Dark curing dry live rock + cycling questions

[Rooles]

Hey everyone!

I am on my way to starting up a 32.5g fluval flex reef tank after 10+ years away from the hobby. I plan on waiting at least 4 months before adding my first livestock, unless its highly recommened I add it sooner during the process. I have leftover live rock that has been sitting dry from my last tank since then.

My plan is to rinse all of the rock in rodi water then place it in a brute trashcan to start curing it. Afterwards i want to add a piece of live rock from my lfs to seed it and let it sit in the dark for however long is recommended.

My questions are:

Do I fill the brute trashcan with rodi water or saltwater at the start? If rodi then how long before i change it to saltwater?

How long do I wait to add the piece live rock to seed the rest of the rock?

Should I add any source if ammonia to help kick off the cycle process? If so, when should i start and what should i add (fish food every few days etc.)

Should I add livestock any time during this process or wait until its time to move things into the display?

Lastly, I have the option to do all of this inside my tank which has the added bonus (i think) of seeding the dry sand i plan to use at the same time. Only problem i see is it wont be 100 percent dark as its going to be in my living room.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome back to reefing!

You can re-cure your old rock in a can with saltwater and bacteria, but honestly much faster and easier would be to bleach the old rock first. This will quickly remove all the old organic material that's undoubtably still on the rocks from when they were last in use.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...xHdwPAhwHzx7WQuaefRQO-f0cUDPqsk3dB7Fjn8XzJLj3
Once bleached, then the rocks can be cycled in your bucket with saltwater and a piece of new live rock to seed your old rocks.

I hope that helps and good luck!

 

[lapin]

My current tank:
Placed Marco dry rock (750lbs) in 100 gallon stock tanks added salt and a power head. Threw in some bottled bacteria. Ammonia . A table shrimp. After 2 weeks started adding phyto, rotifers, pods. Let cure in my garage for about 2 months while I built my tank and sump. Once that was done. Added the rock to the tank. Added sand. Filled with salt water. Hoped the tank didn’t explode.

 

[JTP424]

Welcome back to reefing!

You can re-cure your old rock in a can with saltwater and bacteria, but honestly much faster and easier would be to bleach the old rock first. This will quickly remove all the old organic material that's undoubtably still on the rocks from when they were last in use.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...xHdwPAhwHzx7WQuaefRQO-f0cUDPqsk3dB7Fjn8XzJLj3
Once bleached, then the rocks can be cycled in your bucket with saltwater and a piece of new live rock to seed your old rocks.

I hope that helps and good luck!

I was about to recommend bleachin as well!!!

 

[Rooles]

Welcome back to reefing!

You can re-cure your old rock in a can with saltwater and bacteria, but honestly much faster and easier would be to bleach the old rock first. This will quickly remove all the old organic material that's undoubtably still on the rocks from when they were last in use.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...xHdwPAhwHzx7WQuaefRQO-f0cUDPqsk3dB7Fjn8XzJLj3
Once bleached, then the rocks can be cycled in your bucket with saltwater and a piece of new live rock to seed your old rocks.

I hope that helps and good luck!

I like the bleach idea. Im going to make this the first step.

How would you recomend i go about seeding the live rock afterwards? Im worried about preserving all of the beneficial bacteria as well as any other creatures that come with the live rock. I dont want the micro crustations to starve

 

[Rooles]

My current tank:
Placed Marco dry rock (750lbs) in 100 gallon stock tanks added salt and a power head. Threw in some bottled bacteria. Ammonia . A table shrimp. After 2 weeks started adding phyto, rotifers, pods. Let cure in my garage for about 2 months while I built my tank and sump. Once that was done. Added the rock to the tank. Added sand. Filled with salt water. Hoped the tank didn’t explode.

How did you go about feeding the phyto, rotifers, and pods once you add them?

 

[JTP424]

If it's been out of the tank and dry, there is no more beneficial bacteria in there.
Once the rock is bleached, make sure to remove the bleach etc with an RO soak, then make up your saltwater curing tub with the rock from the LFS and let it cook.

