curing is is making it live......
Actually
curing is allowing the dead stuff in and on the rock to completely decay and leach out of the rock.
Cycling is allowing new bacteria to now make the rock alive again. The cure can be done without lights or heat...assuming it is done with room temperature conditions (i.e., not in you garage in Montana in the middle of winter.)
The bleaching step jump starts the cure....it hydrolysis some of the dead stuff accelerating the leaching/curing process. I'd soak in bleach for at least a week (ideally in a garage or outside). The times I've bleached I've used tap water. With approximately 50 gallons, I've used two gallons of unscented bleach....plain bleach.
Once the rock is bleached, rinsed and ideally dried (drying assists in ridding the rock of beach), it's ready for the saltwater cure part. If needed, and you want to accelerate the de-bleaching, use a de-chlor product....sodium thiosulfate, prime, etc.
So now into saltwater....I like to throw a powerhead or two into the cure tank to provide flow. Let the rock brew in the saltwater and measure for nitrates and/or phosphates....maybe after a week or so. Note that if the rock is real "dirty" this first couple weeks can be pretty stinky....so locate this cure tub/tank in an appropriate place. When the N or P numbers are high....again, maybe a week or two....do a water change. This is the one time a 100% water change would be acceptable. Continue monitoring N/P and water change as needed. Once the levels stop rising, the cure is coming to an end. Water change until you're happy with the N and P numbers. By doing a proper cure, there is less likelihood you'll experience nasty algae blooms.
Dependent on how dirty the rock was, this cure could take a month or two. In most cases, the cycle ends up happening concurrently.....just double check with an ammonia spike, testing 24 hours later that it's gone.
Hope this helps.
