I have a 70 gallon RR Oceanic with 22 gallons in a sump and I installed 90 pounds of Marshall live rock five weeks ago and another 30 pounds of Live Aquaria "Lalo rock" about three weeks ago. My chemistry is good as far as I can tell, The smell went away in five days, the ammonia level was not measurable after ten days and the nitrates have gone below .3 mg/l, calcium is always over 450 ppm and frequently above 500. I run 580 watts of light four hours a day and use AquaC two part to maintain PH and calcium. I have some green, mossy looking algae growing on some of the rock surfaces and some purple starting to come out. My question is: I turned off the water flow to see if I could see bugs or worms and saw instead, alot of very fine bubbles arising from the rock. I assume this is decay in the rock producing CO2 and that this is what is causing my Ph to drop from 8.3 to 8 or slightly less every two days and requires me to dose to raise the ph to 8.3. Please comment on whether my assumptions are correct and how much longer can I expect to have this CO2? Also, I intend to do a 30% water change and put in a cleanup crew this week. Does that sound O'K?
Live rock curing
- Thread starter Paul101
- Start date
- Location
- Forest Hills
Welcome to MR.
your assumptions may be true.
with curing rocks i usually dont use any lighting. n the time depends on how much decaying is going on. i usually wait at least 6 weeks even if i dont smell nothing. i would continue with good water flow all over the rocks n good skimming.
heres some good basics on curing rocks from albert
your assumptions may be true.
with curing rocks i usually dont use any lighting. n the time depends on how much decaying is going on. i usually wait at least 6 weeks even if i dont smell nothing. i would continue with good water flow all over the rocks n good skimming.
heres some good basics on curing rocks from albert
Last edited:
Psycho graphic
Trouble Maker!
- Location
- Somewhere on the East Coast
How happy are you with the Lalo Rock? Does it look as nice as the pic they use on their website? Could you post a pic please?
I really like the Lalo liverock. It is very porous with embeded shells and is in sort of flat plates which is a useful contrast to the rounder shapes of Marshall rock.
I asked for large pieces and one is about thirteen inches by ten or eleven. I ended up standing it up against the back of the tank as a sort of backdrop. It's pretty dramatic but took alot of ingenuity to utilize. It was covered with alot of very dark, almost black algae, I guess, and I put it in a bucket of saltwater and scrubbed it with a toothbrush which didn't get much off. It has now turned mostly bleached white with hints of purple just coming in. It's fascinating to watch it develop.
I asked for large pieces and one is about thirteen inches by ten or eleven. I ended up standing it up against the back of the tank as a sort of backdrop. It's pretty dramatic but took alot of ingenuity to utilize. It was covered with alot of very dark, almost black algae, I guess, and I put it in a bucket of saltwater and scrubbed it with a toothbrush which didn't get much off. It has now turned mostly bleached white with hints of purple just coming in. It's fascinating to watch it develop.
scarf_ace1981
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- San Juan, PR
The cleanup crew is on the way. As for the smell, it is really, really bad, but only for about five days. If you can time it so that you can keep your windows open, do! My tank is in the room with the computer and for five days you couldn't use it. I kept mine open even though the teperature was around freezing or lower. You begin to have visions of what a really horrendous battlefield must smell like. It is a pleasure, though when it goes away, and it really goes away precipitously and is replaced by an infinitely, milder and different smell. A few days ago I did a 30% water change which bared much of the rocks for a while and the smell in the tank was reminicent of the first round.
I put in sixty pounds of Marshall first and after ten days or so, once the smell had gone down, I put in thirty more pounds. The smell with the second batch went down much more quickly, I guess because there were high nitrites already in the tank. So, if you were to do it in stages make the first one small to develop the nitrites. I had been advised to do it in stages but the salesman of the Marshall really pushed me and I wanted to get going. Would I do it again, you bet, but only in warmer weather.
I put in sixty pounds of Marshall first and after ten days or so, once the smell had gone down, I put in thirty more pounds. The smell with the second batch went down much more quickly, I guess because there were high nitrites already in the tank. So, if you were to do it in stages make the first one small to develop the nitrites. I had been advised to do it in stages but the salesman of the Marshall really pushed me and I wanted to get going. Would I do it again, you bet, but only in warmer weather.
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