prepping dry rock

[Justintegra]

We are setting up a biocube the beginning of next week, and decided to go with dry rock and let it cycle for 6-8 weeks rather than go with live rock.

The rock we got from BRS is pretty "dirty". Lots of loose extremely fine rock still on it. Is it alright to soak this in freshwater for a few hours then wash with tap, or do we really need to rinse with RODI/saltwater prior to putting it in the tank for cycling?

 

[MondoBongo]

if it is really grungy, i would give it a bath in muriatic acid, or failing that maybe some vinegar.

rinsing with tap water should be just fine. heck, some people still run their tanks with tap water. any impurities in the tap water will be diluted with the tank water anyways, and eventually washed out with water changes.

if you're really worried about it, run some carbon and polyfilter, but i could be too concerned.

 

[Justintegra]

Thanks. I wouldn't call it grungy, just very dusty, and I don't want all of that to settle in the tank or clog my skimmer when I start it if I can just wash it out with tap water before hand.

Now the rubble I ordered with it, that stuff is just nasty grungy.

 

[Perth_reefer]

I'd just give it a rinse with tap water and then cycle it for 8 weeks. Just keep an eye on phosphates while you're cycling it. I ran my dry rock in plastic tubs for about 8-10 weeks and phosphates were sky high so had to add Lanthium Chloride to bring it down, worked well but I would be wary of adding dry rock loaded with phosphates to your display tank otherwise you'll potentially have huge algae headaches in the future.

 

[scooter31707]

I agree. I used dry rock and just rinsed it off with the pressure washer.

 

[Justintegra]

I'd just give it a rinse with tap water and then cycle it for 8 weeks. Just keep an eye on phosphates while you're cycling it. I ran my dry rock in plastic tubs for about 8-10 weeks and phosphates were sky high so had to add Lanthium Chloride to bring it down, worked well but I would be wary of adding dry rock loaded with phosphates to your display tank otherwise you'll potentially have huge algae headaches in the future.

Phosphates. I have Chemi-pure elite which has GFO. Should I have that in my tank with the Purigen from the start, or wait until it is cycled and ready to add livestock?

 

[Perth_reefer]

I'm not too sure about that mate, I run Zeovit not GFO. Phosphates can leach out of dry rock slowly over time, meaning you'll face a bit of an uphill battle for months potentially.
As an example I recenly removed some of my rock and added fresh dry rock without 'cycling' it and now I'm having a hair algae bloom because of the phosphates, I'm slowly starting to get on top of it but a having to overdose on Zeostart3 to get the phosphates down.

 

[mmittlesteadt]

I took mine outside and put my hose nozzle on higher pressure and really blasted it. It was amazing how much came off, but the benefit was it really opened up a lot of pores that were previously filled. Then I soaked them in water/vinegar for a few weeks and then rinsed them again. I just used regular tap water.

What little phosphate is leaching out of mine is minimal and you can tell where it's leaching because that's where i'm getting the most amount of algae growth in those spots.

This is my tank using all dry rock, 2 1/2 months in (you can see a chunk of algae to the inside of a rock near the sandbed on the right, and there are a few other places around the rockwork)...

 

[JammyBirch]

I used dry rock from BRS also, way easier to manipulate and create a nice scape. I didn't rinse anything or use any acid, I just popped it in. I must have gotten lucky, the rock never grows algae only the small seed live rock pieces do. All of my algae blooms were associate with additions to the tank not the existing rock.

 

[CStrickland]

I don't have a pressure washer so I put my dusty dry rock in the tub and used the shower nozzle to blast all the crevices. It was soooo dusty. Tap water is more of a worry used all the time, like its evaporating and concentrating contaminants over time. But you can always dose Prime when you get it in the tank if it settles your mind.

I cycled without sand so that phos could leach out while my bacteria was colonizing. It worked good. I didn't have to dose lc but it woulda been easy if I wanted to, and those piles of detritus that you get when you cook the rock were easy to remove. If you're just wanting gfo for phos you can get cheaper stuff than chemipure.

 

[G1GABYTES]

If you can power wash it do it lol. No seriously it will need a serious deep rinse and have some scrubbing brushes ready they will help you get some of the decaying matter off.

I also got dry rock from brs so i understand how dirty it comes. Be ready to do lots of water changes while curing. Consider curing the dry rock in a separate container not in your tank because even though it will eventually recover, the mess it leaves will not be fun

 

[Isaacs55]

I used dry rock from BRS also, way easier to manipulate and create a nice scape. I didn't rinse anything or use any acid, I just popped it in. I must have gotten lucky, the rock never grows algae only the small seed live rock pieces do. All of my algae blooms were associate with additions to the tank not the existing rock.

