Cycling rock

[budddman]

Soon to start cycling rock in a brute can for a new tank, but ive got a couple questions.

1) Lid on the can or off?
2) Also can i use water from my established tanks to cycle the roock or should i use all new fresh saltwater.

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[fishman1069]

I would say lid off for gas exchange and yes you can use water from your tank

 

[jaa1456]

Depends where you are keeping it, sometimes curing live rock will stink up the place. But the lid will need to be cracked opened a little. I would go with all new water if you have any ich or any other type of worries from the old tank. Make sure you have a heater, power head and I always use an air pump with stone also.

 

[Boomer]

I agree with jaa.

 

[budddman]

thanks for the replies. Its going in the garage, so ill just lay the top on and not seal it. Leave a gap for gas exchange, and im going to use fresh water, prob gonna be less than 20 gals total anyway. One of my existing tanks has a gha issue, so i dont want to introduce that. However a few weeks with no lights, i dont see how much gha can grow.

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[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Depends where you are keeping it, sometimes curing live rock will stink up the place. But the lid will need to be cracked opened a little. I would go with all new water if you have any ich or any other type of worries from the old tank. Make sure you have a heater, power head and I always use an air pump with stone also.

This is honestly the best way to do it , I added bacteria to mine for added beneficial bacterial growth but that's all

 

[thirty5]

This depends on how long you plan on curing the rock for.

If you are going to do the long run (meaning like 16 weeks) then IMO you can use your waterchange water to START the cycle only. Even if you had ICH in the tank, the chance that it is actually in the water column is slight and the cure time will be fallow so there will not be a host for the ICH to attach and continue to live.

But use new salt water to to WC but I would keep the salinity LOW to not just throw away the salt. down at about 1.021 even.

Make sure that you feed the rock and I would dose with some starter bacteria.

 

[budddman]

Im assuming the air pump and stone is for added gas exchange?. Is it necessary though? I do have plenty of time to cycle...atleast 2 months.

How will temps effect cycling. I plan on using 20 gal brute container and about 50lbs of rock. It will be in the garage where ambient temps are definatly going to be low. I will be using an oversized heater in the can, hope its enough to keep the temp in a respectable range.

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[budddman]

Feed the rock??? I do plan on using special blend.

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[budddman]

P.s. this is dry eco saver rock from brs.com

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[thirty5]

You need to feed the bacteria. I would just throw a bit of flake in there once in a while. If you dont feed the bacteria they will die. You also need to keep it at a decent temp. You want to make sure that the bacteria in the rock are actually alive..

 

[Boomer]

Bud

What kind of rock is this ? If this is home made or mined rock, that is steril, you do need to feed it. If it is marine rock it is almost a waste of time. There will be more organics leaching out to feed the bacteria than you can imagine and any dead bacteria will be fed on by live bacteria. It takes a long time for bacteria to die if not feed once they are established. Riverhead, been to Joe's many times. Bacteria don't die because it is cold out or all the bacteria in the Riverhead, inlets, bays and beaches would die. They just slow down on growth and activity. Parasites and algae, many can survive for 2 months or so, so use new water.

 

[budddman]

Its the bulk reef supply reef saver rock. Dry, has never seen water.

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[dbriceno]

I cured about 100+ lbs of rock in a Brute can. I started with a mix of new salt water and water from the tank to seed it. I had a heater and 2 circulating pumps in the can. Test the water and do your water changes till all ammonia and nitrites are gone. I kept it covered to retain the heat and reduce evaporation. It took about 8 weeks to cure the rock

 

[jaa1456]

If its the dry rock then there is no bacteria on it, you will need to feed the rock, I would just do a few mysis shrimp in a nylon bag, the ones used for carbon. The air pump would be the best use for gas exchange, and you could go buy a small piece of live rock to seed the new rock. You just have to be careful for hitchhikers. But if you want my honest opinion just rinse the rock thoroughly and cycle it in your tank when you set up your tank. Unless you plan on throwing this rock directly into the tank after curing it and getting a head start on your tank.

 

[Boomer]

Ok budd, need to feed it then. And ditto on jaa advice