Curing LR in that hot old garage?

[TommyBoy]

I would like to cure new uncured rock in my garage in another tank while waiting for the new one to make here. My question is how detremental will
heat be a concern while tank is curing rock in garage that obviously is not well ventilated and summer heat can reach in the 100"s here in NorCal? I will be skimming water do have a large fan that I can blow on the water. I also was planning to only run 80wa. of flo lights for about 4-6 hours a day scheduled really early in the moring when garage is at its coolest. Am i making a huge mistake here?
One other thing, my LFS suggested me to cure rock without sand and then add sand after rock has cycyled. He states there will be alot of dieoff in which this will only pollute the sand bed. Any opionions on this? thanks again for all of your expert help.

 

[SPC]

I wouldn't cure it in a hot garage Tommy. I would be concerned with alot (all) die off. I always cure rock for a new tank in the tank itself, if I am not starting a new tank I cure it in the house. BTW, my tank (180) is located in our bedroom and we have never noticed any odor when curing the rock.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

I have all my tanks setup in my garage and it gets pretty hot up here as well. A couple of weeks ago it was near if not over triple digits and I my temp didn't raise past 81. This is with lots of 250w and 400w halides as well. The heaters haven't needed to come on since summer finally started and I don't really do anything special to increase evap rate.

I'd go with the fan if I were you and put a heater in the tub set round 78 just in case. You shouldn't have any problems. I also cure my rock under 250w metal halides as well with a photoperiod matching my main system.

Also, I'd leave out the sand for now as when your new tank gets there taking it from your curing tub and putting it in your tank will just be a pita. It really has nothing to do with the rock "polluting" the sand though. Just what I would do if I were you.

 

[SPC]

Justphish, are you saying that it was right at 100 degrees in your garage and the temp only got to 81 in your tank? Wow, what did the temp drop to at night? If I were to set a bucket of water in an area that was 100 degrees, do you think the water temperature would get close to that mark (even without lights on the bucket)?
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

No, what I said was it was it was near 100 degrees outside if not warmer for several days a few weeks ago (also 75% + humidity) and my systems did not get past 81 degrees with no intervention from me. Those nights temps were in the 80's. With my door closed at night it was much warmer than that inside. I leave my garage door open whenever I am home and only close it at night, while I am at work, or when I am going out. If the temp was that bad outside then you can bet your fourth point of contact the temp in my garage with 10 metal halides was the same if not higher with a higher humidity. I can bring a brand new tool into my garage and watch it rust to the point where it doesn't work anymore in minutes. :lol:

I do not believe the original poster said his garage is 100 degrees but that it frequently gets to 100 in North Carolina.

A bucket of water? Again I didn't get the impression this guy was curing his live rock in your average 5 gallon pail. Will the water in your bucket get to the same temp in your garage? Maybe. If you had a fan over it? More than likely not. Can you really compare your bucket to a tank with a fan blowing across the water?

Anyways, I'll tell you what, I'll go downstairs right now and fill up a 5 gal bucket and leave it in my garage with no fan or anything and tell you what the temp is at the end of the day. Temp here is supposed to be 90's with opressive humidity this afternoon.

 

[SPC]

Posted by JustPhish:

Anyways, I'll tell you what, I'll go downstairs right now and fill up a 5 gal bucket and leave it in my garage with no fan or anything and tell you what the temp is at the end of the day. Temp here is supposed to be 90's with opressive humidity this afternoon.

I don't see why this would be necessary, you have already stated that your tanks in the same location don't get over 81 and that:

I don't really do anything special to increase evap rate.

If this is the case then I would not imagine the temperature getting over 81 in the bucket either. Maybe a better test would be for me to put a bucket in my garage and see what the temp is after a few days and also see how much the temperature fluctuates in a 24 hour period. The temperature here for the next several days will be in the mid 90s and lows aound 75 to 80 I would imagine.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Posted by JustPhish:
I don't see why this would be necessary, you have already stated that your tanks in the same location don't get over 81 and that:

Yeah but my tanks with halides, powerheads, current, etc etc are MUCH different than the 5 gal pail with nothing but stagnant water. So there should be some difference. I don't see how the bucket and my system could possibly measure the same temperature.

If this is the case then I would not imagine the temperature getting over 81 in the bucket either. Maybe a better test would be for me to put a bucket in my garage and see what the temp is after a few days and also see how much the temperature fluctuates in a 24 hour period. The temperature here for the next several days will be in the mid 90s and lows aound 75 to 80 I would imagine.
Steve

Again, bucket and my tanks are quite different. The bucket won't have a halide over it, current in it, nothing.

Shoot now that I think of it I should have just taken the temp from my trash cans with my product water for top offs but I already topped off today and the water in it now will be cooler since it's coming from the tap. I also have a bunch of powerheads in them.

Bucket it is.

 

[SPC]

Posted by JustPhish:

Yeah but my tanks with halides, powerheads, current, etc etc are MUCH different than the 5 gal pail with nothing but stagnant water. So there should be some difference. I don't see how the bucket and my system could possibly measure the same temperature.

JP, then my bucket should actually be cooler than your tank, correct?
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

JP, then my bucket should actually be cooler than your tank, correct?
Steve

I don't know about yours, but I am thinking my bucket will be cooler than my tank. But while the bucket doesn't have any halides over it, it also doesn't have any of the water movement (I have over 200feet of pvc plumbing that my water travels through), surface area, or anything else which also helps cool my tanks.

