Dry rock questions!!

[saltydawg11]

Hello everyone! I'm new to Reef Central and the hobby itself. I have been collecting the necessary equipment and researching for almost a year now and ready to start setting up the 75 gallon tank!! Finally. I'm just stumped on what to do exactly with my 30lbs of pukani and 50lbs fiji, all dry rock :confused: . I know there are a lot of posts about it but I can't seem to find what I am looking for. All that I have done is pressure washed it. I also plan on seeding it with a few pounds of live rock.

1. Should I let it cure/cycle in my display tank (there is nothing in the tank) if so should I add the sand and run the skimmer, pumps? I have about 80lbs of dry sand and 20lbs live bag sand

2. If not I have a brute container so should I cook it or acid bath? I honestly don't want it leaching PO4 for like 6 months cause that would suck.

3. Should I cure in tap, RODI water, or salt?

4. Lights or no lights?

5. Should I add a piece of dead shrimp or use bio-spira?

6. How often should I do water changes?

[Reefmedic79]

[WELCOME]

1. Let it cure and cycle in the main display, when did you pressure wash it? Did you give it time to dry out completely? If so then you should have no problems putting it in the tank right away. Set the tank up completely, sand, pumps, and skimmer.

2. Where did you get the dry rock? I purchased my base rock online and have had no issues with PO4. If this is a concern, put the rock in the brute full of fresh RODI water with a pump and let it sit for a week or so. Then test the water for phosphates, If you got change the fresh water and repeat checking every week. I've heard this process can take a few weeks to a couple of months though.

3. RODI if your checking for PO4, if it comes back clean then get it in the display and start your cycle.

4. It's up to you, lights on will get you some algae growth, which in small amounts you will want for your CUC when the time comes to add one.

5. Don't personally believe in chems or products made to start or accelerate a cycle, when a cheap shrimp will do the job. Adding a pinch of flake food daily will do the same thing. Any LR that you plan on purchasing will start the cycle as well, so getting that in the tank ASAP would be best, it will also start that seeding process when it comes to any micro-organisms on the LR.

6. IMO&E, I don't believe in water changes until the cycle has completed. Once it's done stick to an average of 10% water volume per week. I personally do a 20% every other week.

[saltydawg11]

Thank you for your reply! I pressure washed it yesterday morning and let it sit out all day in the hot sun so its dry. The rock is all from BRS. I was just worried about the pukani because I heard it has a lot of leaching problems. Would it also be a good idea to run my carbon/ GFO reactor at first too or no?

[Reefmedic79]

Carbon/GFO can be run in your tank from the beginning if you'd like, but I personally don't think it's necessary unless you have a small trace amount of PO4 when you test the rocks out.

[saltydawg11]

Thank you for the responses!:thumbsup:

[saltydawg11]

Making my first batch of RODI water now.. so excited to finally kick this off after collecting and researching for a year!!!

[dppitone]

It doesn't really matter where you cycle it, in the tank or in a tub, but don't do anything else to it like wash it down IMO. It'll work itself out. Let the nature take care of it and just give it proper time to reach a bacteria/nitrite/nitrate balance. Just make sure you do water changes to remove the building nitrates.

[saltydawg11]

Thank you for your response!

[dppitone]

Making my first batch of RODI water now.. so excited to finally kick this off after collecting and researching for a year!!!

That is very cool. Good fortune.