How to Cure Your Live Rock Before Placing it in Your Aquarium

When you place a piece of uncured or even cured (sometimes cured live rock is not all that well cured) live rock in your aquarium for the first time, there will inevitably be some die-off. This die-off will cause organic materials to build up in your tank and can lead to an ammonia spike. The best way to avoid having this ammonia spike impact your tank is to cure your live rock before putting it into your aquarium. This article will walk you through a step-by-step guide to curing your live rock outside of your aquarium.

Considerations

There are several things to consider before you begin the process:

• Curing live rock is pretty smelly. Therefore, I would recommend doing it somewhere where this will not be a problem. The garage might be a good place as long as it is not too cold.
• If you cannot cure your live rock outside of your aquarium then you can cure it in your aquarium before you start adding things. If you wait and let it cure and go through its ammonia spike before adding your cleaning crew, fish, or coral, your specimens have a much higher rate of survival.
• There is no need to put lights over your live rock during the curing process. The light will do nothing, but promote algae blooms.

Directions

Conclusion

You should never just add new live rock to your aquarium, especially in large amounts. There is sure to be some die-off and this can wreak havoc on your aquarium parameters. Curing your live rock outside of your aquarium mitigates this problem and ensures that your tank remains a healthy home for its inhabitants.