Preparing Rock

[Sk8r]

Preparing Rock
There are several sources for rock: ideally it should be limestone or old coral, and have a LOT of holes, like swiss cheese: this offers more surface area. You need about 2 pounds of this sort of rock per gallon of tank–but this is tricky: not all rock weighs alike. Look at the rockwork in pix on this site and get a good idea how many pieces of what size you need. Also—use ro/di or at least ro water—filtered water that has 0 mineral content: you’ll use that for your tank on setup, and there’s no good gained by soaking your rock in water that’s already caryring a lot of what you don’t want.

1) Rock from another tank. If it is still fresh and not been out of water for more than 24 hours, it’ll probably be fine. You will have instant importation of various marine life—I got a load for a 50 gallon tank, and counted 52 species that survived a cycle, including a bit of bubble coral, xenia, and of course the obligatory aiptasia (pest anemone) and some asterinas (mini-starfish that are not a problem in an sps or lps tank: soft coral tanks may want to pick those out.) You take your chances on this sort of rock, but if it’s been in a successful tank, good things will outnumber the bad. If the donor is merely breaking down a successful tank in a house move, it’s your bonanza of life. If the donor went out in a tank crash or was overrun with something nasty, definitely move to step 2.
2) live-but-barely rock suffered in shipping or came from a troubled tank. THIS I would ‘tub’ in the dark in 80 degree 1.024 salinity agitated salt water for two months before use. This will pretty well kill off nastiness and leave you with brown bare rock. You can use a Rubbermaid Brute trash can or something with a garbage can liner, and just give it a heater and a fairly strong pump. Eheims are good small workhorses and can later serve as a salt mixing pump or water-change pump. Or you can use what will be your sump skimmer: just let it do this job. However—if your skimmer isn’t really moving the water, you need a more potent pump. You don’t want dead spots in the circulation. Do water changes weekly and also test your water to be sure it’s staying at 1.024. Test for phosphate a day after water change and if you’re getting a reading despite the water changes, you might as well start running GFO in a reactor right now. The water changes will ordinarily be enough.
3. Dry rock. You CAN put it all into the tank and wait 12 weeks for a cycle, but I don’t recommend it. Use process 2. Tub it with at least one actual live rock you’ve bought from a store or gotten from a friend. Two months in the warm salty circulation will turn it into live rock. Now—WHY? Because dry rock may contain other elements like phosphates, and the long soak will let this soak out, while it also picks up a load of bacteria from that small live rock you bought. Can bacteria-in-a-bottle speed this process? Probably a bit, but part of what you’re doing with dry rock is letting water seep deep, deep, deep into the rock—along with bacteria, which are tiny enough to get there---and nothing hurries a rock soaking. Crack open a rock that’s been in a river or an ocean—and you won’t find it dry and dusty inside. That’s part of the process you’re replicating here. Dry rock is sometimes a source for phosphate. Be sure not to use metal-bearing rock like volcanic stuff, etc: salt water and metals don't play nice. Limestone is safe. Holes are good. One big massive no-holes rock is not as efficient as a number of smaller ones.
4. Man-made rock: yes, it works fine. Put it through the same process, water changes, et al. Test for phosphate. And just keep going.

Next, your sand: I’ve never personally used live sand. I use CaribSea aragonite medium grain (the very fine sand may look pretty, but it blows about and irritates fish and kills corals). Washing this sand for a hundred gallon tank involves two five gallon buckets, a garden hose, and an all day operation, before you are rid of the milky white dust that comes with this sand. Wash about four cups at a time. And just keep running water until the sand is clean. It is a nasty, cold, wet number of hours. Yes. It is. My total sympathies.

Getting started is kind of boring and frustrating, having your nice tank and babysitting a bin of rock, but use this time to read and research and plan. You can also start washing your sand. ;)

[Ron Reefman]

Having rock that is full of holes because it is better for surface area for good bacteria to breed is a very good thing. And in the set up of new tanks that I've done, I always assumed (not a good thing) that there would be good holes where I could stick frag plugs. And that has never turned out to be the case for me. I've been close, but never enough.

So I'm going to redo my now 6 month old 125g DT because I feel like half my tank is wasted space behind the rock island. I had the bright idea (well... I think it's bright) to drill 3/8th inch holes in the surface of rocks I intend to be exposed for coral placement. I started drilling some holes and found that having frag plugs just drop almost snugly in works really well, at least dry and on my workbench! I had some rock that does have a lot of natural holes but when I tried to test fit a frag plug it really didn't fit well, if at all. So I did a little drilling of the natural holes as well and now the frag plugs fit way better.

