Dry Rock Questions

[Brandon0034]

I have ordered 25lbs of reef saver rock and I'm starting my first saltwater tank. It is a 36G bowfront which will be fish only(eventually this tank will become a quarantine for a larger ~200G system). I've read a lot of debate curing the rock inside and outside the tank. Time is not a matter as I'm in no rush and I just want the best for my tank.

Questions:

Would it be a bad idea to cure the dry rock in my mixing station?

When curing the rock I will have a heater and powerhead. Do I need anything else and do I just watch for phosphates and ammonia?

Thanks in advance.

 

[A.Astore]

When I cured mine (dry Pukani so a LOT of crap in there) I put it in a Brute with only a heater and powerhead (with the lid on). It cured in 3 weeks. The thing I liked was that I was able to pull it out and all the crappy water was still sitting in the Brute vs in tank. When I transferred it to the tank I used Live sand (yes everyone says it is a waste, but I used it anyway) and a small bottle of bacteria which resulted in a quick cycle.

My thing too was that I wanted my rock down before my sand because of having gobies on the wish list.

 

[FishyFishy69]

There isn't much of a difference curing the rock in your tank, or in the mixing station. Most people will just deisgn their aquascape while dry, place it in the tank with a raw shrimp (or a chemical kickstart/ammonia etc.), and let the cycle process begin. Probably easier than taking it out of the mixing bin and transferring everything over.

While the rock is curing, a heater and power head is usually just fine. Try to keep light off it as much as you can during this process. Just remember to keep your salinity stable (top up your evaporated fresh water).

I don't even test anymore during cycles. I find it's pretty easy to find out what's going on, just by observing the tank daily. First you will get possible white/clear fuzz. Then brown dusty diatoms. Then usually the hair algae phase. Shortly after the hair algae has taken over, I usually do a large water change and add a cleanup crew. After you let your cleanup crew has some time to work, I start testing before adding livestock.

In short, just do it in your tank. No real downside to either way though.

 

[Brandon0034]

When I cured mine (dry Pukani so a LOT of crap in there) I put it in a Brute with only a heater and powerhead (with the lid on). It cured in 3 weeks. The thing I liked was that I was able to pull it out and all the crappy water was still sitting in the Brute vs in tank. When I transferred it to the tank I used Live sand (yes everyone says it is a waste, but I used it anyway) and a small bottle of bacteria which resulted in a quick cycle.

My thing too was that I wanted my rock down before my sand because of having gobies on the wish list.

So with the dry rock did you only watch for leaching phosphates and ammonia to drop to 0 or did you monitor nitrate/nitrite as well? You didn't perform any water changes during this period?

 

[A.Astore]

Nope, no water changes at all, just let it sit and do its thing. I tested ammonia only until it spiked, then started to test ammonia and nitrite. Once ammonia was zero and nitrites started to come down I watched nitrates but for nothing more than to test it as nitrites came down. I did some phosphate every once and a while but it is pukani and I knew I was probably fighting an uphill battle using it so I didn't focus as much on the phosphate aspect.

You aren't suppose to do a water change when curing/cycling until the after the nitrites drop to zero and it is only to remove the nitrates from the system; thus, the water change was actually moving them into the tank rather than pulling water to remove the nitrates from the display.

I will say, my tank never looked horrible because most of the nasty happened in the brutes where I didn't have to look at it. The other thing is, it can STINK really bad! I had them in the basement (thankfully!) and the first few days I would open the basement door and just about gag. Just food for thought there.

 

[Brandon0034]

Ok thanks. Yea I heard about the smell, I have an outdoor shed that I built for a water station so that won't be a problem thankfully. I'll leave the water in during the entire cycle then, only reason I asked was I read about others doing water changes if they noticed phosphates leaching from the rock.

 

[A.Astore]

I didn't only because I didn't want to slow the nitrogen cycle down. I read multiple places that a water change mid cycle can delay it. Had I tested high phosphates at the end I may have changed all the water a couple times and let it sit for a bit but I didn't see a need to at that point. I also didn't do any acid wash/bleach soak either.

 

[homer1475]

I just ordered 50pounds of pukani dry and plan on cycling it just as A.AStore described. Brute trash can, heater, PH, and let it do its thing for a few weeks.

 

[Bruce51]

If the reef saver rock you got is anything like the marco rocks I got, they where so clean, there in a rubber made container with a heater and pump, did a 20% water change after 2 months...now do a 50% every 2 weeks, watching the phosphates drop. And yea,,,,sometimes the smell sucks.

 

[DrPheel]

+1 on curing in the brute
If you have the time, patience and don't mind the smell you will be rewarded in the long run. After the nitrates drop , do a few 50% WC and try to shoot all the rocks with a turkey baster. You will be surprised on how much crap will come out of them! I had 50 pounds of Marco and 50 pounds of AquaMaxx shelf and it took me a good 3-4 WC to get the water to be clear after I basted the rocks. The marco was the worst and still to this day It releases cloudy water when I shoot it with the baster before my water change.

 

[leviburns89]

It took me about 2 months and about 5 wc to get my rock free and clear.

The first few weeks resulted in super murky water, with a ton of crap in the bottom of the bin.

After a few weeks the water was almost crystal clear, with zero fall off.

I wait about 3 more weeks with weekly wc, and it was pristine.

I haven't checked params yet, but it has been heated and circulated the whole time, and now finally the tank is spotless, with zero smell, and super clean looking rocks.

When in doubt, just wait. It will save you a hobby.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

due to being new to saltwater and the ignorance that comes with it i added my dry pukani 30 minutes after i bought it and filled the tank with RO water. it's close to a month later and i'm not sure that curing it would have helped me any further along.
my phosphates aren't sky high, there wasn't any additional smells and i would place the blame of initially cloudy water on my aragonite which was rinsed thoroughly but still wasn't pristine.
i'm fairly certain my lfs doesn't cure the rock ahead of time so maybe i just lucked out??

 

[Brandon0034]

Alright thanks for the input guys. So I went by the LFS to pick up a few things the other day and bought bacteria in a bottle, phosphate reducer, and an ammonia test then he gave me some pure ammonia for free.

Heres my plan:
Add 25lbs of dry reef saver rock to a 32 gallon trash can with saltwater to 1.025ppm, heater set to 80*, and a 800gph power head.
-Add 0.5ml per of pure ammonia per 10 gallons of water once a week(according to the LFS)
-A squirt of the bacteria daily
-Run a filter sock in front of the power head for the phosphate reducer to catch particle

 

[leviburns89]

Should work.

I used fish food for the ammonia source. That way I can prime the system with the same stuff it will be getting in the long run.