Curing LR

[hingreef]

Ordered 22 pounds of LR from petco.com. Set it up to cure in a 30 gal container with a powerhead. Have done 100% water changes every other day. & remove any dead/decay as it arrives on rock. Still keep finding some tube worms I can't get reach, to remove.

Ammonia has been zero for 2 weeks. Nitrites is 0.25. Nitrate is 5. Anyone have any suggestions on speeding up this process? It has taken over a month now. -> :frustrat: Have added a protein skimmer today. Petco's website said they precured it, but I am unsure about this. I have some chromis. Should I throw it in and see if it lives, or just wait until all levels are zero?

 

[little_fish]

Sorry, but cycling takes as long as it takes. Also while you should remove dead things as you find them, you dont usually want to do water changes because it slows down the process of bacteria growth.

And i wouldnt add the chromis or any other fish, it would just cause unnecessary suffering. I bet if you want another week it will have finished cycling.

Also petco may have precured the rock from what died off in getting it from the sea, but when it was shipped it to you it experienced another wave of die off.

Welcome to the site btw!

 

[hingreef]

I have heard the more water changes you do, the faster it cures. =/

It just seems the nitrate/nitrite has hit a hard wall! It quickly moved all the way up the scale, then back down to 5/0.25, but now it is stuck!!!! lol

Impatience!!!

 

[BL1]

Nope, little fish was right, the water changes especially 100% ones will lengthen the process indefinitely. Think about this, your water is full of the ammonia and nitrite that your trying to get your LR to be able to convert on it's own to nitrates, right? Well then take out ALL of that water that had the ammonia and nitrites in it, when you put fresh water back in you're basically starting the process all over from scratch.

 

[hingreef]

Well!!! Glad to know I am causing myself all this heartache haha. Thanks so much! :) Is there ever a need for a water change? Maybe when everything tests zero? :sfish:

 

[BL1]

Yes once your tank finishes it's cycle and you start adding fish and corals, you should do 10-15% water changes every 1-2 weeks.

 

[hingreef]

The tank has been cycled for months. I am curing LR outside the tank.

 

[Picasso]

+1 little fish.

Instead of thinking about it as waiting for the rock to cure, think of it as letting the rock develop the community that is necessary to have a healthy tank. A strong rock/ sand bed community will keep your tank running great when you're adding fishes and corals. In other words, the more time you give it now, the healthier your tank will be in the future.

C

 

[Ulta]

I would say you are fine putting it into an established tank. But if you want to be sure wait until those nitrites go down to 0. Nitrates you don't have to worry about they will not go down.

It just seems the nitrate/nitrite has hit a hard wall! It quickly moved all the way up the scale, then back down to 5/0.25, but now it is stuck!!!! lol

Your cycle was prolly done at that point, maybe your nitrite test is just a little off.

 

[hingreef]

I don't think the test is off because the tank is testing 0 nitrite & there is still a slight stench to the rock. I put the protein skimmer in yesterday & it has collected a lot of waste. I hadn't previously had a skimmer in the curing tub. Maybe they will hurry lol! Our tank is 40 breeder & we have 25 pounds in the tank now.
We were not happy with just 25 pounds, so we bought 22 more & that is what we are curing now, outside the tank in a 30 gal tub with powerhead, heater, protein skimmer.