First time aquarium owner! live/dead/cured rock questions

[cheucklate]

I am very excited to setting up my first aquarium ever. My friend has passed down his tank (Reef ready 30g with 3 chamber 10g sump & vinyl tubing) I believe I have all the hardware and plumbing in check and have just finished soaking everything in vinegar + water. However this is the extent of my knowledge so far I don't know anything about reef biology.

I have bought some cured live rock from a forum member as a "seed"(currently sitting in a tub with saltwater & powerhead) and also 50lbs of dead marco rock (I believe uncured dry) from their website. My main concern is to have a parasite free tank so I ask what are the necessary steps for me to start the curing and cycling process.

Do I have to cure the dead rock in a separate container first? How do I cure? Any way to expedite? Can I start cycling the live rock and place the dead rock after it is cured? So many questions and very confused, looking for guidance thank you! :biggrinpa

 

[reefiness]

Welcome to the hobby.

to start, parasite free tank... good luck. its very difficult to do but what you are going to want to do is make sure you set up a QT tank for incoming fish, treat them all with copper to be sure to kill off any unseen parasites before adding to your tank. Also be sure to dip all corals because you can get hitchhikers from everything.

I would suggest letting the uncured rock cycle on its own for a few weeks before adding to the main tank. For now you can throw the live rock into your DT to start.

If you really want to be parasite free, I would suggest cycling the tank using ammonia instead of using fish that way you can keep your rocks "fish free" for about 2 months which will help kill off any dormant ick which may be in any of the rocks.

"Any way to expedite?".... don't. If you want it done right, take your time, do your research, and enjoy.

 

[cheucklate]

I would suggest letting the uncured rock cycle on its own for a few weeks before adding to the main tank. For now you can throw the live rock into your DT to start.

Thank you for your reply! Quick question, can you explain how I should cycle the uncured dead rock. Also you're saying I should start the cycle with live rocks on DT now and how do I know when the dead rocks are ready to go into DT.
Thank you.

 

[noelskii]

Where in the Bronx are you located? If you're close to the Morris Park area, I suggest to give The Reef Shoppe a visit. They are located at 900 Morris Park Avenue. I'm sure they can help you better in person.

 

[reefiness]

Its been a while since I cured rock, but if i remember correct, you want to set up in a large enough container to hold all the rocks and put in a power head to get some movement in the water. I've heard of some people using a protein skimmer while curing but its not really needed. You will want to do pretty significant water changes every few days, maybe about 30%. As for how you can monitor the cycle, you test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. The breakdown of organic matter will cause a spike in ammonia. Then there are natural nitrifying bacteria which will convert the ammonia, to nitrite, then to nitrate which is a gas which naturally gets released from sea water slowly but surely. We in the aquaria hobby like to speed up the process by doing water changes to speed up the rate at which nitrate is removed from the aquarium.

So in a nut shell you'll know you cycling is done when your ammonia and nitrite levels return to zero after they rise.

 

[cheucklate]

Where in the Bronx are you located? If you're close to the Morris Park area, I suggest to give The Reef Shoppe a visit. They are located at 900 Morris Park Avenue. I'm sure they can help you better in person.

Wow awesome, that is a 1 mile drive from my area thank you very much!!!!

 

[Chefjpaul]

Welcome.

Lets start with the rocks.

Dry- I highly suggest acid wash. Google / utube videos of the process. You can use vinegar or muric acid. This will clean them of phosphate. Then wash them well.

Live- what you are doing now is Essentially curing it in a dark place. This will help with algae pests. - good thing, it just takes time.

http://www.reefaquarium.com/2013/curing-rock-for-marine-aquariums/

http://reefbuilders.com/2007/06/18/cycling-curing-live-rock-for-saltwater-aquriums/

I would add the acid washed / cleaned dry rock to the bucket with the live rock and cycle both with an ammonia source as needed. I prefer this method rather than in tank, as you can siphon out dead organic materials, change water if needed, (less costly than a whole tank).
Again, this will take longer, but will be algae / phosphate free.

Patience is key, reading and researching.

 

[cheucklate]

edit* I've decided to go with a 1:1 vinegar ratio. Any guesses on how long it'll take. After do I give it a thorough wash in rodi or can i use tapwater.

By the way the cured live rocks have these white squiggles similar to this picture:
I can't post URLs yet but google "White squiggles on my live rock" and it's the first link that appears.

Just wanted to make sure it's normal.

 

[Chefjpaul]

When I used vinegar in current tank, i did like 90% vinegar 10% rodi.
Let it soak for almost a full day.
Rinsed in rodi, let it dry for a couple, threw it in with the live rocks I was "cooking" in a dark tub.

 

[salpet]

put everything in the tank get yourself 5 or 6 damsels wait 3 months take out the damsels and happy reefing

 

[reefiness]

put everything in the tank get yourself 5 or 6 damsels wait 3 months take out the damsels and happy reefing

if he wants to try to stay parasite free, this is definitely not the way to do it, although this is the way most people do/did it including myself way back when.

 

[salpet]

you can not stay parasite free there is no such tank, and dipping healthy fish in copper is definately one heck of a way to stress them out. and remember ick and other parasites are omnypresent

 

[Chefjpaul]

you can not stay parasite free there is no such tank, and dipping healthy fish in copper is definately one heck of a way to stress them out. and remember ick and other parasites are omnypresent

I happen to agree with this, but curing and acid washing (dry) rock helps rid of organic po4 issues that arise down the road.

We end up adding plenty of it once livestock is added, might as well have sterile rock to start out.

 

[reefiness]

im not going to argue saying theres no such thing as a parasite free tank. I guess I should have put up a disclosure saying my ideas about keeping a parasite free tank were theorized. Although I have heard of people keeping such "sterile" systems, mine is definitely not I can say that for sure.

As for saying you cant eliminate ick, i've read some research articles saying the dormant phase of the life cycle can last as long as 72 days. With this, one can argue if you keep a tank fish free for >72 days, then add "parasite free" fish, the system should remain ick free.

 

[salpet]

all you need to do is keep your fish strong and they will deal with ick remember the ocean is by no means a sterile or parasite free enviroment