Curing Live Rock - Freshwater vs Saltwater

Idoc

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There are so many differing opinions on this topic! So, I'll just lay out what I have been doing and see if you all think this is correct, or if I am way off on my thinking!

I'm in the beginning processes of setting up a 75g tank. I purchased 50lbs of Pukani dry rock from BRS knowing that this rock is very dirty and takes awhile to clean up before putting into a tank to cycle...and I didn't want to do an acid wash on the new rock. So, knowing that I was going to be doing tons of water changes during this cure, I chose to do it in Freshwater (with dechlorinator added)...since I'm not really trying to cycle the rock for the tank, but rather just "eat off" the organic junk in all those Pukani nooks and crannies! I have the rock in a large RubberMaid tub with 20gal of water, 2 powerheads, heater (81-82 deg), and small bag of Phosguard (that I change weekly in an attempt to control the phosphates)...also keeping the lid on and in the dark. I'm 22 days into this process...been testing the parameters occasionally as well to watch for ammonia spikes to give me an idea if any more organic stuff is breaking down. Today, ammonia was testing as zero (API test kit, no trusting it totally since older kit a friend gave me)...but nitrites were rising and nitrates were thru the roof. I only did a 10gal water change tonight...only had 10gal prepared at room temperature and the hose I use from outside at this part of the house was frozen solid). I guess I could carry water up and down stairs...uggh.

Should I continue with the freshwater or convert over to saltwater? I still haven't worked on my aquascape ideas yet...so I figured after the cure I was going to have the rocks out of the water for a few days or so while I worked on my aquascape layout...chiseling, drilling, gluing, etc... So, figured starting the cycle in SW while curing wasn't going to make a lot of sense since the SW bacteria that grows may die during the days out of water laying out my aquascape? Am I way off on this thinking?

PS: Tried to add an image, but system giving me errors uploading...so sorry, no pics this time!
 

lou dog420

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I would have just built my scape, filled and started the tank. All the organics in the pukani rock just help the tank to cycle. I started my system with all brs dry pukani. No wash, no scrub, no acid bath. Tank has been online for 6 months now.
GOPR0409.JPG
 

Shawn.B

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yup you are definitely over thinking this lol - that's alright
just rinse off the rock to remove the loose bits and dust, a quick dunk & shake in RO will be fine, then you can start placing your rock and getting the cycle going.
 
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Idoc

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I would have just built my scape, filled and started the tank. All the organics in the pukani rock just help the tank to cycle. I started my system with all brs dry pukani. No wash, no scrub, no acid bath. Tank has been online for 6 months now.

yup you are definitely over thinking this lol - that's alright
just rinse off the rock to remove the loose bits and dust, a quick dunk & shake in RO will be fine, then you can start placing your rock and getting the cycle going.

Thanks both of you for the advice! Yep, I am definitely prone to overthinking, lol. The first 3-4 days of the Pukani in the FW bath smelled like death warmed over...not sure I would have wanted to start with that in the tank! I went the route I took due to several sites, including BRStv and a rep at BRS, saying to definitely cure the rock before putting it in the tank due to the high amount of nutrients and phosphates it would initially drop into the tank...stating that this would bring on a load of algae problems. My LFS owner pushed the Phosguard to help pull out the phosphates to try to control any crazy algae during the cycle. Well, I think it is time to get this tank up and running and cycling!! Leaving for Christmas, so that will be the plan when I return...cycle the tank and get the QT up and running.

Lou Dog420...your Pukani looks so clean! Mine arrived with all kinds of stuff all over it. I picked off a lot of dried up organic stuff, but the rock still has "brown" covering it in some places...but it seems that is the color of the rock since the stuff doesn't scrape off with a hard bristle brush.
 
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