Curing Pukani Rock

[ReefMadScientist]

It soaked in salt water for about 4 weeks till the Nitrites read 0. You'l need some carbon for the smell. I would not do this in your tank. No water change. No light. You can keep it covered. BRS has a video with the instructions.

Exactly this.

I did the same as I followed BRS instructions.

OP, get yourself a brute container, put the rock in there and fill it with salt water. Put a few heaters in there as well. MAKE SURE you keep the lid closed for the duration as like will cause algae to grow.

As soon as I read 0 PO3's, I took out the rock and let them dry.

OH and you need movement so put a few pumps in there.

 

[omykiss001]

I did similar I used the brute containers just to save on water usage, a hydor powerhead, and a heater. I started with tap water in the can just to decay the big stuff off first running about 80 degrees with water cirrculation. did 100% water changes for the first 2 weeks at that time I was reading >8ppm NH3 at the end of each week. At the end of the 2nd week the ammonia production started to wane a bit I moved to salterwater at about 1.021 SG, just wanted it salty not reef salty as the bacteria really don't mind that much and saved on the amount of salt I had to use given it just went down the drain at the end of the week. I did 100% water changes for the next 2 weeks, then 50% water changes for the final 2 weeks. During this time I watched NH3, NO2, NO3, and PO4. By week 6 NH3 was zero, NO2 was zero and NO3 was around 3-5 ppm PO4 was about 2-3ppm. The parameters did what we typically expect during a cycle just the dead stuff provided the ammonia. At this time the rock was fully cycled and then moved to my tank and never had a tank cycle. Was able to add my CUC day 3 after adding rock. At that time I added chaeto to my refugium, ran my skimmer. Within a month my P04 was <1ppm nitrates are <2ppm. In went the fish and corals. Just finished this on my dream tank end of this summer and love the setup and build process as much as the mature tank.

Love the look of the pukani even without any corals it looks reefy

 

[TD13]

Def. take your time. You'll think you have a jump on the curve then it will bite you in the butt big time!

 

[FireEMT]

Def. take your time. You'll think you have a jump on the curve then it will bite you in the butt big time!

Thanks, I will be taking my time for sure. The 65lbs of Pukani are on there way. I just hope its enough for my 60x24x22 tank. I don't want lots of aquascaping, probably two main islands. I guess we will see.

 

[TD13]

Ever think about cutting and gluing some of it to the back of your tank? Opens the tank for more water space and cooler aquascape!

http://gatewayaquatics.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/300-ROCK-WALL1.jpg

I've seen some VERY cool tanks done this way.

 

[FireEMT]

Ever think about cutting and gluing some of it to the back of your tank? Opens the tank for more water space and cooler aquascape!

http://gatewayaquatics.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/300-ROCK-WALL1.jpg

I've seen some VERY cool tanks done this way.

I have seen that done before. I was thinking about doing a couple pieces here and there but we will have to wait and see. Its my first tank so it will be a learning experience for sure. I want to make sure to have enough room to build up a coral collection. I just have to figure out where and how to place all the different corals. I will be looking at a lot of built tanks and coping there ideas.

 

[jaws789832]

I acid washed mine twice and did a chlorox soak. There was still enough dead material on it to kick start my cycle while curring. My phosphates went up to about 3 durring the cure. At 2 weeks into the cure I did 100% water change(all in salt water in a brute can with ciculation and heat as needed). After abot 2 more weeks I checked it again and phosphates were still at 1 but I figured they were going down so I went ahead and put them in my new tank to get the tank cycle going. Right now in tank 2 weeks in, amonia 0, nitrites 2, nitrates 10, phosphates
.02. As soon as the nitrites get to 0 (which will probably be this week) I will do a 50% water change and retest to see where my nitrates are at. Then it should be good to go.

