Rock washing

[euro_Boy_To]

Hello,

what is the best way to wash rocks?
I got some rocks that are really porous with many channels going down inside .. they have white powder on them.. is this mould?

It pretty much looks like they are taken out of the ocean or somewhere.. I forgot the name of the rock.. I also got some Carib Sea rock along with it..

thanks for the help.

 

[seaham358]

Is this dead rock or LR? dried or wet is what Im asking..
never use cleaners on rock, just a good rinsing and maybe scrubing with a brush is all thats needed with dead/base rock. live rock needs no cleaning IMO, why scrub off a possible coral? What do you have.

 

[ryguy]

sounds like the rock has been out of the water for some time. I would cycle those bad-boys in a separate tank for a couple of weeks.

 

[euro_Boy_To]

it's dead rock.. that looks like it was alive before.

yes I will cycle it.. I m just starting the tank, only sand inside so far.

I just wanted to make sure it's safe to put it in without bleaching it or something.. it looked scary.

Some rock had quite a bit of dead stuff on it, but I picked only pieces that were just rock .. without the fuzzy black stuff.


I have one more question..

when I cycle the tank fishless, do I need to have the light on/off at intervals as I would if the fish were inside?

 

[ryguy]

I wouldn't use light at all during your cycle process. Lights during cycle is debatable, and I would tell you to use a 4 hr cycle per day if your rock was live, but seeing that it's dead, no need for light at all.

Here's the reasoning.... If you pay good money for live rock, some believe, (myself included), that lighting it during the cycle gives a better chance of survival for all those photosynthetic organisms that hitched along with the new LR. Others say, it's just not worth it to battle an algae outbreak by using lighting during the cycle period. Where there is water, nutrients and light....there is ALGAE.

My thought is to light for 4 hrs, just enough to give a little light to the photo-fellas, and not enough to really cause a huge algae outbreak. Some may disagree, but it works for me.


HTH!!
Ryan

 

[cmor1701d]

Where did you get the rocks from?
Where they ever in tank that was treated with copper?
Where they ever in an area where chemicals could have gotten dripped on them?

No need for lights during your cycle. Are you planning on getting any LR?

 

[euro_Boy_To]

I m planning on adding LR after I cycle the dead rocks..

and I have NO clue where they have been, they're from the fish store and the guy said he doesn't know where they come from either.

I just remembered the name of it.. it's Tufa rock.

The guy there said he used it in his tank with no problem.. I guess if everything goes whacko he's gonna get a nice angry customer :| He sure seemed to keep pushing me to buy it even though he kept saying it makes LOADS of algae..

Will a Lawnmower Blenny help a lot?

 

[BillyZ]

if you're just setting up your tank you don't need to cycle your rocks separately.

If you bought dry base-rock from the LFS, I would simply rinse it well with just plain water and arrange it in your tank as you'd like. Get your tank up to temp and SG and drop in your shrimp to kick off your cycle. If you plan on adding LR do it at this point and you can possibly skip the shrimp and just let the LR kick off the cycle if you're adding enough.

In regards to lighting; IMO an algae bloom after an initial tank setup is just part of the setup. You can minimize the bloom by using a reduced light schedule and by doing a hefty water change at the end of the cycle, but I wouldn't take any drastic measures just to try and avoid algae when setting up a new tank.

A lawnmower blenny will help with algae, but don't get one to correct you're algae. If, after your cycle and settle of the system you still have a lot of algae look to your maintenance habits and feeding habits. A balanced system with decent maintenance habits and a minimum cleanup crew should have little nuisance algaes.

 

[ryguy]

if you are putting nice white sand in your tank, I would be wary of cycling those rocks, (not knowing what will come off them) in you main tank without lots of circulation to keep the slough-off water borne and a GOOD skimmer to remove them.

Otherwise, you may run the risk of having an ugly sand bed at the end of your cycle.

If you are sure that you won't have lots of stuff coming off the dead rocks, then do as BillZ said and go ahead and cycle them within your tank. Post a pic of the condition of the rock and we can see what it is you are talking about.

 

[euro_Boy_To]

Here is a photo of one of the Tufa rocks..

My sand is nice and gray/white.. would be nice to keep it that way.

So far nothing bad is coming out of the rock when I rinsed it..

I definitely need more circulation now.. but was hoping to cycle without.. all I have running is a Fluval 204 right now.. and I have a 380gph pump on the way.

 

[BillyZ]

if that's what your rock looks like you've got nohting to worry about with cycling. That is considered base rock. Some circulation would be good to have during your cycle, at least near the surface to keep your gas exchange going for pH.

 

[cmor1701d]

That looks like great base rock. Just rinse teh dust off and then place it in the tank. In a few months it will be LR. Add the LR to the tank now to cycle the tank. Just get some uncured LR and use that to cycle your tank.

 

[ryguy]

yep....you're good to go!!

 

[euro_Boy_To]

Awesome,

thanks guys!

Can't wait to see what happens now when I put some live rock in

Also thanks for mentioning Uncured LR.. I was just about to get cured and pay all that extra $$ for nothing.