I figure after 6 months the holes I don't use will have something in them. Maybe coraline, or micro stars, or who knows what! It's just an idea and I'll show what I did and the results in my build thread as I move forward.

[Sk8r]

really good idea. I tend to stick reef putty into the almost-fits holes and stick the plug in---but this reckons without my dascyllus 3 stripe damsel, who will grab a piece and try to carry it off: if I don't wedge it really well, he'll free it. He's pretty, but he's a brat.

[rtparty]

If I put 2 pounds of rock per gallon, I would have zero room for anything. I bet my new 50 gallon won't even contain 15 pounds of rock.

[Sk8r]

Depends on the rock. We have one rock in our freshwater that probably weighs 40 lbs on its own. it would be horrid for saltwater. Some of my dead coral has a negligible weight, light as a feather unless wet. The main thing is surface area---and porosity [micro-holes]. That is a FAR more reliable guide re the efficacy of the rock. The same way that human lungs, if truly flattened, would cover a football field, your rock needs to provide a lot of porosity.

Somebody is bound to ask about the artificial expanded aluminum/ceramic blocks. I have one of these: I have run a PolyFilter strip to test for free aluminum and it is safe. It is also porous as a sponge. I would, because you need the sort of bacteria that lives deep in the dark, go for a block of this stuff rather than the small pieces. OTOH, it would not look very good in your typical tank, and while a sump can get flow through it, the typical in-tank situation, not so much. I also did not experience a nitrate reduction by using it (and I had a problem). I got the nitrate way down real fast, after using everything from ceramic rock to carbon dosing and several absorbent mediums---by getting a much better skimmer. Nitrate sank like a stone. Rock---can only do so much. Sometimes it needs help.

[rtparty]

Oh mine does. Pukani and Fiji mix. Then a couple liters of Matrix as well. At this point, I say use how much rock you want. There are so many ways to add surface area or increase bacteria.

[Fish finder]

Thank you, this helped me a lot with my upcoming rock cleaning

[Green Chromis]

:fish1: Hi Sk8r, you have written quite a few good articles including this one, but their are a couple things in this article that I would like to discuss with you. First, when you seed dead rock with a piece of live rock, the dead rock does not become a piece of live rock, yes the bacteria from the live rock will spread to the dead rock, but there is so much more to a piece of high quality live rock then just the bacteria, all the micro and macro fauna, and flora on the live rock will not populate the dead rock, unless the live rock is allowed to live in a good ight source with the dead rock, and then it will take a very long time for the dead rock to be covered like the live rock, if you cover it, and due not use a good light source, most of the life on the live rock will die. One other thing, 2lbs of rock per gallon is way to much rock, especially with the dead rock people want to use, and all this super porous rock, makes for a big detritus trap, even with a massive amount of flow in your system. when diving on the reefs of South Florida and the Caribbean, the rocks I see are not nearly as porous as the dead rock most people use, that are mined from land and put in the ocean to seed. Again, another good article, keep up the good work. :fish1:

[Indeed, you stress a good point: all quality live rock gives you so many critters---and curing the rock (incidentally killing most life) is not a step to take with good, critter-covered good live rock, IMHO---see my bit about all the life that existed on mine from another tank. I just wince when I see someone has gotten really good stuff and proceeds to kill it off. I like the surprises, myself: sponges, barnacles, critters of all sorts. If you have a friend with a tank, get him to tuck a nice rock into his sump a number of weeks in advance of your startup, and that can be your 'live rock' for helping dead rock toward viability. ---sk8r]

[niladride]

Really nice article Sk8r as usual.

BTW, I am also using a marine pure block and it is working great, its really really porous and the surface area is huge to house the bacteria.

It claims to remove nitrates as well, I am not too sure though, I have algae problems anyway.

[I had horrendous nitrate from a power-out incident and the block didn't help to any observable degree. Algae comes from phosphate. You might try a product call No3Po4X, aka NoPoX, which is pretty good at handling both.---sk8r

[Spiffy]

Would adding a light to the "tub" to encourage algae growth be a bad idea?

[Sk8r]

Algae grows because of phosphate in the water or rock--nothing else likes phosphate. And it's one reason you always use ro/di water for your saltwater mix, so you don't have some coming in from tapwater. To discourage algae growth, keep the light out and run GFO to sop up the phosphate.

[niladride]

^

I will try the GFO method for sure. But is it cost effective?

[Sk8r]

GFO is not cheap. Neither is NoPoX. They CAN deal with the phosphate: GFO is phosphate-specific. NoPoX gets both nitrate and phosphate, and both work---but NoPoX requires a skimmer, which most rock-tubs don't have. A GFO doesn't need a skimmer.

[niladride]

Really nice article Sk8r as usual.

