I purchased some Reef saver rock for my tank build. It’s the really dry white rock variety (not live rock). I had planned on rinsing the dust off it off and just using it but does it need to be cured in any way? I watched some BRS videos and from what I’ve seen it appears that only the “dirty” dry rock needs to be cleaned and cured to burn off nitrates. Any advice on the topic before I start up my tank?
Rock? Curing needed?
- Thread starter Gdel
- Start date
Has the rock ever been used before? Feel free to attach a photo.
but if it looks clean, no pre-curing is necessary. But it will need to be seeded with bacteria, and that takes time.
but if it looks clean, no pre-curing is necessary. But it will need to be seeded with bacteria, and that takes time.
See attached. It has never been in water. Pretty sure it’s man made. I assume the starter organisms in my tank will seed it over the first four weeks or so. That was my plan anyway. Also, should it be rinsed with RODI or can I blast it with the garden hose to rinse off the dust? Maybe I’m overthinking the process and it doesn’t matter so much. Thanks...
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You just need to give them a good rinse and thenstart cycling.
I agree. You may not need to rinse it, but it doesn’t hurt.
The next steps for you are to:
The next steps for you are to:
- Set up a tank
- Fill it with saltwater
- Place the rocks in the water
- Add bacteria and food supply
- Wait, wait, wait... for the bacteria to grow
- (obviously, this is a little simplified. There are lots of minor steps, such as ensuring that your tank is not leaking, associated with each step above)
To the OP, Marco Rocks Reef Saver is what some call fossilized coral rock, because it was formed thousands, perhaps millions, of years ago. It consists mostly of calcium carbonate, like all coral skeleton structure. This rock is mined from quarries in Florida which were once under sea and part of a coral reef. As sea levels dropped the reef was exposed leaving what is there now.
In the ocean over time, phosphorous naturally deposits on the coral rock from sea water forming calcium phosphate. While this is not very soluble, it will slowly release phosphate back into water when used in a reef tank. These processes are in chemical terms thermodynamically favored. Meaning it will happen and there is little that can be done to prevent it.
While the release of phosphate is slow and amounts may be small, some of us run low nutrient systems and wish to prevent this phosphate from leaching. One way to help do that is to soak the rock in a low percentage solution of citric acid, which has a unique ability to solubilize phosphate. By doing this, the phosphate is quickly released from the coral rock surface back into solution and can then be poured off. This is followed by several good rinses in RO/DI or just DI water and the rock is then placed in the tank and seeded with your preference of nitrifying and other bacteria.
If you would like to know where to buy citric acid and how to mix it, just ask.
In the ocean over time, phosphorous naturally deposits on the coral rock from sea water forming calcium phosphate. While this is not very soluble, it will slowly release phosphate back into water when used in a reef tank. These processes are in chemical terms thermodynamically favored. Meaning it will happen and there is little that can be done to prevent it.
While the release of phosphate is slow and amounts may be small, some of us run low nutrient systems and wish to prevent this phosphate from leaching. One way to help do that is to soak the rock in a low percentage solution of citric acid, which has a unique ability to solubilize phosphate. By doing this, the phosphate is quickly released from the coral rock surface back into solution and can then be poured off. This is followed by several good rinses in RO/DI or just DI water and the rock is then placed in the tank and seeded with your preference of nitrifying and other bacteria.
If you would like to know where to buy citric acid and how to mix it, just ask.
For more on phosphate leaching, here is a thread where it was measured -
BRS Reef Saver Rock and Phosphates - Reef Central Online Community
BRS Reef Saver Rock and Phosphates New to the Hobby
www.reefcentral.com
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