CaribSea Dry Dead Rock CURE? CYCLE? BOTH TOGETHER?

[vanessaGER]

HELP! TO ALL THE REEFERS OUT THERE need some tipps & ideas please!
So here is the deal... this weekend I have beed struggling going thru all forums & youtube videos and I somehow can't find the answers I need, so here we go:

I have the tank standing since 2 weeks now with saltwater & all, running (cause the guys set it up and filled with RO/DI water and mixed the salt in, as I didn't have a RO/DI system then) and now I got my Caribsea Dryrock - and this is my problem. What method is best and what procedure should I follow (time is NOT an issue... if it takes long, no problem).

somehow everyone say different thing so here are the things I have read/watched:

1. Put the Rocks in a Saltwater bucket + heating + flow to CURE the DRY rocks.
1.1 do a 20% waterchange every few days
1.2 do a 100% waterchange every few days

2. Put the Rocks in a RO/DI bucket + heating (???) + flow to CURE the DRY rocks. Because no need for salt as no live on the rocks and cheaper.
2.1 do a 100% waterchange every few days
2.2 do a 100% waterchange every few days

3. Put the Rocks in the TANK directly and CURE the DRY rocks and CYCLE the TANK at the same time.
3.1 do a 5% waterchange every few days after the CYCLE has finsihed (NITRATE PEEK)
3.2 do a 100% waterchange after the CYCLE has finsihed (NITRATE PEEK) - I REALLY DON'T want to do this... cause it is a LOT of water and will take forever with my small RO/DI system!

Last issue:
I need to aquascape and I was planning on doing that outside the tank and fixing and drilling stuff together... now can I still this this after CURING the rocks? Cause Curing means getting rid of any PO4... so either after CURING OR/AND CYCLING I could still take the Rocks róut cause there will not be any coralline algea on it yet right? Or will it kill any algae on it having the rocks out for a few hours and then be a ammonium and Nitrite source again?

very last issue:
now the tank of course is filled with saltwater, should I start adding stuff like NiteOut and do phantom feeding? So that the benificial bacteria can start to populate? Phantom feeding to build up ammonium for the bacterias... or just leave it till the rocks go in? or add no bacteria but phantom feed?

HELP I really wanna do this right and really wanna document all the steps and understand them

PS: If you are wondering how I managed with my first tank... I was using wet live rock.... was way simpler... but learned a lot thru that too, and don't want that anymore... That tank will be cleaned out and be used as a quarantaine

 

[WatDatThing]

I think you only need to cure the rock if you are putting them in an established tank. You have a new tank, just wash the rocks and sand (if not live sand) and let it goes through cycling.

Disclaimer: I'm a newbie....

 

[vanessaGER]

well that's what I am not sure about, cause apparently you should do a 100% waterchange whilst curing the rock - not so by cycling the tank.
so I am unsertain if I need to do so, because if yes, I'd rather do that in a bucket... cause it will be a LOT of water otherwise!
But then, can I take the cured rock out of the water to aquascape for 1-2 hours?!

 

[gone fishin]

option one or three will work for you. option two does not make any sense to me.

option 1 advantage can place them in a tub or bucket to cure them. If you want to get rid of any phosphates I would look into methods for doing this. Just leaving them in the tub to cure could take an extremely long time to leech out phosphate depending on how much is there. Once cured they can go right into the tank and you would be set.

depending on how long they are out of the water while scaping would determine how much die off you get on the rock. This could be minimal to significant, no way to know.

Option 3 you can play around with your aquascaping all you want until you like what you have. add your ammonia source and start the cure/cycle. The down side is you may or may not leech phosphate depending again on what is in the rock.

I personally would go with option 3. In all probability your going to have algae anyway and there are ways to deal with it.
Good luck just my 2 cents.

 

[vanessaGER]

but i still don't get the real difference or need to cure the rock? is it just to get the phosphate out? cause it is totally dead rock with no dry organics on it, just dust that I can wash off... or there will ht ephosphate come from?

And the other question is... what is happening in my tank right now... it is heated, running with skimmer... but nothing added otherwise... does it make sence to phantom feed and add bacterias to it? even with no rocks to get the CYCLE started?

 

[ca1ore]

No need to 'cure' dry rocks really. Some dry rocks can leech out phosphates, though I think the severity of it is overblown. I never bother to do anything to dry rock when adding it to a new or even established tank.

The bacteria needed to establish the bio filter need surface area to colonize, so without any rock in the tank, there's essentially nothing to yet start.

 

[GfordQC]

but i still don't get the real difference or need to cure the rock? is it just to get the phosphate out? cause it is totally dead rock with no dry organics on it, just dust that I can wash off... or there will ht ephosphate come from?

And the other question is... what is happening in my tank right now... it is heated, running with skimmer... but nothing added otherwise... does it make sence to phantom feed and add bacterias to it? even with no rocks to get the CYCLE started?

Vanessa,

Yes. there may be inherent phosphates in the rock that will leach out during the curing process.

Right now you tank sounds like it is just running water. If there is no rock or sand then there is nothing for any bacteria to latch onto in order to start a cycle. The skimmer wouldn't be doing anything since there is no gunk or Poo to remove. If it were me i would go with Option 3 as gone fishing suggests.

 

[vanessaGER]

okay, sounds like I'll rinse it with RODI water and do some scaping with them and then add them in.
what about water changes in thoose cases? at what point how much? just a sort of estimate?

 

[vanessaGER]

Vanessa,

Yes. there may be inherent phosphates in the rock that will leach out during the curing process.

Right now you tank sounds like it is just running water. If there is no rock or sand then there is nothing for any bacteria to latch onto in order to start a cycle. The skimmer wouldn't be doing anything since there is no gunk or Poo to remove. If it were me i would go with Option 3 as gone fishing suggests.

okay, but how much waterchange at what point you think?

 

[gone fishin]

okay, but how much waterchange at what point you think?

Once you get the rock arranged and the substrate in, then add an ammonia source. Let the tank cycle. Do a water change (WC) at the end of the cycle. This will be when ammonia and nitirite are not detected and just some nitrate will be detected.

IMO the amount of WC will depend on how much nitrate will be detected.

 

[vanessaGER]

thanks

 

[Zik]

I started my tank with 35lb reef saver (dry rock), 60lb carib sea live sand, a bottle of bio-spira, and dr tims ammonia (he has a GREAT fishless cycle instruction on his page)

I hosed my rock, then rinsed in rodi (unsalted) water, aquascaped, poured in sand (AFTER the rocks are in), then filled w/ water!

Tank is doing great, up and running w/ 2x clowns after my cycle finished!

 

[vanessaGER]

cool merci!