BTW, I am also using a marine pure block and it is working great, its really really porous and the surface area is huge to house the bacteria.

It claims to remove nitrates as well, I am not too sure though, I have algae problems anyway.

[I had horrendous nitrate from a power-out incident and the block didn't help to any observable degree. Algae comes from phosphate. You might try a product call No3Po4X, aka NoPoX, which is pretty good at handling both.---sk8r


I will give it a try for now I guess, lets see how long the cure works. Thanks once more.

:)

[Julius Chen]

Re "Be sure not using metal bearing stuff like volcanic thing", is rock from volcanic ash ok to use? I just bought 15 lbs of volcanic ash rocks that look like shelf plates from my local reef store. They have been cycling with my other 50lbs of dry rocks for over 2 weeks now. Should I be concerned of metal leaching?


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[Sk8r]

THere's a product called PolyFilter. Snip off a square of that and put it in the water. If it turns red, it's iron in the water; if blue, copper, etc. If it stays white, no metals. The good news is, it also binds what it identifies.

[wadester27]

am i able to uplaod pics on here

[wadester27]

i have some 2 or 3 yr old dry coral . do i need to do anything to it before i use it

[Goldmund]

I'm in the (lengthy) process of converting a 120g freshwater tank into my new reef tank. My first tank a few years ago I started with dry rock, and let it cure/cycle in the tank for a few months. Later I added a few pieces of live rock and that turned out to be a huge mistake, as I got hit with a massive aiptasia and bryopsis infestation. (pic attached, it wasn't pretty)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/771/30762272804_11bb81945e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NSmFXS)

I really want to avoid that on this tank, so I'm being probably extra cautious and could use some advice. Early December I bought 140lb of dry rock. I soaked it in bleach solution for a few days, let it dry out, then soaked in rodi water for a week. I let it dry out again, then stuck it in a brute can with new saltwater and a mag pump to keep it circulating and warm. It's been sitting in that brute for about 11 weeks now.

Should I start feeding ammonia now and let it cycle while in the brute? Leave it alone and wait till it's in the tank? I'm still a few weeks away from having the tank empty and in place, so really wondering what my next move should be.

[Wagonpitt]

I bought some rock that i want to add to my already running tank. The rock was out of water the day befor i bought it and has been sitting dry in my garage for 2 days. Im guessing if i put it in my tank now all the ded stuff will give me amonia spike then nitrates so i dont want to do that but also dont want/ need to wait 2 months because i dont need it to be Liverock. is there an alternate route for me

[Dale_M]

Would you recommend getting real live rock to a beginner?
I do mean live, as in Tampa Bay Saltwater's live rock, fresh out of the ocean.
I live in the Tampa Bay area and it would be easy to purchase from them.
I realize that there will be plenty of micro and macro life on these rocks and the potential for pests and I am just wondering if it would be too overwhelming to a beginner?

[Wagonpitt]

I used about 80lbs live rock when i set up my 90g and that allowed me to have ALMOST no cycle. thats just my experience though and im still very new to the hobby myself so i would wait for someone whos more experienced answer.

[Sk8r]

Pests can be dealt with if you seek advice from experienced reefers. Two varieties of worm (hermodice carunculata and eunicid) are a problem. Most crabs are problems. The rest of the life tends to be good. Your problems usually show up hunting food somewhere during the several weeks of cycle, and can be bottle-trapped and moved to the sump (where they're safe) or disposed of.

[Pond Boy]

Would you recommend getting real live rock to a beginner?
I do mean live, as in Tampa Bay Saltwater's live rock, fresh out of the ocean.
I live in the Tampa Bay area and it would be easy to purchase from them.
I realize that there will be plenty of micro and macro life on these rocks and the potential for pests and I am just wondering if it would be too overwhelming to a beginner?

Why not? Do some research set up your tank I say you will be just fine. I wish I had a source close to me I would love some fresh LR..

[Razorback reef]

Tonga branch is very dense and would require 2 lbs per gallon. On the other end of the spectrum, Fiji pukani is very porous and sufficient surface area can be achieved by using less than 1 lb per gallon.

I like to compensate by using medium sized aragonite sand which has more surface area than the rock itself.

[jan89]

I am currently cycling a dead rock, how long do you reckon this process will last? i have a little coralline algae growth, but thats about it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2641923

[LuizW13]

Is it cool if i cure my dry rock on my apartment patio(it's consistently in the 80's-90's F*)? This stuff is really starting to stink! Another question- i bought 10lbs of aquamax dry pukani rock, but i'm only curing half of it in distilled water with a pump and heater. Since my ro/di system didn't come in it, i figured i would only cure what i'm going to use. How long can i expect the rocks to be completely clean? Can i use a phosphate or phosphorous tester along with the other tests to determine when the rocks are ready?

