Do I need to cure dry rock?

[Steven777]

I bought Nature's Ocean rock on Amazon:


They are quite dusty but look unused. Do I have to soak them in for a week or just clean it? I have everything else ready. Just wanna put the rock in first, the sand and water.

 

[Amboss72]

Just clean it and put it in. Turkey baster the rock after the initial cleaning to blow off anything you missed and let the filter sock and protein skimmer get rid of the rest. I’ve done this many times without a problem.

 

[Amboss72]

I should add to my previous post. If there’s dead or decomposing matter which will usually be accompanied with a nasty smell then cure it.

 

[FishyDP]

I use this rock and think it is a really good value for the price, shipped to your door. I suggest using a high pressure hose to thoroughly rinse it. Even if you think you have cleaned it completely, clean it again. You would be amazed at all of the dust that will come out of it once you get it under water, even after rinsing.

 

[PatW]

If it is discolored with organic residue, you might want to bleach it to get ride of organics. Just rinse thoroughly and dry after using bleach.

Curing dry rock in seawater for weeks is usually done when it is suspected of possibly having phosphates in it that will leach out into the aquarium.