I have a stupid question, I am getting ready to buy some LR for a 75 gallon octopus tank and am going to cook it first after reading this thread. Octo's don't like a lot of light so I am going to only have about 96 watts of PC lighting for the entire tank. My question is, if I cook all my rock and lose all of my coralline and don't have very powerful lights will it grow back? Thanks
Rock cooking, it does work.
- Thread starter SeanT
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NorthernCF
Premium Member
yes, and if you add calcium it will grow back faster.
I asume you will be doing lots of water changes with octos though
I asume you will be doing lots of water changes with octos though
Thanks for the quick responce, I am going to need to order it soon as 2 months is going to be hard to wait! I have one more question though, if I cook the rock for 2 months or so and the put them in the tank which will be new will it reduce the time it takes to cycle? I don't think I have read anything about that so far but if I wait 2 months for the rock to cook and then 2 or 3 more months for the tank to get nice and settled I will be going stir crazy.
NorthernCF
Premium Member
once you cook it, it will be mostly cycled (cooking is just another term for a specific method of cycling... kind of... essentially you are letting the system become bacteria driven). I would give it another 3 days or so before adding, slowly, the higher life forms. Just incase something gets killed off in the transfer because of air or new water or whatever. Pretty much you will be GTG though.
Thanks for the above responces, hopefully my last question. I read THIS ARTICLE and it says that basically life, mostly worms, is the key to getting water to flow through the rock. My question is, assuming the article is right, does cooking it kill off these creatures? I don't want to get into a big debate over the validity of the article so I would just like to assume its true for my question. Thanks
For the last couple of years I have been unable to restart my main tank so thought I could at least have *something* to do. Instead of the main tank I have been playing around with cycles of loading and cooking some of my rock.
I have an example of the results of "cooking with the lights on" that I thought I'd share. The end result seems pretty similar to the "in the dark method" to me.
The first example below is cooking with the lights on and the second shows the extent I have pushed some of the rocks.
http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/pictures/compare.html
http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/pictures/ouch.html
I have an example of the results of "cooking with the lights on" that I thought I'd share. The end result seems pretty similar to the "in the dark method" to me.
The first example below is cooking with the lights on and the second shows the extent I have pushed some of the rocks.
http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/pictures/compare.html
http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/pictures/ouch.html
causeofhim
New member
Bene' - is that first pic using the same light as the second?
causeofhim
New member
Bene' - is that first pic using the same light as the second?
causeofhim,
I presume you mean those in the first set? The short answer would be no. They are both NO lit, but wattage per gallon is a little over 2 in the first and a little over 3 in the second. The bulbs are also different brands and spectrum. The first shot is in a 75 gallon tank the second is in a 10 gallon.
I presume you mean those in the first set? The short answer would be no. They are both NO lit, but wattage per gallon is a little over 2 in the first and a little over 3 in the second. The bulbs are also different brands and spectrum. The first shot is in a 75 gallon tank the second is in a 10 gallon.
causeofhim
New member
It looks like the first is using a 6500k bulb and the second is 14k or 20k.
ctreefer
New member
Thought Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d update my experiment.
Well, I started cooking my rock about 3 weeks ago and have to say this is one hell of a pain in the neck. In trying to do two simultaneous ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œcookingsââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ one with lights and the one without Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve doubled the amount of work. It takes me a good 3 ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ 3 Ã"šÃ‚½ hours to complete one cleaning, not to mention 30+gallons of salt water.
Some things to note:
Lit system:
All but a few spots of the invasive caulerpa remain.
Hair algae is growing on some surfaces of the rock even though at a slower pace than in the first 2 weeks.
Corals donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t seem too shocked at 100% water changes which is surprising. (softies only)
Amount of detritus by the third bucket is pretty small at this point
I had to find a place for my tuxedo urchin so its been chomping away at coralline and algae (droppings are removed during water removal)
The big pain with this lit tank is I feel compelled to toothbrush off the algae during each cleaning which takes a lot more time.
Unlit system:
Pretty much all of the algae is gone or what remains is grayish brown and easily removed with a toothbrush
The only remaining algae that is in the rock is some traces of valonia(this stuff still is green and keeps popping up)
Amount of detritus is also pretty small after 3 weeks of cooking
As everyone told me (now I kick myself) A couple rocks with softies (button polyp and yellow polyp) are still alive and well after three weeks.
This last part makes me want to stop my experiment, but now that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve gone this far I might as well finish.
Hopefully in 5 weeks when this is all done itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be worth it.
Well, I started cooking my rock about 3 weeks ago and have to say this is one hell of a pain in the neck. In trying to do two simultaneous ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œcookingsââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ one with lights and the one without Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve doubled the amount of work. It takes me a good 3 ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ 3 Ã"šÃ‚½ hours to complete one cleaning, not to mention 30+gallons of salt water.
