Live rock

[Dayzidooxs]

Does anyone know where I can buy inexpensive live rock? I live in the Bronx!

 

[Island_Emt]

Check Craigslist. Saw some on there few days ago.

 

[Dayzidooxs]

Thx, I will check there...

 

[Sqasnatch]

Bulk reed supply sells really cheap rock. But it's not live. It is very nice to work with though

 

[Dayzidooxs]

Can I use live coral with it?

 

[zacheyp]

i would also like to know, would coral work

 

[carey]

You can start a tank with entirely base rock if you cycle the tank properly. and yes, the corals wouldnt know the difference so you can put corals in the tank.

 

[zacheyp]

would it be hard to cycle

 

[carey]

You would still cycle like you would using live rock

Cycle your salt tank

Using the shrimp method listed above or by dosing pure ammonia. it might take a tad longer as you don't have the die off or any starting bacteria as you would with the live rock. I've been thinking of cycling my new 90g with only base rock as I have a couple hundred lbs of it.
I'd be interested if anyone reading this has done that, and how long their cycle took.

 

[Dayzidooxs]

I'm sooo sry, but what does cycling the tank mean? I'm still new to this...

 

[AquaRick]

Cycling your tank is the process of building up beneficial bacteria in your tank (on rock, sand, everything really). This bacteria is necessary to break down Ammonia (fish waste products) into nitrite, and finally nitrate. Ammonia is very deadly to fish with nitrate being the least harmful etc. Ideally, you want to be cycled before you add any fish,coral, or inverts into your tank. See the article above.

Cycling time can vary depending on if you're using live rock/sand, how big your tank is etc. Some can cycle in a few days to more than 6 weeks.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dayzidooxs]

Ok! I have crushed coral instead of sand, what do I do to cycle it?

 

[AquaRick]

It's the same as regular sand. You still need to cycle your tank. Check out the article above.

Here's another great article if you want to cycle with pure amonia:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

It gives great step by step instructions on how to cycle with pure amonia.

 

[Dayzidooxs]

Ohhhhh boy! This was like Chinese to me, it seems complicated but I've already bought everything so I'm not gonna back down now. I just gotta keep telling myself that the end results will b worth it...thx slot for ur help.

(I was under the assumption that all I needed was the live sand, and stuff and that that would've made the tank saltwater, boy was I off, lol)

Thx Again!

 

[AquaRick]

Yup! We have all started as some point. Good to know you're getting this info now rather than later =)