[Ahmed GGS]

Thanks for a useful information about rocks. I didn't new that!

[jimmyblack5]

Thank for the awesome information! :)

[jfarris]

Following

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[ronok]

Thanks a lot!

[jbsengineer]

2) live-but-barely rock suffered in shipping or came from a troubled tank. THIS I would ‘tub’ in the dark in 80 degree 1.024 salinity agitated salt water for two months before use. This will pretty well kill off nastiness and leave you with brown bare rock. You can use a Rubbermaid Brute trash can or something with a garbage can liner, and just give it a heater and a fairly strong pump. Eheims are good small workhorses and can later serve as a salt mixing pump or water-change pump. Or you can use what will be your sump skimmer: just let it do this job. However—if your skimmer isn’t really moving the water, you need a more potent pump. You don’t want dead spots in the circulation. Do water changes weekly and also test your water to be sure it’s staying at 1.024. Test for phosphate a day after water change and if you’re getting a reading despite the water changes, you might as well start running GFO in a reactor right now. The water changes will ordinarily be enough.


I'm starting from scratch. How much pukani do you think could fit in a 55g can? Also, what size pump would I need?

[livelifelow]

Hello and thank you for all of this wonderful information. I am about 12 hours into my tub and have a foolish noob question. Where do you measure the salinity at? I'm set up with 80 lbs in a 32 or 34 gal brute garbage can. I've got my sump pump on bottom with a hose on the outlet blasting water at the top and a power head midway down, each about 1/3 of the way around the bin. I do have a used sump and line and failed to rinse it. If I measure the salinity at the top or about 2/3 of the way down I get one reading but if I measure it from what's coming out of the hose I get a much higher reading. Reading right where the water comes out rather than blasting water into the hygrometer gave me the same reading as the rest of the tub. Any thoughts? Thank you again.

[naimasreef]

v helpful

[Mikepl84]

Another noob here, setting up my first saltwater tank

Tank drilled 300 gal
sumps 100 gallon combination of 3 sumps

currently running as freshwater.

i have been doing freshwater for about 5 years and finally decided a couple months ago to go into a reef setup

got the water changing station with RODI and 2 tanks .

here is my question

Starting with BRS 250 lbs of Pukani dry rock, have been reading about the PO4 leaching out and crazy algee grownth. i took out out as many live sponges and any other suff i found on the pukani, then power washed the rock. let it soak in bleach 20:1 solution for 3 days. then soked in clean water for two days. its drying now. now im planning on putting it in circulating salt water using hw salt for about 3 months. do you guys think i will be ok doing this method. i really dont want to mess around with acid as its scares me a bit.

what salinity should i keep the rock while curing for max bacteria production
what temp ?
i will be using all rodi water
i also plan on adding a couple pieces of live rock that i picked up from a local fishstore that i have in my 40 g quarentene tank that i setup up last week.

how do i know if the live rock from the LFS has no pests. been watching it for a week and see nothing so far ? should i treat it for pests before mixing it with my pukani in curing bins ? any advice on dipping or pest prevention from you experts. As i stated its my first salt water tank and i'm trying to do it the right way.

Thank You

[Mikepl84]

bump

[Arcar]

Im stating up a new tank and I want to use dry rock. REEF SAVER DRY LIVE ROCK. Do i need to add anything to the tank to jump start it?

Thanks in advance!

[DreadCapn]

If you are impatient, get this https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/instant-ocean-bio-spira.html

[Arcar]

https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/rock
How about this place?

[lapin]

Looks ok to me. Lots of tiny holes. That's a good thing. Be sure to go thru the steps of rock prep before adding to your tank.

[Arcar]

How did that work out? Based on what Im reading people cure the rock for over a month... Lmk as I might be doing the same.

Thanks

Another noob here, setting up my first saltwater tank

Tank drilled 300 gal
sumps 100 gallon combination of 3 sumps

currently running as freshwater.

i have been doing freshwater for about 5 years and finally decided a couple months ago to go into a reef setup

got the water changing station with RODI and 2 tanks .

here is my question

Starting with BRS 250 lbs of Pukani dry rock, have been reading about the PO4 leaching out and crazy algee grownth. i took out out as many live sponges and any other suff i found on the pukani, then power washed the rock. let it soak in bleach 20:1 solution for 3 days. then soked in clean water for two days. its drying now. now im planning on putting it in circulating salt water using hw salt for about 3 months. do you guys think i will be ok doing this method. i really dont want to mess around with acid as its scares me a bit.

what salinity should i keep the rock while curing for max bacteria production
what temp ?
i will be using all rodi water
i also plan on adding a couple pieces of live rock that i picked up from a local fishstore that i have in my 40 g quarentene tank that i setup up last week.

how do i know if the live rock from the LFS has no pests. been watching it for a week and see nothing so far ? should i treat it for pests before mixing it with my pukani in curing bins ? any advice on dipping or pest prevention from you experts. As i stated its my first salt water tank and i'm trying to do it the right way.

