Hey all I was just wondering if there was a chemical that we coullive rock substitute

[Travis55]

Hello I was wondering if there is a chemical that we could add to new salt water to grow bacteria on top of lace rock without having to add live rock right off the bat? My lfs is $7 a lb and I'm not in a huge hurry to throw fish into the tank... any advice to be great thank you

 

[tarpon]

Uhh i dont fully understand but you can get some non live rock(cheaper) and some live rock and the live rock will make the base rock live

 

[Travis55]

Uhh i dont fully understand but you can get some non live rock(cheaper) and some live rock and the live rock will make the base rock live

I guess I'm asking is is there some bacteria or something that we can add to just dead rock to make it become alive?

 

[rdnelson99]

If you are patient, you can do all base rock and sand. Then get a cup of live sand from your LFS or a friend and use it to seed the base rock and sand. It will take some time but will work. You will need an ammonia source to get the bacteria to grow. If it were me, I would use pure ammonia (must be pure - Ace Hardware brand is good). Get the ammonia up to 4 ppm and keep it that way for a month or more.

 

[Travis55]

If you are patient, you can do all base rock and sand. Then get a cup of live sand from your LFS or a friend and use it to seed the base rock and sand. It will take some time but will work. You will need an ammonia source to get the bacteria to grow. If it were me, I would use pure ammonia (must be pure - Ace Hardware brand is good). Get the ammonia up to 4 ppm and keep it that way for a month or more.

So it'd be a month or more before I could put fish in?

 

[tarpon]

Thats about how long cycling takes

 

[rdnelson99]

Thats about how long cycling takes

+1 Even if you use a good amount of live rock it could take a month or two. If you do it the way I mentioned it would be longer but much cheaper. If you haven't read it, read these two articles and it will help you understand much better.

Curing live rock? I didn't even know it was sick!

Cycle your salt tank

 

[Travis55]

+1 Even if you use a good amount of live rock it could take a month or two. If you do it the way I mentioned it would be longer but much cheaper. If you haven't read it, read these two articles and it will help you understand much better.

Curing live rock? I didn't even know it was sick!

Cycle your salt tank

Cool I will get some ammonia and some lace rock and see what I can come up with them just let it hang out for a while

 

[tarpon]

You need to have a test kit so you know when the cycle is finished

 

[rdnelson99]

You need to have a test kit so you know when the cycle is finished

+1.........

The good news is, you can do a lot of research on fish, corals and SW care while you wait for it to cycle. Worth every minute.

 

[coffeetwitch]

+1 rd. research and self education are a MUST in sw

 

[huma-huma]

Im happy to say that twitch has moved well past the " learn to research" phase lol. Id buy just a pound or two of live rock (make sure you pick out the best rock) and the rest would be base rock

 

[coffeetwitch]

ha i wouldnt say that huma... but thank you.