Cycling dry rock

[BLUElobster99]

Ok so I've got about 15lbs of LR sitting in a home depot bucket with a heater, two airlines with air stones powered by two 10 gal rated air whisper pumps, and a thermometer. I plan on doing 1 WC per week on the bucket. How long should I expect it to take to cycle?

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[BigRedsReefs10]

1. Take the air stones out and put a power head or submersible pump in instead, if air is being blown over the rocks your defeating the purpose as it will kill the bb.
2. No need to do any wc's, just add your ammonia source and top it off occasionally
3. No time table on a cycle, just takes as long as it takes.

 

[BLUElobster99]

I thought the purpose of cycling dry rock was just to get rid of all the ammonia from the dead stuff on the rock


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Are you using dry or live? And cycling is just building up bb so that the rock can support life for your tank.

 

[BLUElobster99]

dry....just realized i said live rock in the post...*facepalm


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[jeffaquarius]

I thought the purpose of cycling dry rock was just to get rid of all the ammonia from the dead stuff on the rock


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Cycling is done to reproduce lots of beneficial bacteria in your dry rocks. They need those ammonia as their food. Die off is good during cycling and no need to change water until ammonia has been fully consumed by those bacteria which converts it to nitrite. Cycling is complete when all those nitrite are consumed by another type of bacteria converting it to nitrate. That's the time you do large water change until nitrate is minimal. Some types of bacteria needs air or oxygen (aerobic) but some types die with air (anaerobic).

 

[Ingy]

Curing it what you seem to be doing.


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