Does Live Ocean Rock instantly cycle?

[Tom Boyle]

Good morning all!

I recently bought an Innovative Marine SR80, and was looking to set it up as a FOWLR tank. I was looking into aqua scaping and really like the idea of getting some live ocean rock from gulf live rock. My question is if I get 20lbs of it for my 80 gallon aquarium, would that be enough to instantly cycle my aquarium? Or is there a certain number of lbs needed per gallon? I was going to do 20 pounds of the ocean live rock and then 20+ lbs of the dry live rock from bulk reef supply. Thank you!

 

[Slocke]

Yes. So long as the bacteria is still alive that is more then enough rock

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would say yes, but keep the bioload very low, and feed carefully, until the rest of the rock is colonized by bacteria

80 gallon tank should have 70-90 lbs of rock. IMO, 40 lbs of rock in an 80 gallon is not sufficient

 

[Tom Boyle]

I would say yes, but keep the bioload very low, and feed carefully, until the rest of the rock is colonized by bacteria

80 gallon tank should have 70-90 lbs of rock. IMO, 40 lbs of rock in an 80 gallon is not sufficient

I can definitely get more than 20 lbs of the dry live rock. My question was more if the 20 lbs of live ocean rock would be enough to kick start an 80 gallon tank, without having to get fritz turbo start or wait for the cycle?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I can definitely get more than 20 lbs of the dry live rock. My question was more if the 20 lbs of live ocean rock would be enough to kick start an 80 gallon tank, without having to get fritz turbo start or wait for the cycle?

Yes, it will, but like I said, stock slowly and feed sparingly in the beginning, it will take several weeks for that 20 lbs to colonize the rest of the surface area in the tank, so the biofilter will be weak during that time

EDIT: correct - no need for bottled bacteria with live rock

 

[Tom Boyle]

Yes, it will, but like I said, stock slowly and feed sparingly in the beginning, it will take several weeks for that 20 lbs to colonize the rest of the surface area in the tank, so the biofilter will be weak during that time

Is there any harm in doing both the ocean live rock AND the fritz turbo start? Or would that be too much too quick?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Is there any harm in doing both the ocean live rock AND the fritz turbo start? Or would that be too much too quick?

no harm at all, but no benefit either. The bacteria that can be bottled and shelved is a very tiny percentage of the bacteria's that will be available on live rock...

 

[Tom Boyle]

no harm at all, but no benefit either. The bacteria that can be bottled and shelved is a very tiny percentage of the bacteria's that will be available on live rock...

Sounds good! I’ll go with just live rock from Gulf live rock and add one fish every 2-3 weeks. Thank you for your help

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Not "instantly" - but a heck of a lot faster than starting with dry rock. There will be some die-off during shipping the rock to you, so you should still wait maybe 2 weeks & confirm ammonia and nitrite are 0 before you start stocking the tank.

 

[Should I]

my 1st tank i got 40kg of live rock it got held in customs for awhile like 2-3 days was not shipped in water just wet paper towels and that tank was insta cycle unfortunately i cannot get real live rock anymore cause morons thought it would be a good idea for the UK to leave the EU

 

[Lowell Lemon]

The cycle will depend on if the rock is shipped in water and how long it takes to get to you. The best method is airport to airport shipping via commercial airlines.

I would place the rock into the tank and test after 24 hours to see if you have a jump in ammonia levels. If not you can proceed.

I used to process up to 4000lbs of rock at a time for use in reef tanks! Sometimes we had hugh die off and it could take a month to cycle. Shipped to us damp not in water.

Boring sponge was the biggest cause of die off.

 

[Subsea]

I would say yes, but keep the bioload very low, and feed carefully, until the rest of the rock is colonized by bacteria

80 gallon tank should have 70-90 lbs of rock. IMO, 40 lbs of rock in an 80 gallon is not sufficient

I prefer wide open tanks with less live rock. Biofiltration happens in substrate and often with corals as the largest component of nutrient management in the tank.

 

[Tom Boyle]

The cycle will depend on if the rock is shipped in water and how long it takes to get to you. The best method is airport to airport shipping via commercial airlines.

I would place the rock into the tank and test after 24 hours to see if you have a jump in ammonia levels. If not you can proceed.

I used to process up to 4000lbs of rock at a time for use in reef tanks! Sometimes we had hugh die off and it could take a month to cycle. Shipped to us damp not in water.

Boring sponge was the biggest cause of die off.

