So i need this really big favor! :D

[Willow]

im doing leak and plumbing tests tonight and its going so-so.. i have a punchlist lets leave it at that! damn i forgot how loud overflow can be without a standpipe!

i have looked around the city and made some calls about rock. basically if i want to cherry pick rock at somewhat of a decent price i have to go uncured. this leaves me a dilemma, i have no skimmer (this is where your part comes in ) i was hoping that some super nice person could either lend me a skimmer for a few weeks to cure around a 100lbs of rock or could help me cure it if they had some sort of curing facility. i would be very much appreciated if anyone could help me out! i don't think i need anything fancy just a hang on or something.

thanks.. i await the deluge of offers

[Willow]

it's ok jump right on in there, i know you want to help..

on another note the chiller is leaking.. great! now im a refrigeration repair guy! damn stupid &#@%(0!!

[Orion80]

I amsure u have read that u do not need a skimmer, in fact even better that ui do not use one till your rock is cured.

Adie

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Orion80

I amsure u have read that u do not need a skimmer, in fact even better that ui do not use one till your rock is cured.

Adie

Just wondering why you would not want to use a skimmer? I find its important to use one so you can get rid of all the decay while you are curing the rock. That and regular water changes makes the curing much quicker.

IME

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Orion80

in fact even better that ui do not use one till your rock is cured.

Adie

Hmmm, I need to ask why that might be so? Is there an advantage to having dissolved nitrogenous compounds in the water?

[Willow]

in fact i have read that you do need a skimmer unless you want to do whopping daily water changes.

[Quinn]

I didn't use a skimmer when I cured my rock.

[Chad]

I don't think its critical to use a skimmer.. but definitely benifical.

[Rikko]

I cured by rock as per Calfo:

(Paraphrasing)
The BEST thing you can do while curing fresh rock is to have massive water movement and aeration.
The NEXT best thing you can do is have oversize skimmers running in the curing tubs, even better is to have 2 and change the cups alternately to not interrupt skimmate production.

I didn't have a skimmer when I cured my 70 lbs of Tonga and doubt I would ever bother (well, I did have a piece of PVC with some bio balls in it and an air stone at the bottom, and a nasty foam would overflow and spill onto the lid of the Rubbermaid tub, but that's far too gross to be called a skimmer.. It got thrown onto the back lawn after a couple days). I used two 18 gallon Rubbermaid tubs. Each had a heater, an air pump with a big airstone, and a Maxijet powerhead with the venturi attachment running. I kept tossing in baking soda to keep the water buffered and the pH up enough, and tested my ammonia daily. When ammonia reached or exceeded 1ppm I did a 50% water change in the tubs. Once you detect high nitrites, pay a little more attention to ammonia. Once ammonia drops to zero, you're done and the rock is ready to party. Mine took 9 days and it's absolutely gorgeous. All sorts of macroalgaes, foraminiferans, corraline, chitons, bivalves, and "something" (some worm thing inside the rock that seems to reach out holes to grab stuff.. I can't even photograph it to try and get an ID) survived to go into the display.

If I ever need rock again, it'll be as fresh as possible. From what I've seen, "pre-cured" usually just means it's been left in gross water to fester. It might not kill your tank, but it also doesn't have half the exciting stuff that was alive on it when it came in.
We're getting some fresh Tonga rock at the Pet Gallery next week which we're going to cure there. I'll see how cost-effective it is to cure rock in a quality manner, but there's probably a good reason why most places' cured rock is white or brown.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Orion80

I amsure u have read that u do not need a skimmer, in fact even better that ui do not use one till your rock is cured.

Adie

hmm everyone has already covered it I see.

get a skimmer, saves both life and money.

Steve