Yes, in (very) short, that's how long it takes for the rock to become "live". i wouldn't use the word "buffer" to describe live rock's abilities just because that would be confusing with alkalinity buffers, but you have the idea right for sure. That's exactly what it does. Using just one piece of live rock, I wouldn't expect corals to do very well for the first 6-8 months, but if you kept the fish load to 50% or so, that would be fine.

Thanks for the comment on the articles. :) I wrote them to help people out as some questions come up over and over, and some of the answers can be long-winded, so I think it's best to point people to an article sometimes so they can get the whole story. :)

Okay. biological buffer:wink:
Same effect as live plants in my FW planted tanks. I take it in a fish-only system you need to have a reduced bioload - less fish and more water changes to compensate.
I have a pretty good idea of fish load in a FW setup, but how do I figure this out in FOWLR? Is it different for a reef tank, too?

Compared to some of the textbooks & articles I've had to struggle through in grad school, your's are succinct and informative!:biggrin:

I'd heard of curing live rock, but now I've got an idea what is going on - and I'd never heard of cooking before!

One question about the process of curing/cooking, do you lose ALL the organisms, or do enough survive to grow & seed the rest and the dry rock?

Vic