Rock Cycling

[Utradeshow]

Hi. Guys.. My Uncured Rock has been cycling for two weeks, the ammonia went ballistic now the Nitrates are ballistic and the ammonia is dropping and the Nitrates are rising.. All Seems well..

My question is this.. When my rock is done with the cycle, can I take a piece of the live rock and siphon some water into a 10gal tank and use it for a QT tank and introduce a fish right away? Or will it need to go through a cycle itself?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[phases99]

You don't want to put LR in your QT tank. You want to use stuff that you can sterilize if you need to treat sick fish. I added my cured rock to the main display and added my first fish to it. IMO, it doesn't make sense to QT your first fish because if it gets sick you will need to move it to QT and your tank will run fallow anyway.

 

[Atari]

I disagree and would QT all fish. I understand about the first fish and fallow time, but I just don't see the point in taking a risk.

For one thing, it's no mean feat to catch some of these little buggers. The stress from this would not be good if the fish was already sick.

 

[phases99]

Atari made a good point about having to catch a fish in a tank full of LR. No fun! I always recommend a FW dip for new fish even if you do QT.

 

[Utradeshow]

If you don't put a piece of live rock in, then wouldn't you need to do some type of filtration? I was told you could just put a piece of live rock in and a cheap stone filter. Either way, you'd still have to cycle the QT wouldn't you??

 

[phases99]

Here's what I do. I run an aquaclear mini on my tank at all times. When I know I'm going to need the QT I don't clean it for a few weeks and move it to the QT the day I add the fish. If you have a sump you can keep a sponge filter in there full time and just move it over when needed. Both ways work fine. Good Luck