 

[Fish Fan]

You can add a little fish food to your curing bucket too, it will add some ammonia for the bacteria, and some food for any micro detrivore critters that came with the new live rock.

 

[Rooles]

You can add a little fish food to your curing bucket too, it will add some ammonia for the bacteria, and some food for any micro detrivore critters that came with the new live rock.

How much food and how often would you recommend?

 

[Fish Fan]

How much food and how often would you recommend?

I don't think there's a hard rule, just a pinch or two every few days to a week or so would probably be fine.

 

[Rooles]

I don't think there's a hard rule, just a pinch or two every few days to a week or so would probably be fine.

Awesome thanks!

 

[JTP424]

Awesome thanks!

Better start a build thread of all of this, we want to see progress :)

 

[Rooles]

Better start a build thread of all of this, we want to see progress :)

Will do! It will be a nice diary of sorts.

 

[Rooles]

So the plan is to:
-bleach the rock
-put it in saltwater with a piece of live rock
-add fish food twice a week
-monitor ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.
-add pods and other micro organisms once cycle settles.
-move to display tank

 

[lapin]

How much food and how often would you recommend?

A Table shrimp will supply plenty of ammonia

 

[lapin]

How did you go about feeding the phyto, rotifers, and pods once you add them?

Just kept adding them . Was growing them in 5 gallon buckets. You need to remove some and add food like rotigrow to the buckets. The rock got the leftovers.

 

[Rooles]

Just kept adding them . Was growing them in 5 gallon buckets. You need to remove some and add food like rotigrow to the buckets. The rock got the leftovers.

Im going to have to look into growing my own, ant advice? Thanks!

 

[lapin]

You can’t do some research here
https://reedmariculture.com/collections/hatchery-supplies

 

[skey44]

I successfully reused yard rock without bleach. I initially rinsed it with a garden sprayer and scrubbed the surface of the rock. I cured it in a dark brute with a power head in saltwater for about 3 months. I did weekly water changes and bacteria additions until nitrate was zero and the water looked clear. I then ran a phosphate reactor until levels were stable.

I think dark curing of old rock is much better than bleaching it. My phosphate stays very stable, and I think it’s due to the equilibrium my old rock has reached not allowing the phosphate to dip to zero. Essentially my old rock is leaching phosphate slowly and this seems helpful. The lowest phosphate I ever get is around 0.06 when o cut back on feeding and the highest is 0.19 with very heavy handed feeding.

Everyone likes bleaching rock but I think the phosphate equilibrium I’m speaking of would be hampered by this. Nutrient instability (bottoming out) is an issue that I think we have created using sterile nutrient free rocks to start aquariums.

Either way good luck and start a build thread for us to follow along!

I’m glad I dark cured my rock instead of bleaching it and starting with “sterile” rock.

Approximately one year results of rock from the yard cured in my garage.

 

[Rooles]

I successfully reused yard rock without bleach. I initially rinsed it with a garden sprayer and scrubbed the surface of the rock. I cured it in a dark brute with a power head in saltwater for about 3 months. I did weekly water changes and bacteria additions until nitrate was zero and the water looked clear. I then ran a phosphate reactor until levels were stable.

I think dark curing of old rock is much better than bleaching it. My phosphate stays very stable, and I think it’s due to the equilibrium my old rock has reached not allowing the phosphate to dip to zero. Essentially my old rock is leaching phosphate slowly and this seems helpful. The lowest phosphate I ever get is around 0.06 when o cut back on feeding and the highest is 0.19 with very heavy handed feeding.

Everyone likes bleaching rock but I think the phosphate equilibrium I’m speaking of would be hampered by this. Nutrient instability (bottoming out) is an issue that I think we have created using sterile nutrient free rocks to start aquariums.

Either way good luck and start a build thread for us to follow along!

I’m glad I dark cured my rock instead of bleaching it and starting with “sterile” rock.

Approximately one year results of rock from the yard cured in my garage.

Hey! I appreciate the post and different point of view on cycling rock. I like your approach and it makes sense. I have a fair amount to think about. I will for sure make a build thread!