Salinity while curing live rock

[Dustin75]

Can I buy Live Rock and cure it a salinity of lets say 1.015? The reason I ask is that I want to kill off any ick, or unwanted inverts, that may be on the rock before adding fish. Will the low salinity effect the coralline algae?

Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks,
Dustin

[geekdafied]

You'll kill off almost everything a live on it that way too. Let the tank run fishless for a month or so while curing.

[Dustin75]

I just wondered because, I've heard of people putting dead rock into an aquarium and having the coralline come back. I thought if I could kill off all the pests and keep the coralline, all the better. If not I will cycle at normal values.

Thanks,
Dustin

[geekdafied]

Then why not order base rock or dead rock and seed it with something like purple up? The reason purple up works, is because it has pink and purple coraline spores in it. Its basically the coraline you scrape off the glass blended together with aragamilk. If you scraped somebodies glass and got thier coraline and mixed it with aragamilk, wah lah, you have purple up, lol.

[geekdafied]

or you could just scrape somebodies glass and toss that into the tank and seed it that way.

I would recommend buying some tufa rock, which is calcium carbonate, you can buy it in some cool shapes. Its dead reef rock basically that has been mined. Its pretty cheap lb for lb.

[amcarrig]

Originally Posted by geekdafied

or you could just scrape somebodies glass and toss that into the tank and seed it that way.

This is what I would do. I don't trust live rock much and base rock is much cheaper. I don't believe that Purple Up contains coralline algae spores, just trace elements that the manufacturer feels are necessary for coralline algae to grow (calcium, strontium, magnesium, iodine, etc.).

[geekdafied]

If it didnt have the spores, they couldnt guarantee it to work. I know for a FACT I can take base rock in new stock tank(big plastic tub used for cattle feed) and only dose with purple up, and the rocks get covered with coraline. I also run actinics 24/7 when I do that.

[amcarrig]

Sorry to disagree geek but it doesn't contain coralline. Says so on the label.

Purple-Up Directions

[geekdafied]

That doesnt explain how I can take base rock that hasn't been in saltwater in millions of years, and put it in a NEW stock tank, and only use that, and get coraline.

[geekdafied]

You dont have to apoligize