How and how long to cure LR?

[The Kapenta Kid]

My initial plan was to start my new Nano with cured LR bought by mail order. There is no local supplier. However I have found a store within driving distance which carries uncured LR only--and nice looking stuff too.
I'm thinking shape and size of individual LR pieces is very important when you are designing a rockscape within the restricted confines of a 15 gal Nano.
You don't know what shape/size you are getting in a mail order lot--even though I know the supplier ships good quality material.
I thought if home curing is practical it might be best to hand pick suitable uncured rocks from the store rather than ordering over the Net.
As far as I know, to cure it you put it in a covered bin of salt water with a heater and circulation pump and leave it in the dark for several weeks. Perhaps changing water from time to time.
If this takes 6 weeks or so I can live with it, but six months would be a bit too long.
Does anyone have experience of LR home curing?

 

[Trogdor]

Curing base rock doesn't have to take months. If you are just wanting it cured enough where you aren't getting any readable levels off of it, then it wouldn't take much longer than cycling your tank. In fact, I just did this on my 29g that I setup. I used about 8lbs of rock from my old tank. That rock has sat dry for over 2 years. Then I added about 20-25lbs of base rock from my LFS. I used live sand from CaribSea and used it to start the cycle. I can say that it took a bit longer than my first tank to cycle but it was completed within a month. If you are wanting to get full denitrification from your rocks then it will take months in either method used.

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

If you are wanting to get full denitrification from your rocks then it will take months in either method used.

Sorry, I don't quite follow this bit about full dentrification.
I thought that if you left the uncured LR in a container of heated/agitated salt water for X weeks until you got zero NH3/NO2/NO3 readings that the rock would then be 'cured' i.e. the remaining organisms in the rock would be consuming these nitrogen compounds as fast as they were being produced so there would be no readable values--except perhaps for a very low residual nitrate.
What is full denitrification?
Thanks.

 

[reefman23]

I would start by scrubbing it in some saltwater to remove as much of the dead/rotting material as possible. From there, you could put it right into the tank you are setting up, but you wouldnt want any sand in there. Sand would just collect alot of the stuff that will inevitably die off. So scrub it and either set it up in a buck with a heater and powerhead, or in your tank with no sand, heater and powerhead, suck any debris out of the bottom when it collects, dont have any lights on it until the cycle is coming to an end, and then treat it just like cured rock.

Honestly, you tend to get more life out of uncured rock than you do from cured. You wll want to invest in a decent nitrate/nitrite/ammonia test kit so that you can moniter the cycle.

HTH,

Jesse

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Thanks folks. In fact the stuff I saw was really free of any major surface detritus, it was all sitting in a big concrete tank under sprays. So although it is just being 'held' I guess it is partially curing all the time, but I'll still give it a scrub.
Reefman, I've already got the NH4/NO2/NO3 tests which I use on my FW tanks, but I think I'll buy a set of Salifert tests to use only on my reef tank, I read they have a good name.

 

[reefman23]

If you put your nose right down at the surface of the water in the holding tank and give it a sniff, you can usually tell how well the rock is cured. Salfert is a great brand for most tests.

Jesse