Barebottom without cooking rock

[jamal-188]

I decided to go BB but didn't have the time/energy/room to cook all my rock. Did I make a huge mistake or can my tank be just as clean and run with zero nitrates/phosphates.

I have a ton of flow, oversized skimmer, and refugium with chaeto.

 

[J_Geisinger000]

when I went bb I didnt cook my rock either I did not have any probs with my tank

I have 0 nitrates and run a phosban reactor 24/7 to keep the phosphates under control

 

[sir_dudeguy]

what do you mean by "cook" your rock? surely that would loose all your bacteria? lol

 

[gman0526]

You should see more shedding for a while and would have to syphon accordingly, but as long as your flow is properly set and skimming is covered, you should have no problem.

 

[jeffbrig]

I started BB in 5/2005 without cooking my LR. No issues with phosphate, but there has been a lot of detritus from the rocks. I was lazy and let it go for a while, but recently started siphoning at each water change to get rid of it.

I've never seen any significant nitrate in the tank, and phosphates haven't been a problem either (knock on wood). I have switched to feeding homemade blender mush exclusively, to avoid the high phosphate content of commercial fish foods.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8087897#post8087897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
what do you mean by "cook" your rock? surely that would loose all your bacteria? lol

This is exactly why people need to stop using that stupid term

Cooking rock is no different then curing rock. They are the same.



If your BB tank is set up well, and your skimmer works well, there is no need to cook rock, as you're basically doing the same thing in the tank.

 

[J_Geisinger000]

hey jeff do you have a recipe?

 

[jeffbrig]

Sure....

Take any amount of LR
Add lots of dark
Wait 2-3 months, while doing frequent water changes

Oh, you mean the food recipe? Read about it here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7977940#post7977940

 

[King-Kong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8088339#post8088339 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
This is exactly why people need to stop using that stupid term

Cooking rock is no different then curing rock. They are the same.



If your BB tank is set up well, and your skimmer works well, there is no need to cook rock, as you're basically doing the same thing in the tank.

The term is "stupid" because people unaware of what it means take it for face value.

However, rock cooking is not rock curing. Traditional rock curing does not involve the rigorous dump and swish techniques or inclusion of water changes. Infact, most people "cure" their rock by ADDING dead rotting matter to it, rather than trying to remove it.

 

[Valab]

The biggest advantages to cooking are that it is often easier to vacuum away all the garbage that falls off and the volume required for water changes might be smaller. Other than that, curing in tank = cooking in a separate vat.

 

[jeffbrig]

The often repeated argument for cooking is that the complete darkness prevents algae growth, and somehow promotes bacterial growth that flushes sediment out of the rocks. I've seen it referred to as bacterial turgor pressure.

Don't know if that's true or a bunch of bunk, I'm just repeating what the experts claim.

 

[dkh0331]

IMPHO as a graduate of SeanT's rock cooking school, the phrase "Rock Cooking" is not the same process as curing. Somewhat similar but not the same. King Kong has it right.

Back to the original question - Not a huge mistake by not cooking your rock. Would it be better for you/your tank if you had cooked your rock, again IMPHO, yes. I would expect that you will need to vacuum more frequently. Good husbandry practices and you should be fine.

BTW, whenever I siphon the crud of my BB, I throw a filter sock on for the day to catch anything that may have been missed.

HTH

David

 

[ACBlinky]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8088307#post8088307 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffbrig
No issues with phosphate, but there has been a lot of detritus from the rocks. I have switched to feeding homemade blender mush exclusively, to avoid the high phosphate content of commercial fish foods.

Same here. I recently went BB and my phosphates are undetectable, but I'm having slight nitrate issues (10-15ppm) and the rocks are shedding LOADS of detritus. I siphon it weekly when I do a water change, and look forward to the day the rocks quit shedding so much! I think the undetectable PO4 is due to the fact that I've also switched to blender mush. I think it's better overall -- the water stays cleaner, and the fish and corals seem to prefer it to packaged foods.

 

[jamal-188]

Think I'm going to make some fish food this weekend. I haven't done it for a while and my fish and I are tired of the flake/pellet crap

 

[sir_dudeguy]

This is exactly why people need to stop using that stupid term

Cooking rock is no different then curing rock. They are the same

thank you! i was way lost on that one lol. I agree tho...all these terms just get confusing when people start calling them seperate things. I've always just heard it called curing or cycling...but never cooking.
I would also think that newbies might take that litterally lol...i mean...i'm not really a newbie, but i sort of did

 

[ACBlinky]

Cooking and curing aren't the same. Cooking is a long process, and involves keeping rock in the dark with lots of circulation and water changes. Before each water change the rock needs to be swished & dunked to remove detritus. The idea is to promote bacterial growth and eliminate algae. The rock sheds a lot at first, then less and less as time goes on. Theoretically, at the end you're left with clean rock that won't shed much detritus or release phosphates.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

gotcha

thanks