Can I cycle my dry rock without my sump being hooked up?

[Anansi]

Hello everyone,

I recently tore down my freshwater 75 and am going to turn it into a reef tank. I have ordered all the equipment I need but have a few questions if someone doesn’t mind answering them.

1) I purchased 80Lb of dry rock and plan on seeding it with about 10lb of live rock from my lfs. I have a 29g tank that I’m going to turn into a sump and am waiting for my skimmer and some other equipment to arrive before I add my baffles in so I can make sure everything fits properly.

My question is, can I place my live rock and dry rock in my tank with a heater and powerhead and start the cycle before I install my sump? Would a single powerhead be enough to move the water and oxygenate it without my overflow and return running? The powerhead is a Hydor Koralia Evolution 750/850 Aquarium Circulation Pump, 750-850 GPH .
I’d like to have the tank cycling a bit while I’m building the sump and waiting for it to cure.


My other question is kind of weird.

2) My old freshwater aquarium had driftwood in it and it left wood particles all over the sand. I got most of out and will rinse my sand to hopefully get any remaining pieces out. My question is, will a tiny amount of driftwood flakes hurt my reef if I’m unable to get them out? My tank never had any fish and only had driftwood.
If any were to remain, it would only be a very tiny tiny amount.

Thanks all

 

[Member No. 1]

Question #1 - Yes, this will work, just have the powerhead aimed at the surface to help aid in gas exchange.

Question #2 - You do not want to use "sand" that was in your FW tank for a few reasons. First even though you are going rinse it well, there's always the change you missed something. 2nd, being "sand" it could release silica and you will have nothing but problems with diatom algae blooms. And last but very important, you want a substrate that is aragonite or calcium based as this will help with stabilizing your water parameters.

For the price of new substrate, it isn't worth the headaches later on.

 

[bundybear1981]

For the first half of your question, yes you can start your cycle without your sump. Just fill the tank enough that the overflow isn't reached and add the rocks, powerhead, salt and heater. The sump can be 'bought online' at any time when it is ready, it will mostly add volume to your system giving somewhere to hide the equipment.

for the 2nd half, what kind of sand to you have? typically you don't use the aragonite sand in fresh water, any other type of sand is likely to contain large amounts of silicates (very bad in salt water, you will be non-stop fighting algae) Very little from fresh water can be transferred to salt.

 

[whosurcaddie]

I would get new sand. Its not just the wood but all the detritus that's left over as well.

 

[Anansi]

Well I spend forever and a day trying to find a sand I liked to no avail. I eventually broke down and bought the overpriced white aquarium sand from petco. (Petco White Aquarium Sand, 20 lbs http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...rate/fish-tank-sand/petco-white-aquarium-sand)

As far as what is on my sand. I Never actually had fish or any live items on the sand so there shouldn't be any detritus other than the wood particles. It was only driftwood and water. I was in the process of cycling the tank and decided I wanted to convert to reef, something Ive wanted to do for a long time.

On a side note. At one point, I was planning on doing an African Cichlid tank and had some limestone river rock in there. I don't know if any residual stuff would be left over after I rinse it.

The bag claims to be safe for marine and freshwater tanks. Is this not true?
I was also planning on adding about 40lb of live sand to the mix to aid in the seeding process.

Would that petco sand really be a problem?

 

[gone fishin]

I agree with what the others have said. In addition the silica or quartz based sand can have sharp or pointed edges. If you plan to keep any type of bottom dwellers this can pose problems as well. Good look

 

[Anansi]

Ok,
Based on everyone saying it would be bad to use my old sand, I purchased 80lb of pink Fiji arag-alive. Everyone seems to think it's a great substrate.

Since you say I can start to cycle my dry rock without my overflow or return running, what would be the best placement for my powerhead? Should I have it up at the top rippling the surface, at the bottom pointing up, or something different?
Should I also treat it like a full blown cycle and toss a small dead shrimp in there to create ammonia, or just leave it in there with the live rock?

 

[gone fishin]

Personally I would set the PH towards the top rippling the surface.

I Would add a shrimp or pure ammonia and cycle away. good luck just my 2 cents.

 

[jsspallina]

Be aware of the rock your getting from your local fish store.
I would just run the dry rock and avoid any pests or hitchhikers.