Dry rock, substrate and starting the tank

[Schlagg]

Tried getting into Reefkeeping long time ago - fell apart.

Did more research this time (ty Waterkeeper sticky) and sorted what I had and what I needed.

Got a 75 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump from LFS (yay!)

Got my RODI mixing station set up in my furnace room. Got two 32 gallon Brute trash cans and both are full with heated 1.024-1.026 salinity water (yay!)

Ordered substrate from the internets - Caribsea Aragonite Sugar sized (90 lbs). Rinsed sand using a unique pillow case method (questionable).

The next step is to get my rock and get the entire thing rolling, but I've run into some confusion: If I'm going to purchase 100-120 lbs of dry rock and 10-20 lbs of live rock, do I need to cure the dry rock in a separate tank (I have an empty 55 gallon) for weeks? Do I let the dry rock and live rock cycle and cure simultaneously?

Confused

 

[thegrun]

You should be fine simply cycling it all at once.

 

[Ron Reefman]

IMHO, I'd take the dry rock and soak it in water for a couple of days and then test the water for ammonia, nitrate and phosphate just to be sure it's completely clean and not leaching anything you don't want in the tank. Then put it all together and start the cycle.

Just remember one thing, once the cycle is done, you are still months away from having a 'mature' tank and you need to be careful about what things you put in the tank while it is 'maturing' and 'stabilizing'. Nothing good happens quickly in a marine aquarium.

 

[billdogg]

IMHO, I'd take the dry rock and soak it in water for a couple of days and then test the water for ammonia, nitrate and phosphate just to be sure it's completely clean and not leaching anything you don't want in the tank. Then put it all together and start the cycle.

Just remember one thing, once the cycle is done, you are still months away from having a 'mature' tank and you need to be careful about what things you put in the tank while it is 'maturing' and 'stabilizing'. Nothing good happens quickly in a marine aquarium.

Once again, Ron and I are in complete agreement.:beer: