Dry Rock Cycling in the Bay?

[Finn1018]

Hypothetical question here or possible dumb question here lol. And my apologies if I’ve posted this in the wrong place.

So I have dry rock sitting around in the garage for months. I now have access to a waterfront home but it’s in the bay. Specifically the Chesapeake Bay in MD. Would I be able to cycle that rock, and make it live? Aka leave the rocks in for 2 months or so. The water on that part of the bay is brackish, and from what I’ve seen there’s copepods and some other critters always on the rip rap and jetty. The fish range from white perch, spot, croaker, bluefish, rockfish and flounder is what I’ve caught there. I’m sure there is more to be caught, but that’s a different hobby all together… Anyone know if this is a terrible idea for the dry rock? This would be an instant transfer to my tank assuming this works.

 

[landlubber]

to me the biggest concern apart from the brackish salinity is the exposure to hitchhikers. instantly dumping ocean rocks means you are rolling the dice in introducing everything you're desperately trying to avoid.

 

[Finn1018]

to me the biggest concern apart from the brackish salinity is the exposure to hitchhikers. instantly dumping ocean rocks means you are rolling the dice in introducing everything you're desperately trying to avoid.

I do plan to quarantine it and observe who I’ve brought in. But isn’t this what we all pay 100s of bucks for. Live live rock. It doesn’t get any more live than this.
I’ll have to take my refractometer out and see what the salinity is out there. I know certain parts of the bay are saltier than others, and I do know that a lot of the fish come from saltier parts and in the spring come to spawn

 

[Azedenkae]

Hypothetical question here or possible dumb question here lol. And my apologies if I’ve posted this in the wrong place.

So I have dry rock sitting around in the garage for months. I now have access to a waterfront home but it’s in the bay. Specifically the Chesapeake Bay in MD. Would I be able to cycle that rock, and make it live? Aka leave the rocks in for 2 months or so. The water on that part of the bay is brackish, and from what I’ve seen there’s copepods and some other critters always on the rip rap and jetty. The fish range from white perch, spot, croaker, bluefish, rockfish and flounder is what I’ve caught there. I’m sure there is more to be caught, but that’s a different hobby all together… Anyone know if this is a terrible idea for the dry rock? This would be an instant transfer to my tank assuming this works.

Oooooh that's an interesting idea.

I think overarchingly it's a good idea, but yeah as with @landlubber, primary worry is hitchhikers that you may not want in your tank.

Yes people say you will get hitchhikers anyways, but really there's a lot of difference between how much control you have.

Salinity may also affect what kind of nitrifiers you establish in your rock, i.e. you may get those that are more adapted to brackish conditions than fully saline conditions. Might not be terrible though, because the bright side is there's likely to be so many microorganisms that will colonize your rocks that once transferred to your tank, the 'right' microorganisms will take over. Not just the 'right' nitrifiers, but also other probiotics too, so that could be a good thing.

 

[ExoS]

I am no expert but from what I have read, your time estimate is way off. The companies selling dryrock that is livened up in the ocean tend to leave it one to two years from what I have seen. At that point its apparently much better stuff than dry rock that is seeded with microbactr 7 or dr tims. At two months you probably will get the hitchhikers but not as much bacterial benefit.

Also from what I understand, the bay is very polluted so you might be bringing in chemicals you really don't want in your tank too. It's a nice idea. It would be interesting to see if someone has tried it with success. You'll definitely get more diversity in bacterial population than treating with Dr Tims.

 

[Finn1018]

Oooooh that's an interesting idea.

I think overarchingly it's a good idea, but yeah as with @landlubber, primary worry is hitchhikers that you may not want in your tank.

Yes people say you will get hitchhikers anyways, but really there's a lot of difference between how much control you have.

Salinity may also affect what kind of nitrifiers you establish in your rock, i.e. you may get those that are more adapted to brackish conditions than fully saline conditions. Might not be terrible though, because the bright side is there's likely to be so many microorganisms that will colonize your rocks that once transferred to your tank, the 'right' microorganisms will take over. Not just the 'right' nitrifiers, but also other probiotics too, so that could be a good thing.

Hmmm I’m about to try it and be the guinea pig! Will check the salinity tomorrow and see if this is workable.
This is great too, cause I do have an empty 20 gallon sitting around and now I get to make a sick aquascape for it. Fail or not, no biggie.

 

[mech0522]

ive been thinking of doing same thing i live on gulf here in Florida and dive a lot thought about putting 50 pounds down and see what happens

 

[Finn1018]

I am no expert but from what I have read, your time estimate is way off. The companies selling dryrock that is livened up in the ocean tend to leave it one to two years from what I have seen. At that point its apparently much better stuff than dry rock that is seeded with microbactr 7 or dr tims. At two months you probably will get the hitchhikers but not as much bacterial benefit.

Also from what I understand, the bay is very polluted so you might be bringing in chemicals you really don't want in your tank too. It's a nice idea. It would be interesting to see if someone has tried it with success. You'll definitely get more diversity in bacterial population than treating with Dr Tims.

