Re cure live rock

[Pizzapro83]

Can someone please tell me step by step how to re cure live rock. I have a 150 pounds of rock in a bin that I forgot about when I broke my tank down. It smells horrible!! What do I need to do so I can be able to add it to my tank?

 

[nissanrs]

its out of water i assume.. does it have any purple on it

 

[ucantmakeme]

fill said bin with saltwater, heater, and a powerhead or 2... let sit till params are in check!

 

[Pizzapro83]

Do I keep light on it? Do I do water changes? It is sitting in old nasty water

 

[Railrider1920]

One thing you could do is to get a good stiff brush and brush off anything on the rock that is now dead (polyps, sponge, algae etc). get this stuff off of it. If you don't, it will just decompose while the rock is in the bin. Treat it kind of like a tank. Get some decent salt water in there, heater powerheads. Let it sit for a week then test the water. Do a water change. Test it again a week or so later. Do water change. Keep doing this untill your numbers are good.

 

[Pizzapro83]

Do I need to keep a light on it? And how long do you think before it will be fully cured to put in my tank?

 

[fab1971]

You don't need lights on when curing. Even after this has been cured I'd only add it to an existing system piece by piece. If it's a new system with no fish or corals then right away. To be safe, I believe it takes approx. 4-6 weeks.

 

[Troylee]

no lights but you need a skimmer running the whole time or it will take for ever!!!

 

[Pizzapro83]

Ok so I fill a bin with salt water put flow in there with a heater. I do water changes at first once a week. Do I need to put live sand in there to get it to cycle?

 

[inactive]

I nuke live rock in fresh water and vinegar... I dump an entire bottle of vinegar no matter what size bin I am using. I let it all nuke out for a few days and then I pressure wash it. After that, I cure it out in more FW for a few days to get that vinegar out..... After the rock is white and "clean," I run saltwater/pumps/heater with no light for a month.... works every time!

Oh, I don't change the SW either...