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Of all the advents
of the modern reef keeping aquarium hobby; more important than all
high-tech. lighting, filtration advances, the promotion and use of “live
rock” has served to advance the successful keeping of near-shore marine
tropical life the most. I make this bold statement right up front to
emphasize LR (Live Rock) importance.
This being stated, there are several types and qualities of LR, and in
particular a need for understanding what “curing”, “cured” LR is… and
for unfamiliar/newer hobbyists how they can procure, assess, and get
their LR to this useful state. What LR is and Isn’t:
Live rock is a mix or blend if you will of living organisms and
non-living matrix. The “live” part can be a very diverse assemblage of
nearly all marine invertebrate fauna and algal groups. The “non-living”
part is made up of minerals, mostly aggregations of biominerals
(calcium, magnesium… carbonates et al.), with life often bored in and
through the “rock” as well as occupying, attached and otherwise, the
hard outer surfaces. These very properties, living and non-living are of
tremendous utility to us as aquarists, providing hugely effective
stabilizing influences, foods, water quality boosting, and yes,
tremendous interest period.
Importantly, what LR is not is static, or permanent in its make up and
chemical-physical properties. This point needs to be fully –
appreciated, as with time, biodiversity and abundance of the live
component greatly diminishes, as well as the capacity of all types of
live rock to positively interact w/ water quality. Some percentage,
10-20, of LR should be added, or replaced in captive marine systems
after a year or so in place every six months or so to re-set the
diversity and provide soluble components. What is Curing and Why?
Live rock for the most part is “wild-collected”, with a small percentage
cultured from placed man-made or terrestrial-mined materials (See
Side-bar). Both types typically have too much biota on them to
sustainably ship and use. Coral colonies, large macro-algae, sponges and
so much more rot and add to waste weight in shipping, hence, most all
larger life forms are “whacked off” with hand tools ahead of further
processing. <Photo>
Commercial preparation of LR can be minimal, with little more than
picking up said rock at low tide, placing it in boxes and shipping, to
more elaborate, and better processing, allowing for a majority of
necessary die-off and removal of likely-to-die organic constituents. A
favorite supplier and old-time friend Walt Smith (Fiji) pioneered a
standard operating procedure including the hand-removal of much
macro-life already stated, with a few days “spritzing” of the rock in
open-bottomed V-shaped wooden troughs <Photo>, allowing for removal
pesky worms, Brittlestars… even moray eels! Pre-Cured? Really?
Even with such pre-curing, or further pre- pre-curing by your local fish
store, you are strongly encourage to do your own curing checks ahead of
placing new LR in your systems. Isolating new live rock will guarantee
both the integrity of the cure, and give you time to observe, and
hopefully removed the majority of unwanted hitchhikers. These last,
including Mantis (Stomatopods), Crabs, Pistol Shrimps, Aiptasia/Glass
Anemones and more can prove a real bane once introduced into your
main/display tanks. Far better for you to expose these pests, trap,
otherwise remove them ahead of time. Curing Processes, SOPs:
There are a few variations on the Standard Operating Procedure of how to
go about curing, that is starving out, eliminating the majority of dead,
dying matter on live rock. Some modes are faster, others not quite so
wasteful in terms of water and energy use; but basically all aim to make
the rock safe for use, permanent placement in with your purposeful
livestock systems.
In or Out of Tank? I’m a bigger fan of curing “in-place” if you have the
space, time, and tolerance for this. Having the rock in a tank allows
you to see how it is all going, more easily remove unwanteds, and get
good water circulation all about the pieces. This is of course, most
easily accomplished in bare-bottom tanks w/ no livestock present.
Alternatively, folks use most any chemically inert container, including
plastic bins and trash cans to cure their new LR. These are cheap/er and
can be more easily utilized outside of human spaces… to get away from
smell. Their downsides include having to provide other circulation,
slower and more die-off of photosynthetic life… and likely the use of
much more water to remedy the aforementioned during curing.
Lighted or Not? There are proponents of not-lighting a system during the
curing of live rock; mainly to avoid promoting the growth/profusion of
undesirable algae. I take the opposite point of view; encouraging this
thallophytic and other photosynthetic life by providing a regular
daylight photoperiod. I’ve found that this greatly expedites the curing
process, saving time, energy, water and desirable life forms.
When to change water: When it’s “bad”… depending on how
much “stuff” is dying, and taking other life w/ it, how much you and
your cohabitors dislike bad smells… this might range from 1-2 ppm of
free ammonia, up to a few times this in nitrite and unbelievable levels
of nitrate. A good idea in all cases to have a good deal of new,
ready-made seawater to switch out.
Some folks argue for the land-mining and
placement of carbonaceous rock and cement/sand et al. “man-made” rock
that has been cultured/placed in shallow marine environments to grow
life in and on them, rather than naturally collected LR. The former
supposedly being “better for the environment”… I would point out that
the energy required to make such faux LR, including hauling it to/from
sites, the displacement, use of habitat to culture… make this not a
simple “good vs. bad” proposition. Further, it should be noted that
cements in the tropics are almost all made from “cooked” reef in the
first place… My “pro” wild-collected stance comes from
realizing the work and revenue that such collection brings in the
countries where extraction occurs along w/ the reality that this
material is entirely sustainable in its natural production. The best
that can be presented in favour of unnatural LR is the actual paucity of
“climax” community biota make up; and therefore reduced need to cure
such products.
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