Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

Chrisrush - I feel ya man, I feel ya.

stunreefer and Bax - Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to the next one too. It's gonna be bigger, better, and even bigger. Oh, and did I mention it'll be bigger? I'll be sure to post a link here once I have something to show.
 
At least you got some of the early tank jitters out with this tank right?

I meant to say something earlier about the LR, but what I did on my current tank, and what I'll do in the future is buy a couple of ampules of biodigest from prodibio (or whatever comparable zeo product is out there) and add that to the cooking tank to help eliminate any extra phosphates/nitrates and to get a jump start on the bacteria colonization once you are finished cooking the rocks.

Just an idea.
 
the whole point of cooking rock is to A. kill off all the algae, and 2 provide an environment for the bacterial to take over for the algae.

seeding the cooking bin is a great Idea.
 
That is a great idea, but do you really think it's necessary? I would imagine that the cooked rock would be just loaded with bacteria already. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt, and I appreciate the input.

My rock is currently "cooking," as the tank takedown was actually on August 8th. The rock occupies 2 Brute trashcans (45 gal and 32 gal) and circulation is provided by a Mag5 and Mag12. On Saturday (the 2-week mark) I'm going to change all of the water and rinse the rocks out in 5-gallon buckets to remove detritus. I'll continue to do this every 2 weeks for at least 8 weeks, and if the water remains clear after the last water change then I'll probably reduce the frequency to monthly until it eventually goes into my new tank.
 
good deal Mike, if anything i would add the bac once you feel the rock is finished might even add a couple drops of start2 just to diversify.
 
I bet that water is hot! I have used a Mag 9.5 to mix salt water and it gets hot fast! I don't think that will really be a problem for cooking though.
 
Hey Mike when you get ready for your first rinse on the rock hit me up. Cooking rock can be a chore but with the buddy system in place and a few brews anything can be accomplished! :)
 
I'm not worried about the heat, and I also feel like it will only assist the bacterial populations. The room temperature where the rock is cooking is around 85 degrees so the water can't be much more than that, if at all.

Clint, the first rinse is this Saturday around 11:00. And I have to go to a birthday party for 5-year olds at around 3:00, so it would help to get good and liquored up before that starts. Put it on your calendar bro!
 
Man I'm working this weekend but I'll take a rain check for next time. Good luck and make sure your breakfast settles before you start poking around on the rock, it is one of the nastiest things I've ever smelled.
 
I've had a chance to smell it first hand and it's not as bad as I expected. This leads me to believe that my rock isn't cooking properly. The original trash can I used was a floppier type and it sprung a leak, so I had to transfer the contents to another container (a Brute this time). This was after only 1 week of cooking, and I saw no hair algae on the rock (it was covered before) and the smell wasn't nearly as awful as you said it would be. It didn't even come close to skimmate.

As for that rain check, you can mark your calendar for 2 weeks from this Saturday.

... although you'll probably be working that weekend too ;)
 
My rock is smellier than your rock :)

As far as the Labor Day weekend goes I won't be working but I will be out of town. I might be able to help out Sunday or Monday though.
 
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