Dry rock question...

[dburt520]

I am months away from my new tank build and was curious if I could purchase rock now, cycle/cure it in a large brute or bin. I was thinking it would maybe help get past some of the nasty stages in the beginning of a new tank, but I'm not sure.

If I keep it covered (dark), will it be beneficial at all to start this early? I don't have another tank up currently, so I would be starting from scratch with no other live rock pieces to seed it.

Could I seed my rock with pods now? Would they have anything to live off of?

I will be starting with either BRS reef saver, or BRS pukani.

[rffanat1c]

Yes it would help to do it now. Search cooking rock. No you don't actually cook it but you'll find plenty of processes for curing it.

And you can start the cycle with a piece of raw shrimp.

[MaccaPopEye]

I would certainly get the rock into a tub and start curing it now. This has an added benefit that if you want to drill or glue the rock to make structures like towers and such you can do this now while it is dry and then cure it for a few months, when you move it to a DT you will either have no cycle or a very little cycle and you wont have to aquascape as you have it done already. Starting the buildup of bacteria is as easy as adding pure ammonia or like rffanat1c said a dead shrimp.

I have heard that when you have your tank ready to go add 2ppm of ammonia into your tub and if there is 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite in the tub then the rock is fully cured and you shouldnt have a cycle. Or you can ghost feed for a month or so before moving it to a DT.

Having no light will also prevent algae growth and help the rocks get a biofilm cover which will help to prevent algae when you do put lighs over the rock. I also wouldnt add any pods until the rock is in a DT, they might do ok in the dark tub but they might not, just cant see a benefit to adding them now.

[Mark9]

Best way to do it in my opinion.
You can always throw in some biro-spira/Dr. Tim's ammonia to get it going.
Then monitor your water.
If the nitrates are high, do a water change to get it to 0.
Keep doing this until the rock stops leeching.
I bought some BRS dry rock, real nice, great price, but man, the nitrates, through the roof coming out of that rock.

[gone fishin]

What you propose would be fine minus the pods IMO. It will benefit you down the road once you got your tank set up. Good luck just my 2 cents

[codydemmel4]

I know this is old but I have some questions. I am going to buy some bulk dry rock from brs, around 100 pounds. I want to have this cycled and ready to go as soon as possible. Would it be ideal if I buy the rock now and place it in a large garbage can/bin with saltwater and a heater with no light? or would it be more beneficial to have a light over the rock. Also, around how long would it take for the rock to be completely cycled and ready to go? What are the possible ways to speed up this process? Adding annomia directly into the tub or what? I am hoping to have the cycle done in around 1 month if that is possible.

[A.Astore]

I was able to cure my BRS dry Pukani in about three weeks with only heater and powerhead. It had a lid on the Brute, so no light. I opened it to no algae which was nice. I put the rock directly in the tank with live sand and had basically no wait for the cycle. I run GFO for any phosphate that may have been coming out of the rock for the months following. I have not been over run by hair algae even with the rather short amount of time it took to cure and minimal "cycle" for the tank in general. Oh, I also did not do any of the acid washes/bleach bath approaches either. I can't even say I really cleaned them well before tossing them in. It got stinky a few days but cleared up rather quick. Love my BRS Pukani, as do the critters in the tank.

[oseymour]

I was able to cure my BRS dry Pukani in about three weeks with only heater and powerhead. It had a lid on the Brute, so no light. I opened it to no algae which was nice. I put the rock directly in the tank with live sand and had basically no wait for the cycle. I run GFO for any phosphate that may have been coming out of the rock for the months following. I have not been over run by hair algae even with the rather short amount of time it took to cure and minimal "cycle" for the tank in general. Oh, I also did not do any of the acid washes/bleach bath approaches either. I can't even say I really cleaned them well before tossing them in. It got stinky a few days but cleared up rather quick. Love my BRS Pukani, as do the critters in the tank.



Mine took 4 weeks, and I had the same experienxe, no algae no phosphates,

[dburt520]

Mine took about 7-8 weeks and my phosphates are out of control.

I've got about 200 lbs of rock, have done 2 complete (100%) water changes and my PO4 read .41 on my Hannah Checker last night.