Thank You

[biecacka]

i cured mine for almost 4 months in dark trash cans with pumps on and a lid on. this was 4 years ago, now i am selling 2 rocks from my tank that are covered in mushrooms and polyps and might need to replace the those rocks. debating on whether to put dry rock in, or buy some live rock. they will probably total 10-12 lbs of rock in my 240 gallon tank, with a few hundred pounds of already cycled, coraline covered rock.

corey

[Xiled01]

I’ve been doing a fair amount of research by watching youtube videos and reading various forums before committing myself to starting a reef aquarium.

I have an unusual question regarding uncured rocks. I understand the process of curing the rock but what happens once it’s cured? Do I need to put it into tank straight away or can I scape it and leave it out for a while?

I can’t remember if I watched or read it somewhere but this particular video / article said once the rock is cured, I have about an hour to put it into the tank to start my cycling process.

Another question is can I cycle the rocks outside and cover it. I mentioned the process to my better half and she wasn’t keen on the smell.

Cheers, Xiled.

[gabe145]

I have a 37g Cube, but I filled it with tonga branch and then put ceramic bricks in the sump for the bacterial filtration.

[Benny Blenny]

If I buy rock from the lfs, how long should I quarantine it to prevent bringing nasties into my dt? Also, what is the best process for quarantining? Can I just throw it in my normal qt, or do I need to take special steps?

[Carpathian]

I think the process of curing just removes the dead organics(the stink) that way it doesn't foul you tank as it breaks down. Cycling your rock can be done after you cure and scape the rock. Place it in your tank and use some bacteria in a bottle. My favorite is Dr Tim's, but turbo start, bio spira are solid too.

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[FortyFour]

Hello friends - I need to start preparing dry rock (BRS Reef Savers) for a tank I am setting up in 1.5-2 mths. I am going to set up a Brute trashcan with saltwater, a heater, and a Koralia and keep it in the dark. A friend has to do this for me because I am moving out of state, and I'm trying to keep it simple without compromising anything.

* Can I use tap water for this process? I don't know how I'd expect him to lug RO water to his house on my behalf.
* Does salt quality really matter at this point? Eventually I'm going to be using quality salt but I'm wondering if I could use whatever is on sale at BRS for this step.
* Will bacteria in a bottle speed up the process for me? I doubt I'll be able to ship him some of my existing rock to speed the process.

Thanks in advance for anyone that has an opinion on this.

[FortyFour]

Hello friends - I need to start preparing dry rock (BRS Reef Savers) for a tank I am setting up in 1.5-2 mths. I am going to set up a Brute trashcan with saltwater, a heater, and a Koralia and keep it in the dark. A friend has to do this for me because I am moving out of state, and I'm trying to keep it simple without compromising anything.

* Can I use tap water for this process? I don't know how I'd expect him to lug RO water to his house on my behalf.
* Does salt quality really matter at this point? Eventually I'm going to be using quality salt but I'm wondering if I could use whatever is on sale at BRS for this step.
* Will bacteria in a bottle speed up the process for me? I doubt I'll be able to ship him some of my existing rock to speed the process.

Thanks in advance for anyone that has an opinion on this.

Sk8r - A couple of clarifying questions for you, if you don't mind. It's been a long time since I started up a new tank/cured new rock. Thanks in advance.

[lapin]

* Can I use tap water for this process? I don't know how I'd expect him to lug RO water to his house on my behalf. Not the best but yes. Be sure to use some sort of de clorinating drops.
* Does salt quality really matter at this point? Eventually I'm going to be using quality salt but I'm wondering if I could use whatever is on sale at BRS for this step. Any reef salt will do
* Will bacteria in a bottle speed up the process for me? I doubt I'll be able to ship him some of my existing rock to speed the process. Sure and have him throw in a table shrimp for the ammonia.

Thanks in advance for anyone that has an opinion on this. No worries

[FortyFour]

Thank you.

[npierce1015]

What does the ammonia help with in starting a tank?

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[DougSupreme]

I'm doing a major upgrade to my tank (going from 75 to 250G) I have a bunch of dry rock that i am going to use, but I am also planning on reusing the rock currently in my tank.

Should i take one of the rock currently in my tank, put it in a container with the rest and let it cycle? How long?

