How Long

[BigH55]

I started curing my live rock and seededit with bacteria. Im skimming heavily and circulating it with a PH. How long do I need to let it cook before I can put it into the tank. I was told 7-10 days, but I want a second, third, and fourth opinion. Also, the smell as went away quite a bit. LMK

 

[ndepratt]

test your water, curing live rock is the exact same thing as cycling a tank, well basically at least.

once you're not seeing ammonia you know the die off has stopped.

 

[yote]

+1 Nathan

 

[WarmSoda]

This is kind of on topic; what is the 'smell' that your supposed to smell when the tank is done or not done cycling. Mine smells like dirt. Like potting soil, almost.

 

[yote]

This is kind of on topic; what is the 'smell' that your supposed to smell when the tank is done or not done cycling. Mine smells like dirt. Like potting soil, almost.

Cured rock should have a fresh smell to it.Kinda like lettuce.
The last time I cured rock,the house smelled like raw sewage for nearly 3 weeks.

 

[BigH55]

I heard that the dirt smell is what im after. This was from the owner of the LFS.

 

[Bifferwine]

My live rock always smelled like dirt too. Not sewage.

 

[RyanG]

Yep mine smells like dirt too, not like lettuce at all! But we all pretty much are using fiji live rock and what yote is using comes from the gulf of mexico so they might smell a little different.

OBTW BigH what you are doing is "curing" your live rock, "cooking" it is a much longer process and basically strips all nutrients out of the rock by doing large water changes and keeping it the dark. Usually takes a couple of months.

 

[BigH55]

Yeah curing is the case here. Hopefully I wont have to cook it anytime soon.