Curing Live Rock And Sand

Whether you buy pre-cured or uncured live rock, some die back will occur during the shipping process. Therefore, your live rock will need to be cured again before it is placed in the aquarium that contains your fish, corals, or other marine animals.

The reason they are called live rocks is because of the plant and marine life that are living on them. What the curing process does is allow the organisms to go through a natural dyed back without polluting the aquarium water. As the orgasms go through the died back, they produce a large amount of waste that could create a very large ammonia spike and be toxic to the existing system. This died back will occur in all transported live rock. Most of the beneficial bacteria will survive the curing process as well as some of the corals and invertebrates, which will begin to reemerge in the aquarium overtime.

If your aquarium is already established, you will have to cure the live rock in a separate container. You can use a new 30 gallon plastic garbage can, or one of any size that will be adequate. Place the rocks in the container and completely carver with freshly mixed saltwater with a specific gravity of 1.021 to 1.025. provide a hearing keep the water temperature at or near 80° to speed up the die off process. Also, you'll need to head a constant water movement, which can be supplied using an air stone. Change the water twice-weekly and scrub the rock with a new brestle or toothbrush between water changes to remove any white film or dead material. You should also keep the area dimly lit to prevent any algae growth.

When the water conditions have stabilized and pneumonia and nitrate test their zero, the rock is now ready to be placed into the display where he. It normally takes up to three weeks or Iraq to be fully cured.

If you're starting with a Newark were in that does not contain any fish coral or other marine animals, you can cure the rock in the aquarium itself. First rents each piece of live rock and a small balk in the salt water to remove any loose organic material or debris. Place the live rock in the aquarium and keep the lighting system off during the cycling period to prevent algae growth. Scrub the rock periodically to remove any white film or dead material and pre-form 50% water changes weekly while siphoning out any organic material or debris that accumulates at the bottom of the aquarium. Check the among and nitrate levels weekly. When both levels are at zero reform, a 50% water change in the aquarium. Wait 24 hours, check the pH in a jest as needed to achieve the desired level of 8.1 to 8.4

You may have some unwanted pests on your live rock when it arrives. Choose a container large enough to totally submerse your rock in. Fill the container with saltwater, that has a specific gravity of 1.035 to 1 .040. Submerge the rock for one minute, any invertebrates living on the rock will quickly evacuate into the bucket of water. Some bristol worms may still be attached to rock but they can be removed with a pair of needle nose pliers or tweezers. After removing the rock from the water there may be somethings living there that you want to keep. These can be removed and placed in your tank while the rest can be discarded.

Live sand should also be cured in salt water before adding it to your aquarium this'll prevent any clouding of the water in your aquarium. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half ways with the sand, add salt water from the aquarium until the bucket is two thirds full of water and sand. Stir the sand by hand until the water becomes cloudy with debris. This guarded dirty water in the bucket and place to stand into either the shipping bag or in other container. Slowly dispense the sand evenly over the bottom of the aquarium.