Skeptical about a LFS store ...
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redfishbluefish
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I shall summarize rock curing and rock cycling in simple terms.
Curing rock allows past deaths to exit the rock. You will see nitrates and phosphates from the death leaching out of the rock. No lights, but heated with flow helps. Water changes as needed.
Cycling is allowing new bacteria to move into that rock. No lights needed, but heat and flow are. Seeding speeds up this cycle.
Curing and cycling can be occurring at the same time. And we're looking at at least four to six weeks as a minimum.
Curing rock allows past deaths to exit the rock. You will see nitrates and phosphates from the death leaching out of the rock. No lights, but heated with flow helps. Water changes as needed.
Cycling is allowing new bacteria to move into that rock. No lights needed, but heat and flow are. Seeding speeds up this cycle.
Curing and cycling can be occurring at the same time. And we're looking at at least four to six weeks as a minimum.
Harold Green
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Sounds like a pretty good indicator of his efforts to maintain a healthy environment for his stock. I'd look elsewhere for specimens to purchase. As far as the live rock goes it's pretty standard to just toss the rock into a container of salt water with a heater and power head and let it run. The difference between live and dead rock can't be seen, it's the type and amount of bacteria in and on the rock that makes it live. For my personal tanks I order florida live rock and it's overnite air shipped. When it arrives I dunk it into a bucket of salt water to remove loose dirt and then use it as is to cycle my tanks. In most cases much of the life on the rock survives.
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Virtualbasil
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I don't it was painted, because I had coraline growing on some dry rock I put in and it was growing on the back of the tank too. Is that what the fiji 2.1 is? painted?
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Virtualbasil
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On a unrelated matter. If I hook my AI primes up to my APEX jr will it give me more options for lighting?
MounteeFrag
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Primes have all the controls you need via wifi. If you hook them up via AWM with your Apex you will lose simplicity. As for cloud cover or storms you would have to set points (times of day).
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Virtualbasil
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The only thing the primes don't do that I kind of want is the Yearly light cycle
MounteeFrag
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You definitely don't get that with the AWM
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Virtualbasil
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AWM?
MounteeFrag
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AWM is the module you'll need to buy to hook up your AI light to Apex
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Virtualbasil
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I just bought a redsea 65 gallon aquarium for only $1300 !!!!!!!
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Virtualbasil
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As a update I went to another LFS that had live rock for sale and it was in curing tanks with no flow and no heat, just nothing stagnant water...
Harold Green
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They're just letting all the sponges and such die off but if the water was circulating they would be developing the bacteria you need in the tank.
retiredsailor
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I am up by Hazleton and it's not much better here. I've found one decent place in southern Wilkes Barre called Fin-Sanity but they have odd hours. Though they are open 2-8 today and I'm planning ongoing in a little bit. There is one in northern Scranton but it's a bit of a drive for me and there prices seemed pretty high, but they did have a good selection. Those are the only two I've found in a 90 minute radius that are worth going back to.
Harold Green
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I try to support my lfs and they have some really nice live rock but at $13 a pound I'm not interested. I can have fresh rock air freighted from Florida for $4 to $5 a lb with shipping costing around $50. I usually buy at least 30 lbs at a time.
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Virtualbasil
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So I went to that fish place and for $9 a pound I bought some really great quality Live rock with the real coraline algae that I want on it. Now I'm going to order about 40 lbs of Pukani dry rock from BRS. I plan on letting the live rock cure in a Brute container and when the dry rock gets here I will aquascape it and drill and pin the dry rock how I want it and throw it in the brute trash can for a few weeks to cure with the live rock. Sound good?