[ReefJak]

I tried to fit 1 lb per gallon in my tank and it was 75%full and just looked like stacked rock

[DougSupreme]

What does the ammonia help with in starting a tank?

Sent from my SM-G955U using TapatalkThe ammonia feeds the bacteria to start your cycle

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[lapin]

I'm doing a major upgrade to my tank (going from 75 to 250G) I have a bunch of dry rock that i am going to use, but I am also planning on reusing the rock currently in my tank.

Should i take one of the rock currently in my tank, put it in a container with the rest and let it cycle? How long?

Great idea. Let them soak together for a month. That should give the bacteria plenty of time to spread. You could drop a table shrimp in there for food to increase the bacteria. No need to worry about nitrates since the water will not go in the DT.

[lapin]

I tried to fit 1 lb per gallon in my tank and it was 75%full and just looked like stacked rock

Ya prob not the best look. You have other options for filtration and waste break down. Macro algae in the sump, filter socks....ect. Dont forget the water changes. Take some rock and move it into your sump. Works the same there and in the DT. The 1 lb per gallon is figuring you have a well stocked tank and feed it well. If you can stay away from overstocking you do not need that much rock. For example I have 18 fish in my 500 gal tank. none are over 3 inches. Most being 1" to 2". Thats about 1 fish per 25 gallons.

[npierce1015]

Thank you for the response. I'm new to this whole reef addiction

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[Tyler438]

Dry rock has been in my fishes tank for about 5 weeks now. I decided to let it cycle while clowns were in QT. Ammonia and nitrites are both 0, but nitrates are really high somewhere between 40-80ppm. I have been doing 12% water changes each week and nitrates don't seem to be moving. What is my next step? Clowns can't go back in with the nitrates this high correct? https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180817/dd8c58f1c1f0dd4d7dedd3e0f93cd285.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180817/bf825cd4bb1636639ed0592d0e380ec5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180817/513949f4be7ac80c78f9f31d3d2d66f4.jpg

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[Dugthefish]

Ok, when I had my last reef 15 years ago, almost all our rock was freshly imported. Now, it seems as though the SOP is to build a base with mostly dry rock and seed it with a few pieces of live. What ratio is preferred? I like a lot of rock, so I was thinking maybe 100# dry and 50# Florida aquaculture

[BayBHuey]

Preparing Rock
There are several sources for rock: ideally it should be limestone or old coral, and have a LOT of holes, like swiss cheese: this offers more surface area. You need about 2 pounds of this sort of rock per gallon of tank–but this is tricky: not all rock weighs alike. Look at the rockwork in pix on this site and get a good idea how many pieces of what size you need. Also—use ro/di or at least ro water—filtered water that has 0 mineral content: you’ll use that for your tank on setup, and there’s no good gained by soaking your rock in water that’s already caryring a lot of what you don’t want.

1) Rock from another tank. If it is still fresh and not been out of water for more than 24 hours, it’ll probably be fine. You will have instant importation of various marine life—I got a load for a 50 gallon tank, and counted 52 species that survived a cycle, including a bit of bubble coral, xenia, and of course the obligatory aiptasia (pest anemone) and some asterinas (mini-starfish that are not a problem in an sps or lps tank: soft coral tanks may want to pick those out.) You take your chances on this sort of rock, but if it’s been in a successful tank, good things will outnumber the bad. If the donor is merely breaking down a successful tank in a house move, it’s your bonanza of life. If the donor went out in a tank crash or was overrun with something nasty, definitely move to step 2.
2) live-but-barely rock suffered in shipping or came from a troubled tank. THIS I would ‘tub’ in the dark in 80 degree 1.024 salinity agitated salt water for two months before use. This will pretty well kill off nastiness and leave you with brown bare rock. You can use a Rubbermaid Brute trash can or something with a garbage can liner, and just give it a heater and a fairly strong pump. Eheims are good small workhorses and can later serve as a salt mixing pump or water-change pump. Or you can use what will be your sump skimmer: just let it do this job. However—if your skimmer isn’t really moving the water, you need a more potent pump. You don’t want dead spots in the circulation. Do water changes weekly and also test your water to be sure it’s staying at 1.024. Test for phosphate a day after water change and if you’re getting a reading despite the water changes, you might as well start running GFO in a reactor right now. The water changes will ordinarily be enough.
3. Dry rock. You CAN put it all into the tank and wait 12 weeks for a cycle, but I don’t recommend it. Use process 2. Tub it with at least one actual live rock you’ve bought from a store or gotten from a friend. Two months in the warm salty circulation will turn it into live rock. Now—WHY? Because dry rock may contain other elements like phosphates, and the long soak will let this soak out, while it also picks up a load of bacteria from that small live rock you bought. Can bacteria-in-a-bottle speed this process? Probably a bit, but part of what you’re doing with dry rock is letting water seep deep, deep, deep into the rock—along with bacteria, which are tiny enough to get there---and nothing hurries a rock soaking. Crack open a rock that’s been in a river or an ocean—and you won’t find it dry and dusty inside. That’s part of the process you’re replicating here. Dry rock is sometimes a source for phosphate. Be sure not to use metal-bearing rock like volcanic stuff, etc: salt water and metals don't play nice. Limestone is safe. Holes are good. One big massive no-holes rock is not as efficient as a number of smaller ones.
4. Man-made rock: yes, it works fine. Put it through the same process, water changes, et al. Test for phosphate. And just keep going.