Some things to note:
Lit system:
All but a few spots of the invasive caulerpa remain.
Hair algae is growing on some surfaces of the rock even though at a slower pace than in the first 2 weeks.
Corals donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t seem too shocked at 100% water changes which is surprising. (softies only)
Amount of detritus by the third bucket is pretty small at this point
I had to find a place for my tuxedo urchin so its been chomping away at coralline and algae (droppings are removed during water removal)
The big pain with this lit tank is I feel compelled to toothbrush off the algae during each cleaning which takes a lot more time.
Unlit system:
Pretty much all of the algae is gone or what remains is grayish brown and easily removed with a toothbrush
The only remaining algae that is in the rock is some traces of valonia(this stuff still is green and keeps popping up)
Amount of detritus is also pretty small after 3 weeks of cooking
As everyone told me (now I kick myself) A couple rocks with softies (button polyp and yellow polyp) are still alive and well after three weeks.
This last part makes me want to stop my experiment, but now that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve gone this far I might as well finish.
Hopefully in 5 weeks when this is all done itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll be worth it.
NoSchwag
Premium Member
The amount of detritus was small after my 5th bucket each and every time I dunked and swished.
A week later the buckets were just as filled with crap as they were the week before, it's amazing.
I cooked my rocks for a few months, and I used a big rubbermaid outside so that I could violently swish the rocks around..
Also when I first put the rocks into my tank, I could hit them with the penductors, and nothing would come off... 2 weeks later I point a penductor are the rocks, and a ton of crap comes out.
I can't wait until my new skimmer is in and I have a higher turnover rate to my skimmer. I'll be more than happy to create a rock caused dirt storm.
Ctreefer if I was you, I'd cut the lights on your "lit system". I understand you are doing an experiment, but it's an experiment that will ultimately just end up at the same place as the unlit system, only a few months later. Waste of light/water if you ask me which I know you didn't
.
A week later the buckets were just as filled with crap as they were the week before, it's amazing.
I cooked my rocks for a few months, and I used a big rubbermaid outside so that I could violently swish the rocks around.
.Also when I first put the rocks into my tank, I could hit them with the penductors, and nothing would come off... 2 weeks later I point a penductor are the rocks, and a ton of crap comes out.
I can't wait until my new skimmer is in and I have a higher turnover rate to my skimmer. I'll be more than happy to create a rock caused dirt storm
.Ctreefer if I was you, I'd cut the lights on your "lit system". I understand you are doing an experiment, but it's an experiment that will ultimately just end up at the same place as the unlit system, only a few months later. Waste of light/water if you ask me which I know you didn't
.
DitchPlains2
In Memoriam
seanT
seanT
Hey I don't know the first thing about cooking anything, much less rocks! I have to say however, I had a similar hair algae problem, I find that adding corals to your tank, and I dont mean one or two babies like I saw in your pics. I mean your rock had no coral whatsoever on it, around it or afixed to it. I found that adding large colonies of corals and especially xenids, and soft corals will absorb the nutrients at least in my tank it did, for whatever whacky reason it completely stopped my hair algae, and I did the same things you did, sea hare, turbos, emeralds, tang, etc... didnt do crap. I first scrubbed the rock, did a massive water change (changed my di resin, and sediment filters) stil had hair algae, then I added large colonies of xenia, zoos, etc... alage disappeared nearly next two or three days.
Just a observation, million factors could have been the cause, maybe I switched my aftershave that week, and my tankmates loved it.... no clue, not a scientist but common sense and what I've read tells me the coral were competing with hair for nutrients.
interesting concept though
seanT
Hey I don't know the first thing about cooking anything, much less rocks! I have to say however, I had a similar hair algae problem, I find that adding corals to your tank, and I dont mean one or two babies like I saw in your pics. I mean your rock had no coral whatsoever on it, around it or afixed to it. I found that adding large colonies of corals and especially xenids, and soft corals will absorb the nutrients at least in my tank it did, for whatever whacky reason it completely stopped my hair algae, and I did the same things you did, sea hare, turbos, emeralds, tang, etc... didnt do crap. I first scrubbed the rock, did a massive water change (changed my di resin, and sediment filters) stil had hair algae, then I added large colonies of xenia, zoos, etc... alage disappeared nearly next two or three days.
Just a observation, million factors could have been the cause, maybe I switched my aftershave that week, and my tankmates loved it.... no clue, not a scientist but common sense and what I've read tells me the coral were competing with hair for nutrients.
interesting concept though
sherm71tank
Premium Member
I vote for the aftershave.
