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Hi
Till now after so 4 months of rearing SW tank, I have no idea of what does it menas to cure a LR. What is the difference between cured and uncured?
At the same time, how to differentiate between cured and uncured? I have 1 fish only tank maintain by my dad and it seems that all the LR has lost their colours does that mean that the LR is no longer living? If that is the case then is there any way to revive those rocks. Please suggest what should be done in this case.
Uncured = liverock that has die-off from shipping or otherwise being removed from the water. Easily detected by the smell. It STINKS!
Cured = liverock that has no die-off remaining. Smells earthy, but not offensive.
Uncured liverock will produce ammonia when you put it in your tank and should never be added to an existing tank. Any liverock you get, ANY, should be re-cured before adding it to a tank with fish and inverts. Once a piece of liverock is removed from water, it imediately begins to dry out and with that, die-off begins.
The loss of color is probably due to lighting. The coraline algae (the purple stuff) requires moderate lighting or else it will turn white or flake off. The rock is still 100% functional, just not very pretty.
Thanks Corax but may I know how to cure or re-cure a LR?
It's quite simple actually. You put it in a tub or tank, monitor ammonia daily and do water changes as needed when ammonia goes over 1ppm. A protein skimmer helps with this a LOT. It is considered cured when ammonia is non-detect. At that point, it is safe to put into your tank.