Curing dry rock?

[Jakepen]

I guess we need to define what "dry rock" is then because what you're describing isn't dry rock, IMO.

It was dry pukani. Tons of dead organic hitchhikers. Even today, looking in the tank I still will spot a small clam, or some fleshy looking thing. Just picked a meaty something out of a crevice last week. Which I'm sure was absolutely decaying and giving off ammonia or phosphates. Muriatic acid bath, took care of a lot of organisms on the rock though.

 

[Manuelnvrz]

Well would all this be ok in anew start up cycling tank?

 

[deerhunter06]

Well would all this be ok in anew start up cycling tank?

Yes, give it a good rinse. As long as you have nothing alive in your tank this is an ideal way to start the cycle of a new tank.

 

[CodyRVA]

+1 @deerhunter06. If i ordered "dry rock" and it had all that crap on it, then agreed; I would not put it into an established system. Starting a new system from scratch, yes.

 

[Volcmreefer]

In the process of reducing phosphates on my 60 lbs of BRS pukani now. I gave it an acid bath, pressure washed and now it is in a brute container. I started with the phosphates at 0.46 ppm with a hanna checker. I have been dosing lanthanum chloride for the past 4 days now and am down to 0.06. Once around 0.03 I will drain the rodi water and fill with saltwater to begin the curing process. Pleased with the lanthanum. I would not use it in an established tank though.

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

Not curing your dead rock is great if like green hair algae. The rock just put in your DT will leach phosphate for ages. And you will have a green hairy mess the kind of mess that causes many to quit the hobby. There are different methods to cure rock. This is one of the most inportant steps you will take to be a successful reefer.
Curing is not the same as cycling. Cure your rock to rid phos-ext, then cycle

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

In the process of reducing phosphates on my 60 lbs of BRS pukani now. I gave it an acid bath, pressure washed and now it is in a brute container. I started with the phosphates at 0.46 ppm with a hanna checker. I have been dosing lanthanum chloride for the past 4 days now and am down to 0.06. Once around 0.03 I will drain the rodi water and fill with saltwater to begin the curing process. Pleased with the lanthanum. I would not use it in an established tank though.

This process work well and is what I do

 

[deerhunter06]

Not curing your dead rock is great if like green hair algae. The rock just put in your DT will leach phosphate for ages. And you will have a green hairy mess the kind of mess that causes many to quit the hobby. There are different methods to cure rock. This is one of the most inportant steps you will take to be a successful reefer.
Curing is not the same as cycling. Cure your rock to rid phos-ext, then cycle

Wrong, curing is the same as cycling. curing is establishing a bacteria population on rock. Reducing phosphates is something else entirely. I cycled my tank with dry rock from brs and have never had one bit of algae from it.

 

[DevonMeep]

Just got some reef saver dry rock from BRS and it still had a few well hidden dead clams on it xD. So they can definitely still have organic matter on them.

 

[Volcmreefer]

Yeah, my pukani had a bunch dead sponges on/in it. When I started blasting it with the pressure washer all kinds of crap was flying out of the holes! Hopefully I got most of it.

 

[jhatfield]

In the process of reducing phosphates on my 60 lbs of BRS pukani now. I gave it an acid bath, pressure washed and now it is in a brute container. I started with the phosphates at 0.46 ppm with a hanna checker. I have been dosing lanthanum chloride for the past 4 days now and am down to 0.06. Once around 0.03 I will drain the rodi water and fill with saltwater to begin the curing process. Pleased with the lanthanum. I would not use it in an established tank though.

What dosage of the lanthanum chloride are you using for the dry rock?

 

[Volcmreefer]

I really didn't measure to tell you the truth. I would say about 10-15 mls/dose. You can dose a couple of times a day if you want. I am dosing in a brute container with no corals so there is no chance of overdosing and killing anything. Using ATM Agent Green lanthanum chloride.

 

[SALTYwaterDOG]

I drip LC about one drop per five seconds. Into a ten micron sock. Drip solution is about four cc to two thousand cc of rodi

 

[DebraLV]

I ordered this base rock. I wanted to know if I can throw it in the tank while it's still cycling. I've read stories on here to not do it as it will cloud the tank and smell? My sandbed is already in.