new setup, curerock with sand or not?

[TommyBoy]

I finally got my 110RR Oceanic home and my LFS was tellling me to
cure your rock in tank without substate. Then once rock is fully cured do a complete water change and bring in you sand 4-6 in. deep. He claims you do not want to cure your rock with your bed in place. He states that it will pollute your sandbed. I guess I always thought it was good to have bed in place so that life will start to move to bed while curing process is going on. So what is the consensus here with regards to rock curing? with bed in ploace or without? ALso i plan after rock is cured to add a sand activator to bed to increase life. thanks for all your help on this big project. Lastly, I live in NorCal where southdown seems to be unavailable, has anyone ordered "PureÂ*Â*Caribbean Aragonite" from this mail order place? http://www.purearagonite.com/
thanks again...

[BradJohnson]

I say do it with the sand. It's harder to get the sand behind and under the rocks later and you end up with an incomplete DSB.

It will also help cycle and populate the sand. It definitely won't "pollute" the sandbed but there may be some garbage on top when it's said and done, which you can easily syphon off.

[BradJohnson]

I believe purearagonite.com (as well as aragamax) get's their sand from the exact same supplier as southdown.

[organicreefer]

i like to cure with sand.

[erasmu]

I also suggest putting the sand in first, then adding the rock on top. Cycle the rock and sand together as has been suggested in the earlier posts. The critter kit addition following the cycle is a good way to go.

[TommyBoy]

Any others like to comment?
I again talked to my lfs guy last night while looking for other supplies and he re-instated that you do not want to cure rock with sand bed in place. his exp. is that it causes more harm than good to your new sand bed. Just trying to make sure I get off on the right foot.

[hiddendragonet]

I rarely heed the advice of anyone at an LFS anymore- at least not without getting other opinions. Not to say they don't know what they're talking about necessarily, but RC has proven to be FAR more reliable than store workers. IMO, the opinions of the masses outweigh the opinion of one.

[TommyBoy]

I totally agree with you hiddendragenet. This is why i am looking for various opinions of others here to base decisions on. I willl say that this lfs guy is one of very few that I have confidence in and have worked with in the past. His tanks are fantastic and is the major commercial reef setup/maintenence guys in town. His repitation is very high. Obviously as I have learned in the past 3-4 years with salt setups that you learn quickly amonst your lfs's who has a leg to stand on.

[hiddendragonet]

Very true. I just think so many LFS are in the business of keeping animals alive for a couple weeks, whereas we are in the hobby of keeping them alive for years. It changes your perspective.

Anyway, I don't think it would matter that much if you cure it with sand or without. But, curing it with the sand allows you to set up the tank and leave it, as well as cycling the sand at the same time as the rest of the tank.