 

[gji]

Maybe I'm missing something, what is the purpose of curing the rock in a brute container if the rock is going into a new sterile tank without any fish or corals

 

[jaws789832]

There is probably more but the 2 main reasons for me is
1. The smell is horrible. In a Brute container you can place it somewhere that the smell wont offend the rest of the house. Plus with the lid on it it keeps it pretty much contained until you open the lid of course.
2. After taking all the time to get the rock pristine white and pretty, the last thing I wanted was for all the nastys to start growing on the rock again. The trash can is dark, and the things that feed off the high nitrates and phosphates are less likely to grow.

 

[NanaReefer]

To combat the smell, throw in a big bag of carbon. Worked great for me!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Maybe I'm missing something, what is the purpose of curing the rock in a brute container if the rock is going into a new sterile tank without any fish or corals

In addition to the above, to not dump so many nutrients into the water as it cures.

 

[anit77]

I'm hoping to be getting started curing 100 to 150lbs. This will also be my 1st tank. Having no experience with reefing but a good bit with pools. On a gunite pool if your harness is low the water will leach calcium and other minerals from the pool and concrete deck. Would this be similar with just ro/di water if left to cure for 3 months? And if so is it somewhat desirable to open more pores up?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm hoping to be getting started curing 100 to 150lbs. This will also be my 1st tank. Having no experience with reefing but a good bit with pools. On a gunite pool if your harness is low the water will leach calcium and other minerals from the pool and concrete deck. Would this be similar with just ro/di water if left to cure for 3 months? And if so is it somewhat desirable to open more pores up?

The dissolution of calcium carbonate into pure RO/DI is quite low. Unless you acidify the water, only about 1 gram of calcium will dissolve into 100 liters of water.

 

[FireEMT]

The dissolution of calcium carbonate into pure RO/DI is quite low. Unless you acidify the water, only about 1 gram of calcium will dissolve into 100 liters of water.

This forum is awesome, I never thought I would be able to receive this much information about curing rocks. I'm sure because of all the information received it will safe me a headache in the future[emoji3].

 

[gji]

So is there any type of dry rock that doesn't have to be cured? I was gonna buy brs reef saver for my new 93 cube. I always bought live rock, so this will be my first time with dry rock. I have 60 lbs of Carib sea special grade alive sand

 

[omykiss001]

So is there any type of dry rock that doesn't have to be cured? I was gonna buy brs reef saver for my new 93 cube. I always bought live rock, so this will be my first time with dry rock. I have 60 lbs of Carib sea special grade alive sand

This rock will require the least amount as it is mined from the earth. A good washing and a few days soaking in saltwater is probably all you need. However, with this type of rock you'll need to add a source of ammonia to get the denitrifying bacteria growing, i.e. raw shrimp, ammonium choride, etc. so may still take several weeks, possibly shorter if you add bio-spira, Dr. tim's one and only to seed the bacterial population to get the rock/tank cycled.

 

[gji]

Thank u

 

[Jlentz]

So is there any type of dry rock that doesn't have to be cured? I was gonna buy brs reef saver for my new 93 cube. I always bought live rock, so this will be my first time with dry rock. I have 60 lbs of Carib sea special grade alive sand

I think there are a few of them. Pukani looks the coolest though.

 

[saltyphish]

So is there any type of dry rock that doesn't have to be cured? I was gonna buy brs reef saver for my new 93 cube. I always bought live rock, so this will be my first time with dry rock. I have 60 lbs of Carib sea special grade alive sand

http://www.marcorocks.com/ Is not harvested from the ocean either = less organics to worry about dying off so they claim. I think I am going with their rock on my next tank. I would still cure it though.

 

[pdiehm]

I used Marco Rocks in my Biocube build. They definitely do leach phosphates. I battled nuisance algae (I know it's part of the tank maturing), until I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro salt. Ever since then, my magnesium levels have been 1550+ppm and the algae went away.

my pukani rock that I got from BRS, cured in the garage for ~4 months before I had PO4 readings of under 0.05 consistently.