So while there isn't anything which will add heat to the bucket there isn't anything which will cool the bucket either. So the only thing to do is wait until tonight and see what the temp is. I think I might even place another bucket under a tree in my yard outside and see what that temp is at the end of the day as well.

 

[danmhippo]

SPC,
I think Justphish also benefitted from a large volume of water he works with at the store that prevented temp rising too high.

On the side note, continuous triple digits of high temp cooked my pond to 95 from 85 where I normally set the pond temp to be. All macro algae went sexual and dissolved within 2 days. Amazingly, clams, brittle star, and copepods all survived and are behaving normally.

Back to Tommy, if his desire is to let all algae die on the rocks, then go ahead and let them cook in high temp water. Another way he can find out if high air temp in garage will translate into high water temp is to setup the holding vessel now and monitor a couple of days with nothing in it but water.

 

[Chucker]

It might also be interesting to note if JP's tubs are directly on a concrete garage floor, which could act as a pretty darned good heatsink.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep Chucker good point. I thought about that when I set up since concrete would just steal the heat away. My 150 sump is on the concrete floor but everything else, including the tanks with my live rock are off the ground on stands or pallets. The bucket I filled is on a carpet right at the entrance of my garage but not in the sun. One live rock tub and one 75 gallon tank get a big dose of late afternoon sun through a west facing window each day. My garage is also not below grade.

 

[TommyBoy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually live in Nor California and it does reach 100+ degrees this time of year. The rock would be in a 75 GA with a skimmer/sump box. Again I can run a fan accross top. and limit 80watts of light inrearly morning for 4 hrs or so. The reason i would like to do this is because where this tank was in living is where new one will reside. I can then manage all other issues with new tank (plumping,power, so on) while rock is fully curing in garage. I did have my little 15ga reef out in the garage due to other reasons which has a 64wa of PC's over it and it reached temps of over 88 degrees when outside temp reached 100 degrees. Of cource this reef tank had lights on it for 10-12 hrs a day and a lot less water volume and it currently runs about 83 degrees in doors when AC is keeping huouse at about 76 degrees. If I can do this it would really make my new tank build work out mucho better but I certainly don't want to harm expensive rock in doing so.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Dan:

I think Justphish also benefitted from a large volume of water he works with at the store that prevented temp rising too high.

JP, my whole point was in relation to the threads I have read on the boards where someone returns from vacation to a crashed tank. While they were gone the AC was off or set to high etc... and the temperature in the house went into the 90s as well as the tank temp. I have no doubt that your tanks are 81 if you say they are, I was just curious as to why the room temp would effect their tanks but not yours.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

I never thought you doubted what I said about my tanks, it would be pretty silly thing for someone to think I was lying about and even more absurd to lie about.

You can't quite compare Tommy curing his rock in a 75 gal with limited lighting with NO bulbs or my tanks in my garage with someone who went away on vacation and came back to find their tank cooked.

If tommy were to go in the garage and see that the temp was rising in his tank, he could easily rectify the situation by using a number of means. Someone on vacation can't. Tommy can open his door, windows, turn on fans, do a water change, etc etc. Someone on vacation I am gonna venture left all their doors closed, their windows closed, and didn't leave all sorts of fans blowing on their tank. Look at what happens to your car when you leave the doors and windows closed for the day.

I really have no doubts that tommy could cure his rock in the tank he described with little problem if any.

 

[Entacmaea]

Hi Tommy, I won't jump on the temp band wagon here, but I would suggest curing the rock with a regular photoperiod, anywhere from 8-12 hours/day. If you have strong circulation and skimming, it should head off an algae bloom. If you don't light the rock while curing, then most of the life you are trying to save, which I am guessing is the main reason you are buying raw rock- most of this life will not survive. If that is the case, you might as well buy cured LR and forgo the hassle. Furthermore, a regular photoperiod will get all the biochemical processes started that the LR will encounter in the main tank, and give all the organisms in and on the LR a head start, helping in the long term...

 

[SPC]

Posted by JP:

Someone on vacation I am gonna venture left all their doors closed, their windows closed, and didn't leave all sorts of fans blowing on their tank. Look at what happens to your car when you leave the doors and windows closed for the day.

-The temperature still only got into the 90s in their house and their tank. I know that in my garage if I open the door then it will let in the outside temperature, which BTW would be in the nineties, so the temperature surrounding my bucket would be in the nineties. Now unless I do something to this bucket of water to drop the temperature then I would expect the temperature of the water to eventually rise to the 90s also. If I place a fan over the small surface area of the bucket I would probably see some temperature drop, how much drop however I don't know.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

How did they know the temp only got into the 90's in their house if no one was home to check?

Anyways, like before, the only way to tell with the bucket is try it. My garage door is open, my system is 78 andf my bucket is currently 76. We'll have to see what it is tonight when the temps drop.

 

[SPC]

JP, I've got a bucket going too, I am going to let mine sit for a couple of days right buy the open garage door with the 95 degree breeze blowing in. :wink:
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Well tonight the temp peaked at 76. Had to close garage door for a few hours while the wife and I went out. Official high at the airport was 90 today and with door closed in my garage the temp was 97 when I got home.