Newbie Live Rock Question

[heirfaus]

Ok so I have read for hours today and can't find the answers to my questions. I have a 55 gallon tank for about 7 months. It was very stable and I just moved. I went through ammonia spikes and everything is pretty settled now. I only lost a starfish in the move and that I was pleased about.

Anyway my question is this, I remember that when I first started my tank I bought a piece of LR and now about 6-7 months later it is finally look like it is growning good algaes, orange, purple, and pink. I bought a piece about 2-3 months ago and it looks completely dead. I never new about live rock curing before today. In fact I never new these forums existed before yesterday. So I am wondering if I buy a LR that appears to have no trace of life on it, is it officially uncured? Or is it possible cured with no plant life. I bought one rock that had grass, sponges, and growths of all types, but I have a one that has ABSOLUTELY no visible life on it. I hope this question wasn't too confusing. PLEASE help me understand this. And will my dead looking rock eventually become alive?

Thanks a million

 

[jenbertoni]

the best way to tell if its cured or not is by smelling it. if it stinks, dont buy it.

Ok so I have read for hours today and can't find the answers to my questions. I have a 55 gallon tank for about 7 months. It was very stable and I just moved. I went through ammonia spikes and everything is pretty settled now. I only lost a starfish in the move and that I was pleased about.

Anyway my question is this, I remember that when I first started my tank I bought a piece of LR and now about 6-7 months later it is finally look like it is growning good algaes, orange, purple, and pink. I bought a piece about 2-3 months ago and it looks completely dead. I never new about live rock curing before today. In fact I never new these forums existed before yesterday. So I am wondering if I buy a LR that appears to have no trace of life on it, is it officially uncured? Or is it possible cured with no plant life. I bought one rock that had grass, sponges, and growths of all types, but I have a one that has ABSOLUTELY no visible life on it. I hope this question wasn't too confusing. PLEASE help me understand this. And will my dead looking rock eventually become alive?

Thanks a million

 

[heirfaus]

I guess what I mean is, if it is not cured and I put it in my tank will it cure ofver time and become good for my tank? Will it eventually grow all the good stuff?

 

[SkiFletch]

Oh yeah. Well, cured doesnt refer to the color of the rock... It refers to whether there is still dieoff occurring on it. Some LR is not colorful, but it is still live. Over time though, your "bland" LR will become as colorful as your other stuff. Gonna take 6+ months though.

 

[heirfaus]

Thanks, Good to know!!!

 

[Navarre]

As has been mentioned, cured rock doesnt meen its abundant with visible life. Cured simply means its got all the correct bacteria in place to provide your tank with filtration so you wont get any more die off or ammonia spikes from the rock.


Live rock often can be cured and appear completely bare but give it time... Even the worst looking liverock usually has some form of micro life deep within it and this will spring ot life when the condityions are right.

I had a stock of liverock that i kept for nearly 18 months with no additional rocks or corals to hte system... suddenly after 1.5 years the rocks begin to grow a red algae (Haliptilon) and i have managed to sell this on to others for a good price!

 

[heirfaus]

Cool, good info!! So I am correct then in saying, buying an uncured dying piece of LR and putting it in your tank would eventualy begin to grow and be good again. I know this is a bad practice and would mess up your tank, but hypothetically speaking it would take a while, but it would work, correct?

 

[Great Lakes]

uncured dying piece of LR

Here is where you are leading yourself astray.

Saying "uncured dying piece of LR " is like saying a "dead live body" You have an oxymoron.

Rock has three states that it can be in;

Dead...completely devoid of any life and/or bacteria. This is its sterile form where you can introduce it without any effect on tank chemistry.

Uncured...Consider all "origins unknown" rock uncured. It should go through some degree of rinsing to remove a reasonable amount of any detritus it has, then quarantined to cure. Unless I personally see it removed from an established tank, and transport it in water to my tank within a couple of hours, I consider a rock uncured.

Live rock... The only rock I consider live rock is the stuff that has been in an established and stable system. There is very little room for error in this hobby and disaster strikes even the cautious and well prepared. Some of the most Anal people I have met in my life I have met in this hobby..

And as the others stated, you have live rock....yet it is simply passing from its run of the mill biological filtration state and becoming "populated" if you will, with all the diverse organisms that you find in a well cared for system....congratulations.

GL

 

[heirfaus]

I guess one of the things I worry about is that I never knew the procedure for putting live rock in and never rinsed, cleaned, or cured any of it to any degree, for all I know I may have put dead rock right into my tank. Now I understand that the rock will evetually cure and become LR again, whether in a quarantine or straight into the tank, but what about that fact that I never cleaned it. Are there piles of Crap built up in my rocks that I should worry about.

I am going to post some pics in the new thread I have for my tank, "The Mistake" thread. Maybe you pros could tell me what you think about the rocks from the photos.

If I rearange my LR and shake them a little piles of dust fill the tank.

 

[Fatty]

I guess one of the things I worry about is that I never knew the procedure for putting live rock in and never rinsed, cleaned, or cured any of it to any degree, for all I know I may have put dead rock right into my tank.
If I rearange my LR and shake them a little piles of dust fill the tank.

I cured my rock in the tank, but only as part of the initial setup, i.e, no fish/inverts.

Even in an established system loads of crap gathers on the rocks, I have 'storms' every week or two which is me going around blasting the rock with a turkey baster!, It's amazing how much stuff comes off the rock, if I can be bothered I'll do it until it's pretty clean, all the crap gets processed by the sump and skimmer.

Be warey tho, if you have any sponge filtration/ bio balls, all the detritus in the water can stick in the filter media and cause nitrate spikes!