+1 did the exact same thing to my 10 gallon tank ...stuck it right in with out washing any of it. 2 and a half months in and the only algea problem I'm having is diatoms buy that's normal. Slowly going away and pink coraline is already starting to grow.
But I also have the rest of my 55 lbs of dry Marco rock in a brute that has been cycling for the past 2 months...just checked the phosphates yesterday and had 0...you want to cycle it in saltwater btw not freshwater. You can run into trouble cycling with freshwater let alone tap water...bad idea...

 

[CStrickland]

The rock we got from BRS is pretty "dirty". Lots of loose extremely fine rock still on it.

Part of the reason you are getting diff answers is because BRS sells 2 diff types of dry rock.

One comes from the ocean, they clean it up and dry it out so it weighs less and shipping is cheaper. This kind can have more or less dead stuff still inside so you would cycle it (give that stuff time to rot away to nothing before you add animals so the rotting doesn't foul the water they are breathing).
The other kind is mined from underground, it is just dusty from being sawed up to fit in boxes and buried and only needs to be rinsed off before you start cycling your tank.

 

[MD Aquatic]

This is the description from Marine Depot's AquaMaxx, which is mined and can be added quite quickly. Rock dried out after being collected from the ocean should be cured at least 6-8 weeks. Im new to reefs and to this site but this is what all research points to. Im not posting this as a promotion or advertisement. Just as clarification.

"This new base rock from AquaMaxx is professionally cleaned and dried to ensure no pesky hitchhikers, pests or algae are introduced into your saltwater aquarium. AquaMaxx dry rock is not man-made; it is real calcium carbonate limestone-structured aragonite we quarry in Florida, far away from living coral reefs. It is completely reef-safe and will not leach any undesirable contaminants into your delicate saltwater system.
AquaMaxx Eco-Rock does not affect the aquarium nitrogen cycle and may therefore be added to new aquariums and established tanks alike. AquaMaxx dry rock for saltwater aquariums is super porous with plenty of surface area to grow beneficial nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria to act as a biological filter to help maintain pristine water conditions in your tank."

On the BRS website for mined rock you find the following description along with a video that recommends curing the rock for a month.

"BRS Reef Saver Dry Aquarium Live Rock, our environmentally friendly rock, works great for aquascaping. This rock is 100% free of nuisance algae and pests which can cause complete tank shut downs and is guaranteed to be free of apitasia, bubble algae, parasitic isopods, mantis shrimp, acro eating flat worms, little red bugs, fire worms, predatory nudibranchs, pyramidellid snails and other common pests. BRS Reef Saver rock comes in unique shapes that fit well together to make interesting and unique structures. BRS Reef Saver Rock arrives at our warehouse pre-soaked and rinsed. This is by far our cleanest rock."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgwZ1QqPTo0

 

[dupy73]

I was told the cycle time of "dry rock" was more like 5-6 months to full cure and grow beneficial bacteria's. It will turn a grey color when its cured

 

[adamwheel]

I cycled mine in my last setup for 14 months in a bin.

I recommend seeding it with more than a small piece of live rock. I believe the lack of diversity burned me and dinos bloomed and took over. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Good luck

 

[CStrickland]

@adam how long did it take for the Dino's to come on? I haven't had any trouble with my base (mined from the ground) dry rock. It's only been 10 months though. I just put it right in.

@OP another thing that makes the answers confusing is there are 3 diff things people try to get out of the rocks before they really start cycling the tank (building the bacteria to process fish waste)

(1) Dust is usually just rinsed so it doesn't make the water cloudy and clog up filtration (2) dead stuff is usually gotten off manually as much as possible by scrubbing/power washing, and then given time to rot away under water (3) phosphates that absorb into the surface to later fertilize tank algae are released by keeping the rock in low-phos water until it has leached out.
Sadly for the noob reader we don't use common terms for the last two, cycling, curing and cooking all refer to spending time in water, but depending on the reason for it the process is diff. And again, depending where the rock came from and how you plan to set up your tank, you won't need to do all three.

 

[adamwheel]

About a year and they took over. I am not blaming the dry(dead) rock but rather the lack of diversity. Tank was clean and dinos had almost zero competition IMHO.

 

[CStrickland]

Yeah, that's a drag