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02/08/2018, 01:24 PM | #1 |
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cycling dry rock and water changes
I have a question. I am starting a 75 gallon tank. A friend gave me his rocks from a tank he ended. The rock was in a plastic bin (no water) in his garage for about 6 months. I got the rock about 4 weeks ago and place them in 50 gallon bucket with of saltwater with a heater and pump. I'm finally ready to fill my tank with water. I don't plan on getting any fish or coral until the end of April or May. Two questions, should I do a water change in the bucket that I currently have the rock in? When I move the rock into the tank should i use new salt water or should I use the water that the rocks have been in for the talk 4 weeks?
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02/08/2018, 01:39 PM | #2 |
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You can just place them directly into your tank.
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02/08/2018, 05:53 PM | #3 | |
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Quote:
FWIW, Kevin
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02/08/2018, 06:13 PM | #4 |
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I would fill the tank with new water, and move the rocks over.
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02/08/2018, 11:06 PM | #5 |
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+1 on new saltwater & transfer live rocks.
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02/08/2018, 11:25 PM | #6 |
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I would keep the rock in the container for another 2-4 weeks, do a 100% water change. Test the water weekly for no3 po4. Do 50% water changes if no3 and po4 remain high during these 2-4 weeks. Also add some Microbacter7 or Bio Spira to the tube of rock to start to seed it. After that add the rock to the tank, add MB7 or Bio Spira and cycle the tank. I know none of this is needed and it seems like a lot but it ensures the rock is seeded, clean and cured fully before adding to the tank. This reduces nutrient and algae issues during the cycle and reduces the time needed to cycle.
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02/08/2018, 11:41 PM | #7 |
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If you are waiting to put livestock in, put the rocks and new water in the tank now. If you plan on adding sand, do this first and let the cloud settle before adding rock.
Cheers! Mark
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02/10/2018, 12:58 AM | #8 |
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Thanks for the advice. I'll start some water changes and monitor the chemistry. I wont have my tank for 3 more weeks so by the time I actually get my tank ready the rocks will have been cycling in the bucket for a total of 8 weeks. Again thank you for answering my questions.
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02/10/2018, 01:06 AM | #9 |
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How was your buddies tank before he took it down? A lot of algae?
Water changes won't help phosphate much if the rock is loaded. You can use lanthinum chloride in your tub to drop levels rapidly.
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02/10/2018, 03:22 AM | #10 |
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I would just “clean” the rock with a murIatic acid bath (do a search on how to do it). It’s no longer live rock and most likely just a phosphate bomb waiting to go off. It would be a poor way to start a new tank. I’ve done the acid bath before and i was amazed and all the brown nasty stuff that built up in the rock and how clean it was when the process was complete. Trust me on this, I recently screwed up and used some rock I thought I had cleaned but I don’t think I did after all. I’m now battling bad hair algae right off the bat.
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