crap if i get my 60g set up downstairs my parents wouldn't know where the stink is coming from and when the find out... it won't be pretty.

Im 2 months into cooking the LR. I used a plastic garbage can with a lid that sorta snaps shut. Placed a powerhead near the bottom of the garbage can with a heater near the top so i dont crush it with the rock. You will get a pretty nasty skin on the top of the water the first month or so. Just pull the top layer of skin off and do water changes every 2 weeks or more. I scrubed the rock pretty clean too after the first week. Anyways to the point.... if i didnt open the garbage can no smell... I was doing this in the laundry room btw. But as soon as you open the garbage can oh man did it stink something aweful. But anyways when the lid was on no one complained at all. Now just after 2 months it doesnt smell at all when i open the garbage can. Rock looks real nice and clean too :biggrin:

Well, hopefully I dont have tp "cook" it. I'll be getting rock form JL, but shipped via greyhound. Have no place to do it other than in the house. Was hoping to be able to set tank up and let cycle for 5-6 weeks

buy cured and the problems solved

Problem is, I am 4.5 hrs north of Vanc. How much die off will happen on a bus ride up?

We put our LR in a big rubber maid container with a lid to let it cure. Ran a power head and a heater and scrubbed off die off and did water changes once a week. Only stunk real bad when we opened up the lid.

Take off all the dead stuff and run your skimmer. I never found it that bad just tell them you never knew it would smell.:wink:
Run that skimmer it will help and It will only smell for a short time.

Well...it is all about different opinions...so here goes.

Before you read below...understand that I am talking about setting up a new system....NOT adding additional LR to an existing system. That is a very different story.

I don't cure live rock. If you can get good quality live rock, that has been out of the ocean for as little time as possible...it gets to you with minimal die off and doesn't require "curing".

If you are starting a new tank, I try to establish some biological filtration using bioballs and dead seafood, then add the LR directly to your system with the lights running. The bioballs are there to absorb any ammonia that any decay on the rocks is producing. As the LR becomes the system filter, the bioballs are eventually removed completely. The lights are running because some of the life needs light to survive. (ie. some coral)

This provides the best chance of keeping as much alive on the rock as possible.

I am awaiting delivery of my first tank I hadn't considered the stink factor that I might encounter. This tank will be placed in the living room so it is paramount that I minimize the stink.

It seems to me that part of the fun of stating a new tank with new LR is discovering the hitch hikers that arrive. So curing in a dark place could actually kill more hitch hikers and create more stink.

I will be ordering LR from the Lower Mainland. How often do the main suppliers receive new LR that has been out of the ocean for a very short time?

To cut down on stink how will this proposal work:

1. Order new live rock
2. Add bioballs to help speed up the curing process
3. Light the tank to keep hitchhiking corals etc alive
4. Very frequent water changes
5. Buy flowers
   
   

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Start with Live Sand
 

To cut down on stink how will this proposal work:

1. Install live sand
2. Order new live rock
3. Add bioballs to help speed up the curing process
4. Light the tank to keep hitchhiking corals etc alive
5. Very frequent water changes
6. Buy flowers
   
   

[/list][/quote]