Very Confused?

[fernalfer]

Ok i bought 100lbs of Marco Key Largo Reef saver Dry Rock. They say that the rock is pre-cured. My question is that this rock will be going into a brand new tank. Can i just put the Dry Rock in my 120 gallon tank and start my fishless cycle. Or do i have to pre cure it like some say by putting it in a Tub/Container filled with RODI salt water and a heater and a powerhead for up to a month.

Is this really necessary with the Marco Rock? Again not adding to an established tank but will be setting up new from scratch.

 

[aaron23]

Dry rock is just that. it is not established and cured with beneficial bacteria. I would recommend using the tub/container and continually doing weekly water changes until the ammonia atest shows 0 and nitrates begin to spike

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

And Yes, you can do both. you can make it go live either way. You dont "HAVE" to do either. pros and cons to both.

Arron I did a fun stinky experiment. I had used dry sand and rock(one year dry from a friend and had been well rinsed) and put it in a bucket. Put in old tank water from my tank and a dab of fiji mud. tracked parameters, only did one WC after 3 weeks with old tank water again. Stank like heck week 2 didnt test for fun and there was no ammonia on week three. and no ammonia at week 4. powerhead only.
Im finding the WC thing to be not as true or important "they say". trip right?

 

[aaron23]

WC's speed up the process of curing and the tub will stick much less Im sure your tank water helped a bit

 

[DeniseAndy]

I have used the nano and rubble from Marco rock. I found it best to pre-cure prior to adding to your main display. I just had less issues with algae. I had done it both ways and just found the pre-curing by me to be better.

However, I used regular tap water for the first two weeks with only a powerhead. Then moved to salt for one week. I was not trying to establish bacteria, only leach out trapped junk (phosphates) and such from the rock.

You can do the bacterial building during your cycle. This avoids needing to use a ton of saltwater. It gets pricey.

 

[G8trBait16]

I had 100 pound of Marco dry Rock and did the fishless cycle in my 75G tank. It worked fine for me, but if I had to do it over again, I would have done curing in a tub in my garage. Good thing it is just me and my 2 boxers that live in my house, bc they didn't complain to much with the smell.

 

[fernalfer]

I had 100 pound of Marco dry Rock and did the fishless cycle in my 75G tank. It worked fine for me, but if I had to do it over again, I would have done curing in a tub in my garage. Good thing it is just me and my 2 boxers that live in my house, bc they didn't complain to much with the smell.

So what is the best way to cure my Marco Rocks.

Can anybody walk me thru the steps.

 

[Diesel]

IMO, if it's cured you just can used it in the DT.
You still have to cycle as cured doesn't mean even close that it been cycled.
On the moment I'm helping a good friend to re-build his 270G and we bleached all his rock for two weeks and now we curing it with salt water and a skimmer in a vat.
The skimmer pulls out all the crap that is in the rock as much as possible.
It makes cycling a lot easier and less problems with phosphate leaching out the rock for months to come.