Cycling with established rock

[bromion]

Hi all,

I purchased 40lb of live rock yesterday from an established tank for my new 58gal reef. That's the only thing in the tank now, besides water, sand, and the critters that came along with the rocks. Am I correct in thinking that the initial cycle should be extremely short or non-existant, since the rock is already full of bacteria? I moved the rock in salt water and transport took about 1 hour.

If I get additional live or base rock soon (presumably from a store), should I cure it outside the tank, or just dump it in?

Thanks!

 

[flame82]

Well so long as the rock all stays in the water during transport and it was cured before hand it will be a relativley short cycle usually. If you get new just add before the fish and you will have maybe another small cycle. Getting lr after you have marine life in the tank you might want to cure it again depending on the amount lbs you get. You can add relativley small amounts lr to an establish tank with little to no negative results. With large amounts it may be able to handle it and it may not, and you will see an noticeable cycle which could be trouble.
hope that helps

 

[bromion]

Yesterday I added another 25lb of LR from another established tank. Should I add a raw shrimp to kick off a cycle? There are currently many organisms in the tank, including a few corals (Anthelia, I believe), zoanthids, crabs, and many featherdusters; I'd rather not lose them. Thoughts?

The following water parameters have been nearly unchanged for 10 days:
Salinity: 1.023
pH: 7.8
KH: 10
CO2: 5mg/L
NH3: 0mg/L
NO2-: <0.3 mg/L
NO3-: 12.5 mg/L

Thanks,
Jason

 

[lando]

I would skip the shrimp. Looks like you are having a little cycle currently. Try adding a little bit of flake food to the tank to help things out. Your cycle is likely to be shortened by using cured LR.

 

[seaham358]

I would not add any shrimp, where did you get the new 25 lbs of LR? LFS? how long was it in the lfs.. I would expect to see much if any real cycle.

 

[DragonForce]

I can vouch for what is stated above. I added about 45 lbs of cured LR and some LS and did not have a cycle. Keep an eye on your parameters regardless. Good luck!