How long CAN I cure live rock?

[appleton71]

This isn't another 'how long should I cure' thread...it's how long can I cure.

I've got about 300 lbs of dead rock that I'll be treating with bleach for a week or so, then curing in my basement. I'm not going to need it for several months (maybe a year) but I'd like to get the nasty, stinky bleaching part out of the way while it's still warm enough and I can do it outside. Am I better off to bleach it, let it dry out again, then cure it when I'm closer to setting up the tank or can I let it cure for months in the basement without any ill effects?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yes. Bleach power wash even, then dry.

 

[Holy_makerel]

Mine has been curing for over a year now. Finally got the tank but need to finish my house remodel before i can move forward with the build. It may sit in saltwater with a pump for another six months. I do occasional water changes

You cant over cure your rock

 

[mcarroll]

Hm....to me this still seems like a pretty untried practice, as does everything about using dead rock. If it wasn't live rock, what are you culturing for all that time?

Bacteria probably, but which ones?

Bottled bacteria, may be one answer.

What do you get when you culture that stuff long term on "treated" aragonite media, and without manually feeding and taking care of it?

Reef-oriented microbes are unlikely to be there...that's all I'd say for sure.

So is this an advantage vs your other suggestion?

I know when tampabaysaltwater makes live rock out of dead rock, they do it in the best place possible – the ocean.

Even there it takes years to really "liven up" before they will sell it as "live rock".

I'd worry that in the end you get something that's really no better than rock you'd custom-make out of aragonite sand and cement, or a totally artificial ceramic bio-media. That's not to say it would be necessarily bad. It's to say that use of live rock was a revolution because of the reef-oriented microbes that come with it. Inert bio-media and bacteria is something we had before the revolution.

 

[Holy_makerel]

Hm....to me this still seems like a pretty untried practice, as does everything about using dead rock. If it wasn't live rock, what are you culturing for all that time?

Bacteria probably, but which ones?

Bottled bacteria, may be one answer.

What do you get when you culture that stuff long term on "treated" aragonite media, and without manually feeding and taking care of it?

Reef-oriented microbes are unlikely to be there...that's all I'd say for sure.

So is this an advantage vs your other suggestion?

I know when tampabaysaltwater makes live rock out of dead rock, they do it in the best place possible – the ocean.

Even there it takes years to really "liven up" before they will sell it as "live rock".

I'd worry that in the end you get something that's really no better than rock you'd custom-make out of aragonite sand and cement, or a totally artificial ceramic bio-media. That's not to say it would be necessarily bad. It's to say that use of live rock was a revolution because of the reef-oriented microbes that come with it. Inert bio-media and bacteria is something we had before the revolution.

Very well thought out response with some good points. I'm not trying to culture bacteria in the rock. It was more about nutrient removal for me but then i just left it in the saltwater afterward since i have the space to do so. I'll probably add some bacteria in a bottle and ghostfeed the container for a few months before it actually goes in the new system. Just to kickstart the cycle

 

[OriginalUserName]

If you use bottled bacteria and an ammonia source you can build up a pretty good bacterial population. Without a constant food source they will go dormant but the population can bounce back quickly. I don't know how long they can do that though, a year seems a long time. Why not dry and then bottle bacteria cycle a few months before you need it? The only downside is that wet rock is slightly harder to scape with.

 

[Captain Quint]

I've cured DR to LR for up to a year at my longest stretch.

And ~3 months at a minimum.

 

[appleton71]

My main goal would be to get nutrients as low as possible. I know even after bleaching there will still be stuff coming off the rock for a long time. I'm not too concerned about repopulating the BB right away. I just wasn't sure if curing for that long would cause things to grow, then die off, causing another nutrient spike.

I'm a firm believer that using dead rock is fine as long as you have the time and patience to process it correctly.

 

[roberthu526]

I cured mine for about two months. Did two water changes and used some bottled bacteria. Came out Okay. I think you can cure them as long as you want.