Next, your sand: I’ve never personally used live sand. I use CaribSea aragonite medium grain (the very fine sand may look pretty, but it blows about and irritates fish and kills corals). Washing this sand for a hundred gallon tank involves two five gallon buckets, a garden hose, and an all day operation, before you are rid of the milky white dust that comes with this sand. Wash about four cups at a time. And just keep running water until the sand is clean. It is a nasty, cold, wet number of hours. Yes. It is. My total sympathies.

Getting started is kind of boring and frustrating, having your nice tank and babysitting a bin of rock, but use this time to read and research and plan. You can also start washing your sand. ;)

Hi there...total newbie here...Im about to setup a new tank...I had a few questions before doing so so I signed up here...I came across this sticky which recommends to cycle the dry rock in a tub rather than just cycle it in the tank itself because of possible phosphate problem...does that apply to a new tank because Im not sure what its getting me to cycle the rock in a separate tub except for saving some water...or maybe Im not understanding something :dunno Hopefully someone can help me understand the reasoning behind that before I make a mistake lol

Thanks for your time

BayBHuey

[MattyZ]

Thanks for posting this.

[cwschoon]

Some hobbyists are advising fresh water dips for live rock and coral, which I think is absurd. Can you address this point please?

[reachjohnnyliu]

This is my first aquarium. Can I just place all my dry rock into my DT along with a bottle of starter bacteria and just cycle for 4 weeks? Will that have a similiar result?

[neltel_7]

How should I set up a 40 gallon tank?

[neltel_7]

Do gobies mess with coral?

The engineer or diamond may throw up sand; others do not. --sk8r

[Jamborick]

Are there any issues with using inexpensive salt to cure rather than the higher cost salt I will use in the tank?


No real problem. --sk8r

[Jason82]

I have a question regarding cooking live rock. I have just started a new tank, 75 Gallon. The tank is cycling with 40 lbs of dry rock, but I also have live rock from a previous neglected tank. This rock is full of detritus and phosphate. I have loaded it into a 30 gallon bin with fresh salt water and a power head and it will stay there for the next 8 weeks. I plan on doing 100% water changes every two weeks during the process.

My question has to do with temperature. All of this is in my garage at the moment. Living in Central Florida in August, this water can get quite warm. Is this a problem I should be concerned about? Should I bring the whole mess inside?

[Oldreeferman]

Might get so hot as to kill the bacteria in a garage in Summer in FL, im cooking my new dry rock at 80F with a powerhead using regular IO salt inside in a covered bucket adding low odor ammonia so it has no odor anyway. I don't recommend a shrimp ever i mean why introduce a rotten smelly mess when ammonia is all one needs to feed the bacteria?. When i can add 4 drops per gal & its consumed in 1 day ill know its good to go if Nitrites are 0 and it will have a well established large colony of bacteria.

[Jason82]

that was my concern. Thanks for the input .

[Jason82]

So I just found some interesting information that I think relates to the subject of cooking live rock and the temperature needed.

Nitrifying bacteria's optimum growth temperature is between 77 - 86 degrees F. This growth rate will decrease by 50% at 64 degrees F. the growth rate will decrease by 75% at 40 - 50 degrees F. No activity at 39 degree's F.

Nitrifying bacteria will die at 32 degrees F and will also die at 120 degrees F.

So, in my situation (cooking rock in my garage in Central Florida in August), The environment (guessing here) is less than optimal, but not detrimental to my bacteria.

I'm going to leave it in the garage because, well, it stinks. We shall see how this works.

[Jason82]

Two weeks down. 6 weeks to go!

[Jason82]

Yep... Nope... 4 Weeks in and I'm having an ammonia spike. To me this means the bacteria is having a difficult time in the Florida Heat. All the rock came inside today. That experiment did not work well. We shall see how it goes from here.

