Help need advice on curing Pukani Rock!

epidemiolo · Mar 23, 2015

[h=2]Curing dry Pukani rock outside in South Florida[/h]

I am planning to cure dry Pukani rock outside in Southern Florida for a new reef tank. The reason I want to cure it outside is to avoid having the odor in the house. Our current temperature is averaging 70+ to 85 degrees F. I plan to put it in a covered plastic storage container with two powerheads but no heater. After curing the dry rock I plan to add it to the DT in the house with some live rock and sand but no livestock until the tank cycles. Does this sound like a feasible plan or should I rethink doing this outside:squigglemouth:?

Up2no6ood · Mar 23, 2015

Outside should be fine, are you going to run lanthium?

Cleverbs · Mar 23, 2015

That should work just fine I would think.

pdiehm · Mar 23, 2015

I have 75 lbs, but I'm also learning as I go, so take this and go from there.

I got 75lbs of Pukani rock from Bulk Reef Supply on 11/26/2014. Washed off the rock, removing anything that I could tell was dead. Mind you, I've never seen this kind of rock, nor cured dry rock before, so quite a bit, that i didn't think was dead stuff, ultimately turned out to be dead stuff.

Started to soak in good ole tap water for a week. Stunk...good lord did it stink. PO4 level was way over 1.3ppm on the 713 checker by Hanna. Moved to RODI water, let it sit in there for a week. Smell dissipated, but PO4 tests were high. Moved to Saltwater a week later, and that's where it's been ever since. I would dose LC every day, twice a day and not change out the water. Turns out, I needed to change the water about once every 2-3 weeks. Today the PO4 test levels via 736 tester were 4, 0, and 0. It's taken a LONG time to get as much of the PO4 out from this rock as I could, but forutnately, I have a wife who gives me lots of chores, and my build has taken about 4 months to get the tank and stand in the house (she wouldnt let the stand in, until it matched the rest of the room perfectly). The good side of that is that I have let the Pukani just sit and leach out PO4. I would scrub the rocks every couple days, and now I'm hoping that I'm near the point where if there is PO4 leaching out, a GFO (whenver I get one) can handle it. I'm also hoping that this patience has allowed me to bypass the green algae ugly phase.

epidemiolo · Mar 23, 2015

Up2no6ood said:
Outside should be fine, are you going to run lanthium?

I hadn't planned on it but I could if you think I need to. Is the lanthium for the phosphates?

epidemiolo · Mar 23, 2015

Cleverbs said:
That should work just fine I would think.

Thanks! I will let you know how it goes.

Up2no6ood · Mar 23, 2015

Yes for phos. lanthium would greatly reduce the curing time

epidemiolo · Mar 23, 2015

pdiehm said:
I have 75 lbs, but I'm also learning as I go, so take this and go from there.

I got 75lbs of Pukani rock from Bulk Reef Supply on 11/26/2014. Washed off the rock, removing anything that I could tell was dead. Mind you, I've never seen this kind of rock, nor cured dry rock before, so quite a bit, that i didn't think was dead stuff, ultimately turned out to be dead stuff.

Started to soak in good ole tap water for a week. Stunk...good lord did it stink. PO4 level was way over 1.3ppm on the 713 checker by Hanna. Moved to RODI water, let it sit in there for a week. Smell dissipated, but PO4 tests were high. Moved to Saltwater a week later, and that's where it's been ever since. I would dose LC every day, twice a day and not change out the water. Turns out, I needed to change the water about once every 2-3 weeks. Today the PO4 test levels via 736 tester were 4, 0, and 0. It's taken a LONG time to get as much of the PO4 out from this rock as I could, but forutnately, I have a wife who gives me lots of chores, and my build has taken about 4 months to get the tank and stand in the house (she wouldnt let the stand in, until it matched the rest of the room perfectly). The good side of that is that I have let the Pukani just sit and leach out PO4. I would scrub the rocks every couple days, and now I'm hoping that I'm near the point where if there is PO4 leaching out, a GFO (whenver I get one) can handle it. I'm also hoping that this patience has allowed me to bypass the green algae ugly phase.

Thanks for the info on the Pukani. I will scrub everything I see on that rock. Sounds like curing the rock outside is a good idea given the odor you describe. I did not realize that it takes that long to get rid of the phosphates. What is a GFO?

Breakthecycle2 · Mar 23, 2015

Can you use lanthium when cycling live rock?

epidemiolo · Mar 23, 2015

That is good to know. I will definitely get some. Thank you!!

Up2no6ood · Mar 23, 2015

Gfo is another method for reducing phosphate. Works great in tank but I wouldn't recommend curing your rock with it. GFO is far more expensive and requires changing the media when it is fully saturated. You can also do an acid bath before curing to help reduce organics that are stuck in the rock.

chefjpaul · Mar 23, 2015

There are many ways to do this. All are sufficient.

Google acid wash dry rock or curing dry rock videos. Some good techniques out there.

On my current tank I used all dry rock. I soaked in rodi for a few days and tested the water.
I found P04 high, so I did the acid bath method. I used vinegar because I had a few gallons. Any acid bath works, murric is fastest I hear.

I then ran gfo while it was in the cycling process, Just me though.

I say do what make you feel comfortable and at ease, they all work well.

Skynyrd Fish · Mar 24, 2015

I acid bathed mine. I'm at week two in salt water. I haven't tested PO4 yet. My rock only stank for 4 days. I have 60 lbs in 17 gallons of salt water. I also added 7 drops of MB7. I highly recommend an acid bath as it took a ton of nastiness off my rock. I feel that it will speed the process up.

epidemiolo · Mar 24, 2015

chefjpaul said:
There are many ways to do this. All are sufficient.

Google acid wash dry rock or curing dry rock videos. Some good techniques out there.

On my current tank I used all dry rock. I soaked in rodi for a few days and tested the water.
I found P04 high, so I did the acid bath method. I used vinegar because I had a few gallons. Any acid bath works, murric is fastest I hear.

I then ran gfo while it was in the cycling process, Just me though.

I say do what make you feel comfortable and at ease, they all work well.

Thanks! I didn't realize there were so many options. I just want to do this as economically as possible. How long did you leave the rock in the vinegar? Was this a vinegar water solution or just vinegar? I really appreciate your input.

epidemiolo · Mar 24, 2015

Skynyrd Fish said:
I acid bathed mine. I'm at week two in salt water. I haven't tested PO4 yet. My rock only stank for 4 days. I have 60 lbs in 17 gallons of salt water. I also added 7 drops of MB7. I highly recommend an acid bath as it took a ton of nastiness off my rock. I feel that it will speed the process up.

Thanks. If you do the acid bath do you still need to do the lanthanum cholride?

chefjpaul · Mar 24, 2015

Only one is needed. The acid eats away a layer of rock and dead particles as well, so don't soak to long.

If you look in UTube, you'll see what I mean.

I did 50/50 water / vinegar. I soaked it until the bubbles and foaming stopped. Then rinsed them a lot, soaked in rodi for a few more days, tested, started cycling.