Live rock help

[305phins]

Ok so. I have a 300g tank in my garage that I want to fill with some dry rock to make some live rock for my other tanks. My question is how simple can this setup be. Correct me where I'm wrong and feel free to add some tips.

What I THINK I need from reading other threads is just. Water some already live rock and circulation. No sump or skimmer of filter of any sort. If this is correct..

How often would I have to do water changes or can I just top off r/o?

What percent water changes would you do?

What parameters should I monitor besides salinity alk and Calc, and what should I dose? Aiming for some coralline.

Any lighting needed? Would some cheap fresh water leds be ok?

How long till the rock would be alive and good for setting up a new tank?

Thanks RC for the help in advance..

 

[Ron Reefman]

Why?

 

[305phins]

Why?

 

[mtaswt]

I'm wondering the same thing.....I am about to be in the process of taking down my current tank and setting up a new one and would like to try to get a jump start. Would it be worth it to cycle some rock before all my new tank and equipment arrives?

 

[Swanwillow]

I'm about to do this with my display tank. Ordering 80 lbs 'dead' rock and 20-40 lbs 'live' rock to seed it. I'll be ordering and getting the rock (and sand) probably around the same time as I get the lights, but the lights aren't 100% necessary.

What you're doing is seeding the dead rock with bacteria and spores. I won't be doing a water change for a long while, and will likely even be FEEDING the tank to help the bacteria move onto the dead rock.

I'll be doing monthly water changes, and make sure you have a topoff running for evaporation. If you want coralline algae to move faster onto the rest of the rock you'll want to have a light. But if you go light-less, you'll have a better chance of killing off any pests (apistasia, algaes, etc)

I personally am not going to dose in my tank until I get corals into it. The water changes should do it for you while you're making your dead rock live.

what I personally don't know is how long the timeline will be for making it all live, but all good things in this hobby take time, right?!?!

 

[305phins]

Swan are you going to be running a sump with filtration and skimmer?

 

[m0nkie]

I use a bunch of brute containers to cure rocks. You just need saltwater and a circulation pump. No need for lights. No need for heater.

I toss in 1 live rock and whatever amount of dead rock.. if you want to speed things up, pour in some pure ammonia. If not, just wait it out.

The live rock will seed all the new rocks. I toss in some pellets once every 2 weeks to make sure there's food for bacteria.

I do not do water changes. However, I do toss in dirty tank water once in awhile. Replenish food. I top off once every few weeks. My brute can is covered so it doesn't evaporate as much. Bacteria are hardy animals.. don't worry about killing them

If you want coralline on those live rocks, you will need some lighting. Cheap LED will do, T5HO will do it faster. You also need to have reasonable calc/alk to boost coralline growth. You can scrape off all the coralline from existing live rock and spread the dust into the tank. do this every few weeks. all those coralline will start spreading everywhere. Or you can buy some snails with coralline on them and let them spread.. takes a little longer

 

[Swanwillow]

I'm for sure doing a skimmer and a refugium. Haven't decided on HOB or sump. I prefer HOB to be honest (due to the cost)

 

[305phins]

I use a bunch of brute containers to cure rocks. You just need saltwater and a circulation pump. No need for lights. No need for heater.

I toss in 1 live rock and whatever amount of dead rock.. if you want to speed things up, pour in some pure ammonia. If not, just wait it out.

The live rock will seed all the new rocks. I toss in some pellets once every 2 weeks to make sure there's food for bacteria.

I do not do water changes. However, I do toss in dirty tank water once in awhile. Replenish food. I top off once every few weeks. My brute can is covered so it doesn't evaporate as much. Bacteria are hardy animals.. don't worry about killing them

If you want coralline on those live rocks, you will need some lighting. Cheap LED will do, T5HO will do it faster. You also need to have reasonable calc/alk to boost coralline growth. You can scrape off all the coralline from existing live rock and spread the dust into the tank. do this every few weeks. all those coralline will start spreading everywhere. Or you can buy some snails with coralline on them and let them spread.. takes a little longer

Great feedback m0nkie thanks! What would you call reasonable amounts of calc/alk. And how long do you wait until you us the rock and call it live?

 

[Aframomum]

I think the why question was in regard to doing this curing in the 300g tank. As was mentioned earlier you can do the curing in brute containers that way you can cover them (no algae growth). You don't usually do this in an aquarium.

 

[305phins]

Oh I was wondering what that guy was talking about. Well I have the tank in the garage and it's not a display and just there empty. And I want to grow coralline so I need a bit of light.