Rock for new tank

F

fltekdiver

Active member
Any suggestions on rock for a new tank start up?

I was looking at BRS reef Saver, it's out of stock, however, I don't want to wait a month for it to cure.


I understand it can leach PO4 for a while


Live rock I run the risk of nuisance algae and pests if I don't know where it came from

Any other rock that doesn't need a month to cure, that's reasonable with shipping, to start up a tank?

My LFS want's $7.00 a lb for Live Rock

I also found Marco rock, their website states it's cured at a min of 3 weeks , then shipped, and no need for additional curing , same price as the BRS reef Saver Rock:

http://www.marcorocks.com/all-rock/
 
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fltekdiver said:
Any suggestions on rock for a new tank start up?

I was looking at BRS reef Saver, it's out of stock, however, I don't want to wait a month for it to cure.
You dont want to wait for it to cure. That means live rock

Live rock I run the risk of nuisance algae and pests if I don't know where it came from.
Even if you know where it came from you run that risk. What maybe under control in someones tank can be out of control in another tank.

Any other rock that doesn't need a month to cure, that's reasonable with shipping, to start up a tank?

My LFS want's $7.00 a lb for Live Rock
Ouch. Maybe a local reefer breaking down a tank???

I also found Marco rock, their website states it's cured at a min of 3 weeks , then shipped, and no need for additional curing , same price as the BRS reef Saver Rock:
I just used Marco dry rock and cured it. I like it. Tons of holes and very light. Dont know about their live rock. They did me right on a pallet of the dry and I would use them again
Click to expand...
 
I bought dry rock. The dry rock has been dry for 1000's of years. I pressure washed it to get the dust off.(cured in 10 min) I stuck it in 100 gallon tubs with bacteria, ammonia and let it cycle. It took about 3 weeks to finish the cycle. I did not heat the water so that that prob slowed things down because it was freezing in my garage. There was no phosphate leeching so it is very clean thru and thru.
 
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fltekdiver said:
It says on their website its cured

How long did you cure it again after receiving it?
Click to expand...

Any live rock that is "cured" will have die off if it's shipped (they don't ship submerged in water). How long to re-cure the rock will depend upon how much die off there is. How much die off depends upon how much life was on the rock to start with, and the conditions of the shipping. So, no real way to predict the timeline.

Kevin
 
fltekdiver said:
Ok so do I still need to cycle the rocks for 3-4 weeks even though their website says they cure it for 3 weeks?
What's the difference cycling it in a tub vs tank?
Click to expand...

Yes it still needs to cycle. It needs to be able to process ammonia. You add some to make your tank or tub around 1.0ppm to 2.0ppm. When it hits 0 test for nitrites. When they are 0 your should have a lot of nitrate. Then its time to do a big water change and you should be good to slowly add livestock.

If cycled in a tank you have the benefit of the bacteria growing in the sand at the same time. You will need to do a big water change to rid your tank of some of the nitrate buildup.
If you cycle in a tub you can remove the rock and place that in your tank thus leaving the nitrates in the tub. In a tub if you test for phosphates and have a bunch leeching from the rock in my opinion it is easier to treat in the tub rather than in the tank.
 
Ok thank you

I was going to cycle the tank with some live rock and sand.

If I remember the last tank I started up a few years ago , it took very fast , with the live rock added.

I was trying to decide if it was worth cycling the rock in the tank , or in a tub.

If I don't add live rock to seed it, I can see the tank/tub taking a few weeks to cycle. If I did it in the tank, a large water change at the end. If I did it in the tub, then I just add the rock.

If I did it in the tub, then what cycles the tank?
 
fltekdiver said:
If I did it in the tub, then what cycles the tank?
Click to expand...

IMO it is unfortunate that people are given the wrong impression that a TANK must cycle -- it is actually the biological filtration media (usually rock) which "cycles". The cycle is what happens when rock or sand or whatever is exposed to more ammonia than it has the bacterial population to quickly process. As the bacteria multiply we see the elevated ammonia, then nitrite. Eventually both of these are fully processed into nitrate. If you are starting with dead rock, you can cycle it in the tank or elsewhere. If a tank is set up with rock that is truely live (that is, populated with nitrifying bacteria) it will not necessarily show a cycle.
 
Yep. GET.DRY.ROCK.
Put it in a drum with circulating salt water set at 78-80 degrees F. Seed it with bacteria.
Wait a month.
PRESTO!!
End of discussion!
 
Thank you. I took a break for a year from the hobby, and my memory is starting to come back with all of it again. So cycle in a tub, I don’t have a large water change to bring the Nitrate down. Cycle it in the tank, large water change at the end, and add the fish to keep the bacteria alive. I’m starting to remember again :)

Either way, if I don’t add live rock it would take a normal cycle time, a few weeks, add a bunch of live rock with it, and I may not even see a cycle, it goes so fast

I’m worried about 2 things. I don’t want unwanted pest that comes with live rock, and I don’t want Po4 leaching out.
 
I once read on here that Reef Cleaners dry rock is pre cured, and does not leach PO4. If true, that is the rock I would go with. Some rock can leach PO4 for a veryyyyyyy long time before it has run its course.
 
fltekdiver said:
Seed it with something like Dr Tim’s bacteria in a bottle, something like this?

https://www.chewy.com/dr-tims-aquatics-one-only-live/dp/132045
Click to expand...

Ya that will work as well as any of them. Petco here, sells the instant ocean brand. Its prob comes from the same manufacture, just different bottle shapes and labels for each company.

What you need to do is toss a bottle or 2 if your rich in the water. Then you add ammonia (Tims also has ammonia) Follow the directions. Test ammonia after adding 1/2 the recommended dose of ammonia. There have been issues with some people over dosing the ammonia. You want to get to 1 to 2 ppm.
Then you wait for the magic to happen.

Post 33 and 66 show cycling some marco rock
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2661185&page=3
 
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you can put a lid on but just set it on top don't put it on tight, you want a good amount of gas exchange while you're cycling. In an ideal world where theres no dust or particulates in the air, no lid would be better but that is not the case so I understand if you want to use a lid just keep it cracked for gas exchange
 
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