Leaving rock in the ocean to seed new tank

[Blake45]

Yeah it doesn't make sense, you're absolutely right. I started the bleach process to avoid a phosphate spike/unwanted algae at the beginning. I had no intentions of leaving the rock in the ocean. But now, I've decided to go the ocean route. I thought I might as well finish off the bleach process with all my rock. If anything I'm just being extra protective of the ocean. Don't want to introduce any unwanted species.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blake45]

This sounds cool but, it seems like an odd choice. So you're bleaching the rock now presumably to remove all life and to hit 'reset' on it. Then you're going to place it in the ocean for a week or so. What are the chances you'll pick up something undesirable, undoing the bleach sterilization?

I'm all for natural methods, and I have used Florida farmed live rock with great success, but the fact that you are using dry rock and sterilizing it suggest you are trying to avoid the risks of live rock. You're getting it all cleaned up and then throwing it into a unknown, uncontrolled environment.

Most folks that go the dry rock route are trying to avoid risking unwanted hitchhikers, and want total control over what goes in their tanks.

And I won't be putting all 125 pounds of my live rock in the ocean. So I still want to remove as much organic material as possible to avoid unwanted algae growth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Stripping rock of all life makes it a perfect blank canvass for algae to colonize. Throwing it into a sunny, shallow tide pool for a week sounds like an algae welcoming party.

If you want to avoid algae with your new setup, the best advice I can give you would be to cycle the tank with the lights out for the full 6-8 weeks.

 

[Blake45]

Stripping rock of all life makes it a perfect blank canvass for algae to colonize. Throwing it into a sunny, shallow tide pool for a week sounds like an algae welcoming party.

If you want to avoid algae with your new setup, the best advice I can give you would be to cycle the tank with the lights out for the full 6-8 weeks.

The rock has already been stripped of life. It was in a large reef tank years back, but it has tons of dead organics all throughout the rock. Those dead organics would serve as a perfect food source for algae and a few weeks of "œno lights" won't produce enough bacteria to eat all of it away. I'd probably be dealing with algae blooms for years to come. Cleaning off the excess organics using a bleach bath seemed the best route. I've seen plenty of people do it with great results. Why introduce a bunch of dead debris to a new tank when I can easily leave it outside in a bleach bath? I'm in no hurry to get the tank started.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I never suggested you not bleach the rock. You've done it already. I've done it myself. My suggestion was to help you avoid algae.

The two months of lights out while cycling is a proven method for starting new tanks with the 'good' bacteria, while keeping algae and the bacteria that favor algae at bay.

By the way, welcome to RC! Best of luck with your tank.

 

[Blake45]

I never suggested you not bleach the rock. You've done it already. I've done it myself. My suggestion was to help you avoid algae.

The two months of lights out while cycling is a proven method for starting new tanks with the 'good' bacteria, while keeping algae and the bacteria that favor algae at bay.

By the way, welcome to RC! Best of luck with your tank.

This just brings me right back to the beginning, though. I know that I can leave completely cleaned dry rock in a tank and that after months, some nitrifying bacteria will eventually colonize the rock. But I want to seed my tank for more diversity and a better base. Some people buy products, some people seed with with sand/rock from other established tanks. This was my idea of something new to try. I can still cycle a rock that I left in the ocean in my tank with the lights out. I was never worried about algae. I was more looking for unforeseen problems that might arise from trying something like this. A little bit of algae or some die off doesn't seem like enough to stop me from trying it though. Thanks for the input thought. I'll probably cycle the rock from the ocean in the tank with lights off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blake45]

I never suggested you not bleach the rock. You've done it already. I've done it myself. My suggestion was to help you avoid algae.

The two months of lights out while cycling is a proven method for starting new tanks with the 'good' bacteria, while keeping algae and the bacteria that favor algae at bay.

By the way, welcome to RC! Best of luck with your tank.

Just to clarify, my reasoning for doing the bleach bath was just to break down any organics. I'm trying to avoid having rock that's basically a soil bed for algae. I know some people do it to sterilize completely because they like having a very controlled environment. Those aren't my intentions. So I can see where the confusion came from. Hopefully that makes sense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk