Cycling Rock

[Froster92]

I was wondering if this is something possible, smart, or just a bad idea. Me and my wife are planning on picking up a 180gal tank soon. But we are still piecing together equipment, have to build a stand, etc. If I were to pick up some rocks, I plan to use mostly dry rock with a little bit of live rock to assist the cycle, could I just place them in a trash can or some type of container with a heater, power head, and water and start cycling them? Once that’s done and everything with the tank is completed could I just move them over to the main tank? Sorry if this is a dumb question.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hankhill31]

Yes that's wat I do

 

[jcook54]

Not a dumb question and your plan is good. It's pretty much what I do too. When you start soaking the rock, throw some good bacteria in the tub. Something like bio-spira or a Dr. Tim's product. That will help jump start the good bacteria. You'll also want to 'ghost feed' so the bacteria have something to consume. When I do this, I just throw in some food pellets once in a while. As they break down, they'll release nutrients that the bacteria can consume.

The only other thing I would do is test for phosphates. Sometimes older rocks can release phosphates and if yours do this, you can do water changes to bring the levels down. Of course the rock may leach more back into the water but over time if you keep removing PO4 from the water, it'll reduce the amount that gets leached back into you system once you get it set up.

 

[Froster92]

Not a dumb question and your plan is good. It's pretty much what I do too. When you start soaking the rock, throw some good bacteria in the tub. Something like bio-spira or a Dr. Tim's product. That will help jump start the good bacteria. You'll also want to 'ghost feed' so the bacteria have something to consume. When I do this, I just throw in some food pellets once in a while. As they break down, they'll release nutrients that the bacteria can consume.

The only other thing I would do is test for phosphates. Sometimes older rocks can release phosphates and if yours do this, you can do water changes to bring the levels down. Of course the rock may leach more back into the water but over time if you keep removing PO4 from the water, it'll reduce the amount that gets leached back into you system once you get it set up.

To go along with that could I do the same with the sand?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DiefsReef]

To go along with that could I do the same with the sand?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure I'd do that with sand

 

[Froster92]

Not sure I'd do that with sand

Any specific reasoning why?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Adam]

If you're starting with dry sand, which I recommend, then it will need to be rinsed thoroughly. A 5 gallon bucket 2/3rds full with a hose on the bottom, rinse till the water runs clear. Then a final rinse with RO water.

Now you could cycle the sand with the rock. It does sound like a pita and could be quite messy to move to the display but you could do it if you really wanted to.

Sand has a tremendous amount of surface area. Using a starter bacteria blend to seed the rock and sand will cycle pretty quickly and then need to be fed ammonia regularly to keep the bacteria from going dormant.

 

[DiefsReef]

Any specific reasoning why?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes I was thinking that would be to much of a mess. As @Adam stated above, seeding with something like Bio Spira will jump start the cycle. He suggested Bio Spira to me in an earlier post and it has done quit well for me so far.

 

[renejuan]

To add to what has been said. Once you have the tank set up and you move all your live rock I would still wait a few days before adding fish so things are stable even if your params look good.

 

[Froster92]

To add to what has been said. Once you have the tank set up and you move all your live rock I would still wait a few days before adding fish so things are stable even if your params look good.

Yea i was still going to give it a little while and make sure the whole tank was balanced before throwing anything in.