Pollution is a good point. By no means am I an expert on this topic, but I know we do have a ton of “Save the Bay” conservationists and a lot of my waterfront neighbors are also into ocean conservation, starting mini aquaponic gardens filled with different kinds of shell fish and seaweed to help filter and clean the bay. I cannot speak for any companies randomly dumping things into the bay, but I figure it all gets circulated.
I could definitely leave the rocks in for a longer time period, but definitely come the winter months, algae on my riprap definitely dies off. And I’m assuming a lot of stuff other dies, migrates goes dormant. So I was going to try leaving it for 2 months or however long it takes to start growing algae lol. The algae is going to be instant though, from observing the rocks, as soon as it’s April, water temp is about mid 50s and there’s tons of algae by then

 

[Jekyl]

@Paul B can shed some light on this. He collects his water from shore.

 

[Finn1018]

ive been thinking of doing same thing i live on gulf here in Florida and dive a lot thought about putting 50 pounds down and see what happens

Nice you should definitely try it, as long as you have a quarantine/observation set up! Have you tried checking the salinity?

 

[brandon429]

It’ll work. For base bacterial layers, transferability of total waste control into a reef thereafter. I bet you won’t get coralline from it but still a great idea to do

It’ll be done in under 30 days and if pressed for a start date it can carry a reef bioload, because without a start date we are dealing in old cycling science, I’d say the rock will pass oxidation testing in ten days after submersion and that’s also factoring NeonRabbits recent seneye study on home bound unassisted cycle times. Yours would be from nature, rapid.


if you take dry rocks and cycle them for ten days fed + with Dr Tim’s like all of reefing, then test the rocks for nitrification ability which theyll pass like all of reefing, you’ll attain that same adherence rate in ten days in the bay and for sure micro hangers on you could scrape off and prove with a ten dollar Amazon scope.

 

[Finn1018]

It’ll work. For base bacterial layers, transferability of total waste control into a reef thereafter. I bet you won’t get coralline from it but still a great idea to do

It’ll be done in under 30 days and if pressed for a start date it can carry a reef bioload, because without a start date we are dealing in old cycling science, I’d say the rock will pass oxidation testing in ten days after submersion and that’s also factoring NeonRabbits recent seneye study on home bound unassisted cycle times. Yours would be from nature, rapid.

I’m thinking as soon as those rocks have algae, which is probably in a week lol, take it out and observe

 

[brandon429]

It could really be part of growing cycling and benthic adherence knowledge for the hobby, also how they change over time or sustain after import


but I bet the base cycle, ability to manage ammonia etc transfers and holds in the bio films that ride over

 

[Azedenkae]

Hmmm I’m about to try it and be the guinea pig! Will check the salinity tomorrow and see if this is workable.
This is great too, cause I do have an empty 20 gallon sitting around and now I get to make a sick aquascape for it. Fail or not, no biggie.

Well if there's nothing really to lose, then yeah I say go for it! It'll definitely be a fun experiment at least.

I do notice others mention pollution and so on, which can be a concern. At the same time, the difference between taking water from a polluted area, versus sticking rocks in there, is that the rocks can eventually be 'cleaned' of pollution or at least 'depleted' enough. After all, once you take the rock out of the bay, and stick it in a tank, sure it may leach some of the 'pollution', but that'll dilute over time, especially if you are going to put it into a tank and observe it first.

 

[Finn1018]

Well if there's nothing really to lose, then yeah I say go for it! It'll definitely be a fun experiment at least.

I do notice others mention pollution and so on, which can be a concern. At the same time, the difference between taking water from a polluted area, versus sticking rocks in there, is that the rocks can eventually be 'cleaned' of pollution or at least 'depleted' enough. After all, once you take the rock out of the bay, and stick it in a tank, sure it may leach some of the 'pollution', but that'll dilute over time, especially if you are going to put it into a tank and observe it first.

I am so doing this after work haha. Super excited. Going to check the salinity first. And start aquascaping… I feel like my inner marine biologist is coming out. Lol.

And hopefully I can stuff everything in my crab trap, so the rocks don’t get moved by the tide. Yeah nothing really to lose here!

 

[Finn1018]

Going to put it in between the jetty and the rocks… anyone know what those critters are on the jetty?

 

[Saltyreef]

Those are isopods.

And i think it would be fine to cure in the bay then bring home and continue to cure in a brute tote with a carbon reactor loaded full of carbon and boyds poly filter pads

 

[sfin52]

Going to put it in between the jetty and the rocks… anyone know what those critters are on the jetty?

They look like pill bugs/ wood lice/ rollie pollies

 

[Finn1018]

Salinity is 1.005.
Will check again in another area throughout this weekend

 

[Finn1018]

Those are isopods.

And i think it would be fine to cure in the bay then bring home and continue to cure in a brute tote with a carbon reactor loaded full of carbon and boyds poly filter pads

Who can feed those to? Lol! Some of them are about about an inch big… (low key looking for an excuse to get a mandarin)