It was wrapped in wet paper towels, but a lot of the larger organisms survived. A lot of turkey leg clams, sponges, a large sea squirt, and even a rock flower Anenome. I did test the water the last few days and there has not been a spike

 

[BryanM]

Good morning all!

I recently bought an Innovative Marine SR80, and was looking to set it up as a FOWLR tank. I was looking into aqua scaping and really like the idea of getting some live ocean rock from gulf live rock. My question is if I get 20lbs of it for my 80 gallon aquarium, would that be enough to instantly cycle my aquarium? Or is there a certain number of lbs needed per gallon? I was going to do 20 pounds of the ocean live rock and then 20+ lbs of the dry live rock from bulk reef supply. Thank you!

Noteworthy the dry rock will go through the ugly phases, even when seeded with some amount of real ocean live rock. This is why I bit the bullet and purchased all live rock from Gulf Live Rock. 1-2 pounds per gallon.

 

[Tom Boyle]

It was wrapped in wet paper towels, but a lot of the larger organisms survived. A lot of turkey leg clams, sponges, a large sea squirt, and even a rock flower Anenome. I did test the water the last few days and there has not been a spike

I must have jinxed myself. Tested for the first time today and the water is less than optimal. Looks like I’ll be getting Fritz turbostart this weekend lol

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

If it’s wet ocean rock, like TBS, I think 40 would be OK. For example, I ordered 20 pounds of rubble from TBS. I put it in a Geo cryptic reactor and put that in a 40b that I used for a sump that was plumbed into a 150g stock tank. I had to relocate fish temporarily into that system. Eventually put a bunch of rock from two tanks in the stock tank. But that 20 pounds of rubble really kept up with a light bio load for about 140g of water. I still have that reactor going today, it’s seeding rock as we speak. Very well I might add. I have it sitting in a 50g tub, with about 100 pounds of rock. I dump my filter floss that I put on top of my bubble trap in there all the time for a few days. I don’t have a heater, it’s in my garage like this through the winter. I tossed a small carpet anemone in there that I thought was dead. Not only did I just find it alive, dang thing is looking great. Tons of amphipods in there too. I think that wet TBS rock is loaded with magic pixie dust. The ladies @LiverockRocks must have access to some magical stuff. I couldn’t imagine doing this any other way.

 

[Kilman805]

Might just be the comparatively small amount of live rock per gallon. Or maybe the difference between damp-shipped and water-shipped live rock. When I added 50 lb of TBS live rock to my new 32 gallon build there wasn’t even a minor blip in ammonia or nitrite. It really was an instant cycle.

 

[LiverockRocks]

If it’s wet ocean rock, like TBS, I think 40 would be OK. For example, I ordered 20 pounds of rubble from TBS. I put it in a Geo cryptic reactor and put that in a 40b that I used for a sump that was plumbed into a 150g stock tank. I had to relocate fish temporarily into that system. Eventually put a bunch of rock from two tanks in the stock tank. But that 20 pounds of rubble really kept up with a light bio load for about 140g of water. I still have that reactor going today, it’s seeding rock as we speak. Very well I might add. I have it sitting in a 50g tub, with about 100 pounds of rock. I dump my filter floss that I put on top of my bubble trap in there all the time for a few days. I don’t have a heater, it’s in my garage like this through the winter. I tossed a small carpet anemone in there that I thought was dead. Not only did I just find it alive, dang thing is looking great. Tons of amphipods in there too. I think that wet TBS rock is loaded with magic pixie dust. The ladies @LiverockRocks must have access to some magical stuff. I couldn’t imagine doing this any other way.

Geo's cryptic reactors filled with TBS rubble are power houses!
Shipping healthy rock submerged is the way to go. Appreciated working with you.

Might just be the comparatively small amount of live rock per gallon. Or maybe the difference between damp-shipped and water-shipped live rock. When I added 50 lb of TBS live rock to my new 32 gallon build there wasn’t even a minor blip in ammonia or nitrite. It really was an instant cycle.

Shipping rock without water means loss of life and the added hassle for a customer to cure it. In 1990, TBS stopped the practice of shipping rock in paper, and we haven't looked back. Most customers experience an instant cycle with no ammonia spikes. This is because our healthy live rock has had life support during transit, thus thriving microorganisms can get right to work and there is minimal to no die off.

 

[Anemoneguy]

My 45 cycled almost instantly. Never had any ill effects issue and it was best to see all the live critters on the rock.