curing dry rock

[txg8gxp]

I setup my old used dry rock in a rubbermaid tub to start curing it, to start I have it in there with a few powerheads and fresh water. My question is how long do you think I should run it in fresh water before I move it into saltwater to start the curing process? The only reason I put it in fresh water was for a quick cheap way to help clean to rock.

[CoryDude]

Are you curing it or cooking it? I'd get it in salt water sooner rather than later. Just use instant ocean and mix it up light, like a specific gravity of 1.020 to help save money.

[FireWater]

Stephen when I started the curing process I rinsed them off in fresh for a bout a day and then went right into salt. I did a weekly change at first to remove the stuff that fell off and cleaned the rock for the first couple of weeks. After that I started introducing bacteria to the tub. Not sure if that helped any at all with building bacteria colonies, but I was trying to add as much diversity as I could from the start.

[CoryDude]

Stephen when I started the curing process I rinsed them off in fresh for a bout a day and then went right into salt. I did a weekly change at first to remove the stuff that fell off and cleaned the rock for the first couple of weeks. After that I started introducing bacteria to the tub. Not sure if that helped any at all with building bacteria colonies, but I was trying to add as much diversity as I could from the start.

My thoughts exactly John. You won't get the bacteria colonies you want until you get those rocks into saltwater.

[txg8gxp]

Seems like a good plan to me, I will start mixing some salt water tonight for it, that will put the dry rock in fresh water for 2-3 days before saltwater. I will then dose microbactor 7 to help introduce bacteria.