live rock cycle

[81Shaun]

okay guys im setting up a 24 nano but how much dry rock do I need ? and how much live rock do I need to seed the dry rock? im thinking about buying the dry rock from bulk reef supply and picking up what ever amount of live rock from my local fish store. so was wondering how much live rock and dry rock I would need? also I still have live rock from a few years ago that was in my 29 gallon tank I had at the time but wasn't sure about using it cause some of it may of gotten something on it and some had hair algae so is thre a good way to clean it back to good clean dry rock ? thanks

[bpaston]

A general guideline that gets thrown around a lot is 1-1.5lb of live rock per gallon. But at the end of the day the choice is yours and everyone will have a different answer to this question depending on the style of aquascaping they are looking for. Seeding the dry rock itself will not be very hard and could be done with one normal sized 2-3lb rock that can be picked up from your LFS. Or some opt to use a piece of shrimp or even products such as Microbacter7. Is there a reason your are choosing to go the dry rock route, are you trying to minimize pest hitch hikers? If so you can look into cured man made rock in which you wont have to worry about pests and the rock is already bio active. There are several companies that offer products like this just do a search on google, one company that comes to mind is Real Reef. Good Luck and welcome to the hobby!

[81Shaun]

well , I was looking at the bulk reef supply fiji dry rock because its cheaper then live rock and I really like the look of fiji live rock and of course the hitch hiker thing. just was curious of how much dry rock I should go with the live rock from my local fish store? to seed the dry rock and start a cycle

I still have rock that was from my 29 gallon salt tank from a few years ago and was thinking about using it but was kind of wondering what I should do to sanitise that rock? or was just thinking about buying all new from bulk reef supply. I thought about buying 20 lb of the dry rock from bulk reef supply and buying like 4 or 5 lb from my local fish store. would 4 or 5 lb be enough to get the tank cycle and seed the dry rock ? thanks