Curing dry rock question

[Angryminer_07]

Someone please help me understand what's going on here. I've been curing my Walt smith 2.1 dry rock for about 1.5 weeks. Per the instructions online, it says to cure it in saltwater until ph is 8.o-8.4 and nitrite/ammonia is 0.

 

[Angryminer_07]

Sorry early submit.

My question is if this plain dry rock that has no organic material to breakdown, why do I have 0.5 nitrites and 1.2 ammonia? What's happening to create this in RODI salt water?

And what would happen if I decided to aquascape with the rock in its current condition?

 

[cracker]

I would think there is something in this rock that's doing this . I'm not sure where they get this rock was it mined or such? Could be rain leaching vegetation above thru the soil of many years. ( Good that your curing this rock & getting these nutrients out !

 

[Angryminer_07]

Bump.

I was under the impression is wasn't mined and purely man made. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyone else have any comments?

 

[DzidtheReefer]

Let it be, the nitrites and ammonia will eventually fade and turn to nitrates. I did a water change after reading only nitrates, added a whole bottle of bacteria and than left it alone for 6months until i needed the rock.

I personally would not use the rock at the moment because you do not have enough good bacteria which might be a pain in the rear as your tank goes thru its cycles. But it wouldnt be the end of the world if you did use it, there are many ways to acheive a good end result in his hobby

 

[lzrlvr]

Why do you people buy dry rock when you can buy alternatives that are much better.

 

[Angryminer_07]

Why do you people buy dry rock when you can buy alternatives that are much better.

My wife likes the purple color of the Walt smith option, and I wanted to avoid any potential unwanted hitchhikers that come with live rock.

 

[dbl]

I would agree with the advice above...let it be and let it do it's thing. It is after all why you're curing it before using it. I cured mine for a little over three months while I put the rest of the system together.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

That is odd.
Does the water smell at all?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Quick note. IN this form of curing , it’s not cycling it. It’s made from cement so the lime is being leached out (kalk wasser) that’s why it says to check the ph to know when it’s done.
Putting live rock like that in a tank would blow up the alk and ph.

Curing is a horribly misused slang term.

 

[cracker]

Thanks Salty I need to clarify when using this term .

 

[lzrlvr]

Ok no matter what you may end up with hitchhikers no matter how diligent you may be and you may be surprised not all are bad.