Neptune Aquatics

Pre-cycling rock a good idea?

kinetic

kinetic

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Is it beneficial or even a good idea to cycle rock ahead of getting a tank?

I got my shipment of dead/dry key largo from marcorocks last week, rinsed it off with hose water in the backyard, and dumped them into a tub of RO/DI water. I put my new return pump (not hooked up yet) in, mixed in some Aquaforest reef salt, and let it run.

Next day I put in Dr Tim's ammonia (tub is about 17 gallons, I put in enough ammonia for a 10 gallon to be safe). The ammonia reading was off the charts (both Salifert and Red Sea test kits I just got brand new). I then added Dr Tim's One and Only.

My hope is that my rock will be cycled or at least well on its way by the time all my display tank is setup.

Will this work? I'm thinking once the new tank is setup, I'll fill that with new RO/DI, mix in salt, and then transfer the rock into the display. I'll dose a little ammonia and check to make sure it gets broken down into nitrates. But I wonder if it will work with all new water.

Anyone try this before?
 
kinetic said:
Is it beneficial or even a good idea to cycle rock ahead of getting a tank?

I got my shipment of dead/dry key largo from marcorocks last week, rinsed it off with hose water in the backyard, and dumped them into a tub of RO/DI water. I put my new return pump (not hooked up yet) in, mixed in some Aquaforest reef salt, and let it run.

Next day I put in Dr Tim's ammonia (tub is about 17 gallons, I put in enough ammonia for a 10 gallon to be safe). The ammonia reading was off the charts (both Salifert and Red Sea test kits I just got brand new). I then added Dr Tim's One and Only.

My hope is that my rock will be cycled or at least well on its way by the time all my display tank is setup.

Will this work? I'm thinking once the new tank is setup, I'll fill that with new RO/DI, mix in salt, and then transfer the rock into the display. I'll dose a little ammonia and check to make sure it gets broken down into nitrates. But I wonder if it will work with all new water.

Anyone try this before?
Click to expand...

I cured/cycled my pukani rock before I even got my tank. So, yes, perfectly fine. I'd dose ammonia until you get to 2ppm. If you would like to speed up cycle time, bacteria prefers temps of 80-82. Once you think your cycle is complete in your tub, you can dose ammonia again to 2ppm in the tub. If your cycle is complete, all that 2ppm ammonia should be converted to nitrates within 24 hours. No need to test again in your tank with new water especially since all that would do is give you extra nitrates to export. Make sure to slowly increase bio load so that bacteria can adjust to additional load.

For reference, I did not use any bacteria supplements and my cure/cycle time was exactly 31 days. YMMV with Dr Tim's. Some have said it took them 7 days, others a whole month for cycle to complete.
 
RandyC said:
I cured/cycled my pukani rock before I even got my tank. So, yes, perfectly fine. I'd dose ammonia until you get to 2ppm. If you would like to speed up cycle time, bacteria prefers temps of 80-82. Once you think your cycle is complete in your tub, you can dose ammonia again to 2ppm in the tub. If your cycle is complete, all that 2ppm ammonia should be converted to nitrates within 24 hours. No need to test again in your tank with new water especially since all that would do is give you extra nitrates to export. Make sure to slowly increase bio load so that bacteria can adjust to additional load.

For reference, I did not use any bacteria supplements and my cure/cycle time was exactly 31 days. YMMV with Dr Tim's. Some have said it took them 7 days, others a whole month for cycle to complete.
Click to expand...

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the info. Are there any significant amounts of bacteria that live in the water column that would be lost and need to be built up in the display tank?

Once I add the rock to the display, should I at least dose a little ammonia to make sure all things are still working?

And yes, weirdly I dosed a lot less than the recommended dosage of ammonium chloride, but both my ammonia tests are reading off the charts ammonia (salifert reading purple, when the darkest blue is 6ppm). I haven't dosed in awhile, but I'm worried something went wrong, so I might just do 100% water change tomorrow and then try again with just a few drops.
 
kinetic said:
Hey Randy,

Thanks for the info. Are there any significant amounts of bacteria that live in the water column that would be lost and need to be built up in the display tank?

Once I add the rock to the display, should I at least dose a little ammonia to make sure all things are still working?

And yes, weirdly I dosed a lot less than the recommended dosage of ammonium chloride, but both my ammonia tests are reading off the charts ammonia (salifert reading purple, when the darkest blue is 6ppm). I haven't dosed in awhile, but I'm worried something went wrong, so I might just do 100% water change tomorrow and then try again with just a few drops.
Click to expand...

You won't lose a significant amount of bacteria by throwing away the water from the tub. Most of the nitrifying bacteria lives on substrate (rock, sand, marine pure, etc.). You don't want to use that nitrate filled water in your new tank anyway.

I wouldn't worry about changing 100% of the tub water. There is a possibility that 6ppm could potentially stall your cycle a little. I'd recommend just changing enough water to get it between 2-4ppm.
 
kinetic said:
Hey Randy,

Thanks for the info. Are there any significant amounts of bacteria that live in the water column that would be lost and need to be built up in the display tank?

Once I add the rock to the display, should I at least dose a little ammonia to make sure all things are still working?

And yes, weirdly I dosed a lot less than the recommended dosage of ammonium chloride, but both my ammonia tests are reading off the charts ammonia (salifert reading purple, when the darkest blue is 6ppm). I haven't dosed in awhile, but I'm worried something went wrong, so I might just do 100% water change tomorrow and then try again with just a few drops.
Click to expand...

With the rocks in the tub, the total water volume is much less.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I think my ammonia is finally 2.0 ppm? What would you call this:

36757504542_5ec40fbb98_c.jpg
 
Yeah, it was a dark aqua blue before today, now it's more green which is great.

I just did a quick water change (about 10 gallons, left maybe 5 gallons of existing). I'll test the water in about 15 min and see where the ammonia is. I'll dose a little ammonia again if it's lower than 2.
 
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