HiRocks base rock and cycling ????

[crage34]

well i just got my tracking # from ups and my base rock wont be in till the 13th...i will be about a week and a half into my cycle, will it still be ok to introduce my dry base rock/ will it cure ok still? (ammonia i just starting to drop alil off the peak and my nitrites are just now coming up a lil) also do i need to wash or rinse the rock before i put it in.

i plan to add atleast 10lbs of lr when ever my cycle gets closer to the end of the nitrite cycle, i realize it might bring my ammonia up again alil but i didnt want to kill any of the critters on my liverock (it is expensive ) does this plan sound ok?

 

[Biggen]

i will be about a week and a half into my cycle, will it still be ok to introduce my dry base rock/ will it cure ok still? (ammonia i just starting to drop alil off the peak and my nitrites are just now coming up a lil) also do i need to wash or rinse the rock before i put it in.

It shouldn't be a problem adding the baserock to the system in mid-cycle. There should be nothing (hopefully) dead or dying on baserock so it is more or less sterile as far as life goes. The bacteria will simply migrate to the baserock over time.

If it were me, I would wash the rocks off with water before putting them in the tank. Instead of using tap water, I would mix up a bucket of SW and use that. You could even "dunk" them and and brush them off to make sure there is no junk on them.

i plan to add atleast 10lbs of lr when ever my cycle gets closer to the end of the nitrite cycle, i realize it might bring my ammonia up again alil but i didnt want to kill any of the critters on my liverock (it is expensive ) does this plan sound ok?

Will you be adding uncured LR to the system? If so, you can expect another cycle but it will be much shorter than the first since you will already have your biological filter established.

 

[Atari]

I wouldn't waste salt just to wash some base rock

 

[Biggen]

I wouldn't waste salt just to wash some base rock

Waste salt? Isn't it like half a cup per gallon (of most salt brands) that makes a solution of around 32ppt. In a five gallon bucket with 3 gallons of water, that is a cup and a half. Hardly wasteful in my opinion and a much better alternative than tap water. RO/DI water would also work.

 

[Atari]

Yes but what is the salt for? It's just dry rock.

 

[Biggen]

Yes but what is the salt for? It's just dry rock.

Dude! It was an alternative to using tap water.

Ghessh...

 

[Atari]

Are we the only ones on this forum right now or what??

 

[crage34]

lol thanks guys...yeah i know that introducing the lr might cause my cycle to recycle shortly but im gettin my rock from lr.com and im hopin that the spike will be minimal thanks guys...just wanted to make sure i wasnt gonna mess up my cycle by adding rock and i assume that lr.com rock is cured as i have seen it said that u can add it directly to an established tank

 

[Biggen]

Are we the only ones on this forum right now or what??

Actually I am getting ready to head to dinner so you better drum up some company!

i assume that lr.com rock is cured as i have seen it said that u can add it directly to an established tank

Anything that is shipped will need to be re-cured again. This is because of dieoff during shipping. Remember, the rock is out of the water during this time so there is some dieoff. However, this isn't a big deal as you don't have any livestock yet. And, again, your cycle should be relatively small and short because of your already established biological filter.

 

[crage34]

right...and i only plan to get 10lbs of live rock (i know it isnt much but that is all i can afford right now)

 

[dralarms]

Hirocks.com base rock needs to be wshed very throughly. It's completely dead but there is all kinds of dust and junk on it. I used tap water on mine and then let the sun dry it before going in the tank.

 

[crage34]

thanks, i will probaby wash mine with some extra ro water that i have