Curing dried rock

[tomtom14]

Hi guys and girls. I recently got 130lbs of dried rock. I am curing it in my sump and 2 buckets. I have never cured rock before only read about it. I just wanted to double check on what I needed to do.

All the rock is exposed to high flow by many power heads. I have heaters that are keeping the temperature at 25 degrees C. The salinity is 1.024 and was filed with RO water. It is in the dark all the time. I know that in a week I'll have to do a 50% water change.

I wanted to ask what now? Do I just leave it there for a month or two? Or do I have to add something to the rock? Or do I just do what I'm doing and then a month later I have fully cured live rock? Thanks for responses.


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[Bdonaldson]

You should add some bacteria to it or a piece of rock that is already cured. That will aid in the curing time.


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[PB_Smith]

Yes, seeding it will greatly speed up the process.
I'm also curing or more accurately seeding some rock for a new setup. I added some ammonia, accidentally a bit high ~7ppm, and then a few hours later added the contents of a 7 month old in-tank refugium I will no longer use in the new tank; ~1.5lbs mud and ~1lb oolite sand, plus bits of rock and coral chunks.
I also added a couple capfuls of Bactiv8 NPX bottled bacteria.
That was late yesterday afternoon, an hour ago I tested the water and the nitrites were about 5ppm, and 0 yesterday, so seeding definitely made a big difference.
I figure the new rock and bio-media in there will be rather well seeded in another week.

 

[tomtom14]

Thanks, is there any names of good bio media so I know what to get?


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[Bdonaldson]

This is what I plan on using when I seed my dry rock. I read a lot of great reviews about it.





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[PB_Smith]

Thanks, is there any names of good bio media so I know what to get?


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The bio-media I have been using is Seachem's Matrix. It is very porous and provides tons on external and internal surface area for bacteria to colonize.

The bottled bacteria is from Two Little Fishes;

Two Little Fishes Bactiv8 NPX Biological Filtration

 

[Bdonaldson]

Sorry, I misunderstood the question.



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[tomtom14]

So will Bio-Spira and adding a bit of live rock shorten the curing time of the dried rock?


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[PB_Smith]

So will Bio-Spira and adding a bit of live rock shorten the curing time of the dried rock?


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definitely
probably by at least a week.


if the rock was completely dry with no bits on it to decay, then all you need is for it to get seeded with bacteria. Add a few pounds of rock that is already in use and "live", the bottled bacteria and a food source (ammonia) and it should be good in a week or two at most.
If the rock has stuff that needs to decay off first, still add the live rock and bacteria, but also begin testing to monitor any decaying stuff on the rock, and it will take longer.

 

[mr_X]

You need an ammonia source. Bacteria will grow on it's own. You can add the bottled stuff if you like, but it's not necessary. BTW, you do not need to do a water change in a week. Let the cycle run it's course, and when you see no detectable ammonia or nitrite, and the nitrates are high, then you can do your water change.
I would be testing the water periodically and not counting days.

 

[Sniperhank]

Curing will be really easy, just throw in a cocktail shrimp and let nature take its course. You don't need to use 'seeded' material from another tank or to spend money on bottled bacteria that hasn't been proven to work by anyone but who makes the stuff. People will swear by both processes, but they are both unneeded. Everything goes well in this hobby when patience is demonstrated, and using this or that to speed things along usually ends up with something happening that is most likely to frustrate us.

If this was me putting things together, I would put all of the rock into my tank rather than in the sump and buckets. If the tank is uncycled, get it all done at the same time. This will give you several weeks through the cycle to put your aquascape together in a way that you will like it and then get some sand in there to help solidify your foundation and build up a bacteria base in it as well. That and you won't have buckets laying around your living room. Invest in an API test kit so you can watch your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels and you will then know when your cycle is done.

 

[tomtom14]

Thanks everyone.


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[tomtom14]

Curing will be really easy, just throw in a cocktail shrimp and let nature take its course. You don't need to use 'seeded' material from another tank or to spend money on bottled bacteria that hasn't been proven to work by anyone but who makes the stuff. People will swear by both processes, but they are both unneeded. Everything goes well in this hobby when patience is demonstrated, and using this or that to speed things along usually ends up with something happening that is most likely to frustrate us.

