Curing Pukani LR

Ramon Estevez · Nov 18, 2017

So I’ve done some research but want to know what you guys normally do when curing Pukani rock from BRS or elsewhere? In a large tank should I worry about curing when adding maybe 20lbs? How much rock in a 125gal ?

._Z_. · Nov 18, 2017

Ramon Estevez said:
So I’ve done some research but want to know what you guys normally do when curing Pukani rock from BRS or elsewhere? In a large tank should I worry about curing when adding maybe 20lbs? How much rock in a 125gal ?

I used BRS pukani in my 45 gal, I did a bleach cure, the tank has been up a couple months and I never had any major nutrients leach from the rock (that I detected). I’d definitely do that method again.

miPapareef · Nov 18, 2017

My experience is:

All pukani needs to be cured because you won’t know if your specific pieces have lots of unwanted organic material, and there’s a high likelihood it does.
I have a 75 gallons tank so I ordered 75 pounds of pukani. I still have 2 volleyball sizes pieces and and many baseball size pieces that wouldn’t fit. I think that 50-55 pounds is all I could fit in the tank. I recommend you only get 100 pounds and you’ll still have left over. That pukani is very light for its size so the one pound per gallon just doesn’t fit. But I don’t think only 20 pounds is enough.
As for curing, the idea is to get the organic out so they don’t go into your tank and feed unwanted algae. Many ways work, some faster and more agressive like bleach and acid baths, Or just soak in heated saltwater. It’s really what you’re comfortable doing safetly and have time for. For me I picked off every sponge, I could see then soaked in saltwater for 10 weeks, followed by a 100 percent water change. There was still rising phosphate after that so I ended up using Lanthanum Chloride to get the phosphate out.
Finally, I really like the pukani for the look, ease of aquascape (because it’s soft and can be shaped), and it houses a lot of bacteria and keeps my nitrate and phosphate ultra low without any other media in the system. Just a skimmer and 55 pounds of pukani is all I use.