Live Rock curing-sand and water changes

[AggieDawg]

I've been out of the hobby for 3+ years and have finally decided to take the plunge once again. I will soon begin curing live rock in my 58g and have a couple of quick questions ... my memory is fading.

1. Should I conduct regular water changes while the rock is curing?
2. Do I add sand to the tank after the rock has cured, or does it matter?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi and :welcome:

If you get some cured rock locally you probably won't have much to do as you won't see much die off. If you have rock shipped to you or buy uncured, make sure you have a good skimmer handy and do water changes as necessary to keep the ammonia levels down. The lower the better.

Personally I would hold-off on the sand for now. The rock will probably shed a lot of detritus intially and it's a lot easier to syphon the crud out if you don't have sand in there yet. It's also a good idea to blow the rock off with a powerhead periodically to speed the detritus removal process and get any dead/dieing crud out of the system.

HTH

 

[shavo]

chris is right here, depending on how much rock your adding, I had tons of die off on my rock and I would do what he says, put the sand in a month or so after the die off. there is a company from florida that sends live rock that is right from the ocean and they ship it in water and can go directly into the tank with no die off. it is expensive but the pictures of the rock and what you get are absolutely awesome.
i don't have the link handy but if interested in this , pm me and I will send the link to you