If this was me putting things together, I would put all of the rock into my tank rather than in the sump and buckets. If the tank is uncycled, get it all done at the same time. This will give you several weeks through the cycle to put your aquascape together in a way that you will like it and then get some sand in there to help solidify your foundation and build up a bacteria base in it as well. That and you won't have buckets laying around your living room. Invest in an API test kit so you can watch your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels and you will then know when your cycle is done.

So if I did it this way would I need to do any water changes? If so what percentage of water would I need to change? Would I leave lights on 8 hours a day or not at all? I just want to be sure on what I'm going to do as don't want to do it wrong.


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[PB_Smith]

Curing will be really easy, just throw in a cocktail shrimp and let nature take its course. You don't need to use 'seeded' material from another tank or to spend money on bottled bacteria that hasn't been proven to work by anyone but who makes the stuff. People will swear by both processes, but they are both unneeded. Everything goes well in this hobby when patience is demonstrated, and using this or that to speed things along usually ends up with something happening that is most likely to frustrate us.
.

Hmmm, but it has been demonstrated time and again that introducing seeded rock, sand, whatever greatly speeds up the process and essentially changes the procedure from "cycling" the rock to simply "seeding" it with the desired bacteria.
When you introduce material already populated with the different types of bacteria needed, then you do not have to wait for each type to "make an appearance" as they are all there, doing what they do already and the only thing is getting them to populate the new rock, correct?

If a person has a healthy established tank or access to material from such a tank, why shouldn't they, besides getting a lesson in patience?

I also have begun to really wonder about the different fish-less cycling methods such as dead shrimp or bottled ammonia.
The biggest problem is the fish do not excrete pure ammonia nor do we routinely leave critters to rot in the tank, so neither methodology actually replicates what is going on in an established aquarium, but that's a topic for another thread.

But seriously Sniper, why would you say seeding it doesn't make any difference when you know full well it does, and that is probably one of the most often relayed bits of advice concerning cycling a system on these forums.
do you personally feel my advice was wrong?
if so please elaborate.

 

[Sniperhank]

We aren't talking about replicating. We are boosting bacteria base to prevent poisoning from toxic ammonia and nitrites.

I'm more against the bacteria in a bottle, seeding with a piece of rock may have an effect in a smaller tank, but too large of a tank you will meet notice.


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[tomtom14]

So would I need to leave the lights on and do water changes if I moved the rock into my display?


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[Chefjpaul]

Check for phosphates!

If present, this is best time, before you cycle them to acid / vinegar bath them & run a phosphate remover.

Helps any future problems.



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[mr_X]

Bacteria is already present in low oxygen areas, and it's on everything you come in contact with. It's even on your skin right now. Adding a small piece of rock does not quicken the process of cycling. Adding a LARGE AMOUNT of already cycled rock can do something however. With or without a piece of rock added, you'll still have to wait for the bacteria colony to grow to accommodate the bio load, and without ammonia present, it will not grow at all. The need is for the ammonia source, and not supplemental bacteria. If this was true, thousands of tanks with no live rock added would fail, when they do just as well as tanks with 100% live rock.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Ammonia is a multiplier and whatever bacteria you have in the container it will feed on it and multiply. If you start with dead rocks, ammonia will multiply the bacteria in the container. If you put a bit of real LR those little bit of bacteria will also be multiplied exponentially. That is the reason why seeding is being practiced. The cycling additive such as the Bio-Spira is not just an imaginary solution but it is a liquid containing bacteria cultured in the laboratory. As we know bacteria can hibernate and some do not need light or oxygen to survive. Adding those additive you are in fact adding more bacteria into your tank. So now you do the math.

 

[Bdonaldson]

So would I need to leave the lights on and do water changes if I moved the rock into my display?


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Here is what I did when I set my 29 gallon up.

Put all my base rock and live sand in the tank and added 3 or 4 medium pieces of live rock that I bought and in three weeks my tank was cycled and my base rock was starting to grow bacteria. I tested once a week until the tank spiked and then came back down to 0.

Once the cycle completed, I added a few fish. In a few months my base rock was well on its way to being completed seeded. I did 25% weekly water changes after adding the fish . I also added some purple tech to establish the rock and tank with coralline algae.

I wouldn't put a big bio load in there in the beginning. Just be patient and things will work out.






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