live rock... cured or uncured

by **kelbri** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:14 pm

What is the difference? There is a vendor site that has Jakarta rock, cured and uncured. Just want to find out what the difference is, and which is the better one to get.

As a bit of a background, I have a 29g that is getting converted from FW. We are going to set up a FOWLR with about 30lbs of LR, some LS and 4 false perc clowns. Thanks everyone.

Brian

by **newbie916** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:31 pm

Many of the organisms and animals die when the rock is harvested and shipped to the distributors. The curing process is when the LFS or Distributors place the rock in bins with circulation, lighting, and frequent water changes to allow all of the dead stuff to breakdown. Uncured LR smells like rotting seafood and needs to be cured for a few weeks. You pay more for cured LR because they already have done this process on the rock. However, if you buy the live rock online and have it shipped, you will still need to cure the rock because you will also have some die off.

It just depends on what you want to do. You could look on craigslist to buy local people who are selling their tanks and LR at a much cheaper price. I've seen it as low as $2 lb. Whether you buy cured or uncured. Make sure that you don't add any fish or corals for at least 3 months. It takes time for the cycling process to complete and for the biological filtration of the Live rock and Live sand to take place.

Make sure you place the rock at the bottom and put the sand around the rock. Don't lay the rock on top of the sand because it will create dead spots on your live rock, which will increase your nitrates.

All of these pointers are from personal experience of having to deal with nitrate issues. I hope this helps and welcome to the hobby

by **kelbri** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:03 pm

Thanks for the info. So how long is too long for being out of water? I'm not sure how the vendor packs their shipments, but it is an 6.5 hour journey by bus. We may be taking a trip that way soon though, so what about packing it back ourselves? Like in a big rubbermaid container? Would we need to have circulation and heating for that length of a journey, or would just packing in water be sufficient?

I know there is a lfs that I can get some cured from, but it is $11.00/lb. A little pricey in my books. The online vendor quoted me about $270 total, including shipping and heat packs. That's only $9/lb (not much cheaper, but saves $2/lb), but if I still have to cure it, perhaps I go the more expensive route, if I can't find someone local selling any.

As for 3 months, I was told by others that putting live rock and sand in would be an instant (more or less) cycle, and fish could go in the next day (not getting corals at the moment anyways). Is this not right?

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:18 am

absolutley not - - -if you are just starting the tank I would suggest a minimum of 3 months better to go 6 months before adding livestock of anykind - - you could start adding a cleaner crew in 2-4 months

it takes quit a while for everything to adjust and stablise................the cycle is a wonderfully stressful time in a new tank............it'll go through sifferent phases of clear, cloudy, clear, algae, clear, etc etc .............lol then you add fish

Boss

by **blueshoes2208** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:00 am

guess i missed out on the algae phase due to boss's expert advice haha

by **kelbri** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:57 pm

Thanks boss. I keep getting different opinions from everywhere. Half of the people I hear from say wait at least 3 months, and the other half say if you're using cured rock and live sand, you're good to go. I guess to be sure, don't rush it.

by **newbie916** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:57 pm

If your going to transport it. All you need is an igloo to maintain the temp and put some clean saltwater in there. You get die off after the rocks been exposed for 10 minutes. I moved 125lbs of liverock in 4 large containers with the tanks water and it was good for 14 hrs while I transported it. Just make sure you don't have any cleaning solvents or soap in your igloo.

I would definitely wait the 3 months, just to be safe. I'm not sure how the Live Rock market is in Canada, but we have LFS that sell it for $4.50 per lb. You just have to shop around for it.

by **kelbri** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:25 pm

I keep seeing prices like that on boards all over the place, including some in Canada. Unfortunatly, the market isn't big enough where I am at. The lfs carries it for $11 per lb (pretty sure that's the fully cured price). Pretty pricy I think. If I want it any cheaper, I have to travel or have it shipped at least 7 hours. I'm not sure about curing it myself (never done it before), so I might just pay a premium if nobody in the area is selling it privatly.

The other option is to go with half base and half cured. That sounds like the best option so far, cash wise anyways.

by **YENDOR187** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:08 am

i'm new to this and my 195 tank will be here on fri. i was told to cycle the rock with the sand for 3 weeks and it would be good to go...

live rock... cured or uncured

9 posts