Adding cleanup crew to curing LR

[gudgreef]

I have 45lbs of LR that has only been curing for a week and the ammonia is still quite high. Do I need to wait til the levels are near 0 to add the clean up crew or are they hardy enough to add now, maybe help with curing process??

Tom

[Tang-away]

Wait, ammonia can kill, till levels come down to normal.

[michaelg]

Tom- one thing  you might try to speed the cure along is some live phytoplankton- they feed off the nutrients of the cure, and I'm sure there is still plenty to get the bacteria going..  Wait on the clean up crew.

[pez]

Yes, wait until the ammonia is completely zero.  However, if you are not curing your rock under light, you shouldn't need a clean up crew until light is applied.  Even then, I think LR looks better with stuff on it.  The blue legs tend to pick LR clean.  Snails do a better job of keeping aglae down without making the rock look like a purple concrete block :D

 

-T

[gudgreef]

Thanks all

[ReefMon]

I concur with all the above.

 

Another trick to get the cycle to go faster is using established water from a running tank to do water changes with.

 

HTH