[Jason82]

At the end of 8 week cook process on rock. I tested 0 ammonia, less than 10 ppm nitrate and about .3 phosphate. I added a couple of the rocks to my display for a week to see if it altered my parameters. No change.

I started to do another addition today, but ended up just going for it. Fingers crossed!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190922/d24a7c5865bc7753f26db8a4eca44602.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190922/8a8342e9f1553480235350e1dd3a4585.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190922/443a6e1824a6e4b83047c3400c1788c2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190922/57b2791c96bdbf1156933d4d6814faad.jpg


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[Jason82]

Day later, Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0, Phosphate 0. The guy at my LFS told me at week 5, he didn't think this was going to work. Looks like it worked perfectly to me.:dance:

[kruler]

Anyone know where I can find some Pukani?

[djryan2000]

Anyone know where I can find some Pukani?



If you’re lucky and find someone with it breaking down their tank.. but that’s about it. Be prepared to drop some $$$ if you find any.


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[crimsonreef]

depending on your location...you may be able to find some Pukani rock for sale nearby via craigslist.

btw..if you are seeking to find Pukani rock strictly due to its porous nature, you may want to consider using readily available alternatives such as a MarinePure block for improved porosity.

[wetone]

lots of good info on this thread but a few questions...
I have 200+lbs of rock from a tank that I shut down 5 years go, it has been in a trash can outside for all that time (dry). I am planning running the rock in a can with bleach for a few days to clean up any leftover debris, I would then rinse (maybe even power wash) to remove the old detritus and dead items. Once all the bleach has been removed I was thinking about adding the rock back to the can with RODI salt water and heater, along with some type of bacteria in a bottle with the lid on for 3-4 weeks, possible adding a shrimp or other type of food for it to grow. Is this a good idea? will it be beneficial to start this cycling process in the can before adding to main tank (waiting for delivery and setup)

[bhazard1]

lots of good info on this thread but a few questions...

I have 200+lbs of rock from a tank that I shut down 5 years go, it has been in a trash can outside for all that time (dry). I am planning running the rock in a can with bleach for a few days to clean up any leftover debris, I would then rinse (maybe even power wash) to remove the old detritus and dead items. Once all the bleach has been removed I was thinking about adding the rock back to the can with RODI salt water and heater, along with some type of bacteria in a bottle with the lid on for 3-4 weeks, possible adding a shrimp or other type of food for it to grow. Is this a good idea? will it be beneficial to start this cycling process in the can before adding to main tank (waiting for delivery and setup)I did this when I setup and it worked well for me. Just add a bit of fish food everyday to get the bacterial going.

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[coralcruze2020]

anyone ever use some acid to recycle their rock?

[Tony24]

Thanks for all the great info!

[Assapax]

great thread, thanks

[tmplge]

lots of good info on this thread but a few questions...
I have 200+lbs of rock from a tank that I shut down 5 years go, it has been in a trash can outside for all that time (dry). I am planning running the rock in a can with bleach for a few days to clean up any leftover debris, I would then rinse (maybe even power wash) to remove the old detritus and dead items. Once all the bleach has been removed I was thinking about adding the rock back to the can with RODI salt water and heater, along with some type of bacteria in a bottle with the lid on for 3-4 weeks, possible adding a shrimp or other type of food for it to grow. Is this a good idea? will it be beneficial to start this cycling process in the can before adding to main tank (waiting for delivery and setup)

Rock should be find so long as it wasn't exposed to any chemicals. Don't bleach it. Wash and give it a good scrub. Rinse it a few times in fresh water. Then get it cycled. Use a bacteria started to speed up your cycle. I've done this and cycled in a week.

[julstop]

Thank you for such helpful information. I will definitely try to do everything according to your advice. I love my fish very much, I give them a lot of energy and attention. And in my free time I play at my favorite casino. Read more about this in the Spela Casino online review (https://qyto.co.uk/casino/spela/). There you will see good bonus offers and possible payment methods. Good luck!

[nathanieltyler]

lots of good info on this thread but a few questions...
I have 200+lbs of rock from a tank that I shut down 5 years go, it has been in a trash can outside for all that time (dry). I am planning running the rock in a can with bleach for a few days to clean up any leftover debris, I would then rinse (maybe even power wash) to remove the old detritus and dead items. Once all the bleach has been removed I was thinking about adding the rock back to the can with RODI salt water and heater, along with some type of bacteria in a bottle with the lid on for 3-4 weeks, possible adding a shrimp or other type of food for it to grow. Is this a good idea? will it be beneficial to start this cycling process in the can before adding to main tank (waiting for delivery and setup)

Using any bleach or chemical substance can be a problem. A power wash and a good scrub should do the job!