Curing old live rock - when is it safe to add

[scruggyj]

I bought some BRS Fiji old live rock.

I have it curing now.
I rinsed it in RODI, then placed in a tank in the garage with powerhead and heater.
It was in there for a few days and I did 100% water change to get it out of the nasty greenish dirty water.

My question is....when do I know it is safe to add to my existing tank.
Once the ammonia and nitrite is zero? I read that it can take 1 - 4 weeks depending on how much old organic matter the rock had on it.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Yes, definitely wait until the readings are an even zero before adding it in. Hopefully it won't take as long as several weeks, but it's worth the wait if you can avoid the danger of having a sudden ammonia spike in your tank.

 

[Grissino]

Sorry to steal the thread but what should I do if I have a large piece of rock that has been out of the tank for about 3 months? I have a 125 gallon mixed reef with 100s of pounds of rock but I have one piece that I'd like to add that I took out. It's probably a 35 pound rock. Where do I start. I couldn't afford a cycle or a crash!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Sorry to steal the thread but what should I do if I have a large piece of rock that has been out of the tank for about 3 months? I have a 125 gallon mixed reef with 100s of pounds of rock but I have one piece that I'd like to add that I took out. It's probably a 35 pound rock. Where do I start. I couldn't afford a cycle or a crash!

I would rinse it off and cure it in a bucket with saltwater and a power head. I would check the parameters to see if you get any parameter spikes.

 

[Grissino]

Cure it with water from a water change from the DT?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

That would work.

 

[Grissino]

Thanks for the info! Do you do it for weeks, a month? If no param change?

 

[Marsfrogie]

Also one option is to slowly introduce it to your tank to minimize the spikes.

 

[Grissino]

It's just one large piece