And if so when should I seed the rock, when I start cycling my actual tank or do it at the same time as curing just leave the lid open? I'm open to all suggestions.

tyler1503 · Jan 28, 2014

As with the majority of things in this hobby, there is no "best" way. It all really comes down to what you want to do/what you think is right.
I'd seed it to start with. Give the dry rock a good fresh water scrubbing, let it dry in the sun and let it seed from the start. The longer you seed it, the healthier it will be, assuming your seeding live rock has no bad stuff.
If you wait till your ready to put the rock in the tank to seed it you'll have to wait much longer for the nice colours, coralline, pods etc to spread.

NanaReefer · Jan 28, 2014

I cooked it for 2 weeks using the method you mentioned. Then added the rock to my tank and seeded it with SeaChem Stability. 2 weeks later I was able to transfer my corals & 2 fish

booth2010 · Jan 28, 2014

tyler1503 said:
As with the majority of things in this hobby, there is no "best" way. It all really comes down to what you want to do/what you think is right.
I'd seed it to start with. Give the dry rock a good fresh water scrubbing, let it dry in the sun and let it seed from the start. The longer you seed it, the healthier it will be, assuming your seeding live rock has no bad stuff.
If you wait till your ready to put the rock in the tank to seed it you'll have to wait much longer for the nice colours, coralline, pods etc to spread.

Thats what I meant, I know there arent any 100% proven best ways to do anything in this hobby. So I should leave it uncovered and just let it sit for a few weeks to a month?

NanaReefer · Jan 28, 2014

I'd keep it covered while cooking. Don't want any foreign substances getting in and the smell is gonna be horrible. I added a big mesh bag of carbon to the mix and it helped tremendously!!