Curing pukani dry rock

[Feltman]

Hey I have 40 pounds of pukani dry rock I got from brs. I'm looking to cure it, the only problem is I live in a small apartment on the 3rd floor with no balcony or garage and a wife that has a good smell. So, any suggestions on how to deal with the smell while it cures? I thought of maybe adding some biospira and basically cycling it as it cures. I realize with this route ill still have to wait till it's fully cured which may be more difficult to detect with this route. Any thoughts on this or other suggestions?

 

[Mike J.]

Well, there's a little confusion here. You cure live rock that has been shipped and has stuff dying on it. You don't cure dry rock. There will be no smell. Smell from what? There's nothing dead or dying.

Go ahead and set up your tank and start cycling it.

 

[Feltman]

The brs website specifically states with a warning that it should be cured before use because of dead organics on the rock. Or am I misreading this? I'll admit I am fairly new to the saltwater scene so I'm not trying to be mean just trying to get my facts straight.

 

[Mike J.]

Okay. I read the BRS statement about soaking or curing the rock. They are actually warning people about adding it to an aquarium that already going. Even then maybe I wouldn't add 40 pounds all at once, but a mature aquarium should be able to handle a couple rocks per week. You're going to have to trust me on this one. Go ahead and put it in the tank and start cycling the tank. Believe me there won't be any noticeable smell. Maybe it'll contribute to your ammonia, but I doubt it very much. I wouldn't count on dry rock to be enough of an ammonia source to start a decent cycle.

If I'm leading you wrong there will be at least five people correcting me in the next 1/2 hour or less.

 

[Feltman]

Well then let me share the rest I've already got an established fowlr 90 with 30 gallon sump and 100 pounds live rock that I've had for 4 months and was up for a year before me(new sand was replaced during the move). I bought the pukani because his rock looked basically like field rock and I love the pukani. I was plannin on slowly replacing it. So I was going to cure and cycle it all in a tub before adding. Are u saying I could just add a few rocks at a time? Or would it be faster to cycle outside of tank. I'm runnin a dual brs carbon/Gfo reactor decent sized skimmer and have about a 15 gallon refug in sump with chaeto if that matters. Thx for the info

 

[Joe Knows Reefs]

There WILL BE a very STRONG smell! I have personal first hand experience with over 200 pounds of this stuff. The only thing I know to suggest is to put it in a bedroom and keep the door closed. Also, in the window of that bedroom, put a box fan facing outwards. Close the window on it. The idea is that the fan will create negative pressure in the room causing all air flow to come in through the cracks around the door and out the window. Good luck...took me about 4 weeks to get this stuff ready for a tank

 

[Mike J.]

A question before I answer. What livestock is currently in the tank?

 

[Feltman]

The livestock are as follows. Six line wrasse, tomato clown, purple dottyback, bicolor dwarf angel, pajama cardinal, baggai cardinal, yellow tang, jester goby, law mower blenny, cleaner shrimp and assorted turbo/nasaris/astreo snails and reg leg hermit. Fully aware this is on the heavy side for stocking and I run a fair amount of Gfo to counter. Another reason I'm hesitant to add the rock straight in. Currently am feeding half cube morning and night of either mysis, brine or mega angel with Julia's dried seaweed twice a week.

 

[Mike J.]

Well, you're not overstocked; well stocked maybe. I would suggest you feed more. Sounds to me like you're underfeeding your fish. I'll bet the half cube is gone in seconds and some of the slower to eat fish get scraps or nothing.

You saw the last post. Makes me wonder too. Maybe it has to do with water changes?

What I suggest that you do is ask BRS. I have a good working relationship with them. I know that you can chat with them and they are quick to respond. Or you can just call and ask them.

I still think a well established tank can easily handle the addition of a couple rocks every couple of weeks.

 

[Feltman]

Thx for the info. I'll see what they say. I'm really enjoying this hobby and hope to one day have a reef tank like some on here, but for now am getting my feet wet(no pun intended) with a fowlr and enjoying watching the fish.

 

[MikeAndrews]

I started a 190 gal with dry pukani and live sand. It took 4 weeks to cycle to zero ammonia, nitrites. Only saw some brown diatoms no green algae! Cleanup crew added then transferred corals. No issues, great looking stuff!