Curing Marco Rock: Necessary?

[ATLL765]

Is it necessary to cure marco rocks as it is not dried live rock, but mined from an ancient reef now left dry.

I figure at the least I'm gonna rinse it in RO to get off the dust/dirt/sand, but was unsure if curing was necessary when starting a new tank.

Plus I still don't this answer in their FAQ:

"We do not recommend our rock or any other rock right into an established tank without testing first....However you will find our Key Largo rock 100% free of organics or "pre cured" this makes it safe to tank in an established system without fear of an ammonia spike."

So does this just mean I'm ok as far as an ammonia spike goes, but they can't guarantee it doesn't leach phosphates?

 

[Zippy69]

Used their rock several times, even put a few pieces in my DT.....without rinsing. Never had an issue nor an ammonia spike. If it's for a new tank you will still have to cycle it, as there is no microbes on it at all.

 

[ATLL765]

Used their rock several times, even put a few pieces in my DT.....without rinsing. Never had an issue nor an ammonia spike. If it's for a new tank you will still have to cycle it, as there is no microbes on it at all.

Of course. Seems like in the past and still sometimes on their cherry-scapes, Marco Rocks used Fiji rock or some other previously live, but now dead rock, so I wanted to see how others fared with their "Key Largo" mined rock.

I'll rinse it no matter what. Just gonna stick it all in a couple 20 gallon totes and pump some RO through a hose to try to get some higher pressure water to wash it with.

 

[redfishbluefish]

All dried rock needs to be cured. Now you typically can get away with putting one or a few pieces into an existing tank without curing, but that too can be a crap-shoot. I’ve done it with a few small pieces successfully.


You are starting a new tank……Cure it!

 

[ATLL765]

All dried rock needs to be cured. Now you typically can get away with putting one or a few pieces into an existing tank without curing, but that too can be a crap-shoot. I’ve done it with a few small pieces successfully.


You are starting a new tank……Cure it!

Thing is it's not dried rock, as in once live and has now sat on the beach for a while or dried out, then immediately shipped out. It's ancient, dead for quite a long time rock. What living creatures would still have remnants of itself left on the rock after this long? My worries, I'd think, would lie with phosphates leaching, rather than an ammonia spike, right?

Maybe I'll stick one or two of the rocks in a bucket for a few days while I wait for the rest of my order to show up and see if anything comes up on a test. I was thinking about adding a bit of rock to my nano that's up and running.

 

[Zippy69]

Yes this is organic free. Taken/mined reef beds from....oh I do t know the last epoch , enough time to prove that evolution is real! The whole curing thing ( allowing dead material and organics to be removed). Well, if it's a new system after rinsing let it cycle like any other dead rock. There is no organic material or life on this that CSI agents could do a DNA trace so why the cure? Makes no sense. Treat it like dead rock free of organics and start to seed it with new microbes to start the foundation

 

[ATLL765]

Yes this is organic free. Taken/mined reef beds from....oh I do t know the last epoch , enough time to prove that evolution is real! The whole curing thing ( allowing dead material and organics to be removed). Well, if it's a new system after rinsing let it cycle like any other dead rock. There is no organic material or life on this that CSI agents could do a DNA trace so why the cure? Makes no sense. Treat it like dead rock free of organics and start to seed it with new microbes to start the foundation

Exactly what I was thinking. Just wanted someone to tell me I was right. I'm way too paranoid to just wing it.