aquascaping

[fernalfer]

Ok i have had my Marco Dry Rock (Dead Rock) in 44 gallon Brute tubs dealing with phosphates leaching from them before starting up my new tank (Would rather deal with them now then inside my tank battling algae)

They have been in there for about 2 months and have finally got the phosphates down to a steady 0.025 per the Hanna Checker. They are now ready for the tank. They have been in Heated saltwater with a power head and heater the whole time.

Is it ok to know take them out of the tub and begin my aquascaping in the tank? Or is the any reason i should keep them in the saltwater right up to filling my tank?

I wanted to take my time aquascaping so the rock would again dry out, if this is ok then this is what i'll do.

 

[CodyRVA]

Is it ok to know take them out of the tub and begin my aquascaping in the tank? Or is the any reason i should keep them in the saltwater right up to filling my tank?

Assuming there's at least some life thriving on the rock, I would wait until you're ready to fill the tank. Realistically, you've had the rock in there for two months, why risk losing any life the rock may contain. Just take you're time aquascaping and have your heated water ready to fill your tank after you finish. This way you won't have to rush and you can quickly fill the tank afterwards. You could always pour small amounts of water over the rock if you find yourself taking too long to finish the aquascape. I prefer to fill the tank about half way, throw my heater in, then start aquascaping so there's no rush. When i'm happy, I top off the tank.

 

[DamianOZ]

There is no problem drying them out, there is nothing to die, it was dead rock, all you have done is remove the dead organics, bacteria will have colonised the rock, and will die when you dry it, but its no big deal...

 

[CodyRVA]

There is no problem drying them out, there is nothing to die, it was dead rock, all you have done is remove the dead organics, bacteria will have colonised the rock, and will die when you dry it, but its no big deal...

Agreed. Won't lose anything you can't get back. I guess I was figuring, if you spent 2 months curing, might as well try to save some of it. Although you're going to grow the bulk of bacteria when the tank cycles anyways.

 

[fernalfer]

There is no problem drying them out, there is nothing to die, it was dead rock, all you have done is remove the dead organics, bacteria will have colonised the rock, and will die when you dry it, but its no big deal...

Yes it was completely dead rock to begin with. Absolutely no organisms on it. They were put in a tub only because they were releasing phosphates so wanted to deal with that issue out of tank. I don't believe anything has grown on them in the tub. They have been in complete darkness. I just want to take my time aquascaping seeing i have 130 lbs. of dry rock. And just want to make sure letting them dry out while doing so is ok.

Do you guys think this completely dry rock has already populated bacteria?

http://www.marcorocks.com/dry-rock/marcorocks-key-largo-dry-rock-50lb-box/

 

[DamianOZ]

Don't worry about bacteria, make your structure, set it up in tank, then worry about bacteria/ammonia, nitrite... I probably shouldn't have mentioned bacteria in the earlier comment, its just causing confusion.

 

[CodyRVA]

Do you guys think this completely dry rock has already populated bacteria?

If what they're saying is true, you probably didn't need to cure it. So, no, it would not have any beneficial bacteria on it. After you cycle, you'll build that growth. +1 @DamianOZ

 

[DamianOZ]

FWIW, if the rock is well clean of organics, and it likely is after the treatment you have done, you may not even see a "cycle" as in measurable ammonia and nitrite spikes
I haven't cycled a tank for a long time, at least 5 tanks, but as a newbie, taking it slow is a good choice.

 

[fernalfer]

If what they're saying is true, you probably didn't need to cure it. So, no, it would not have any beneficial bacteria on it. After you cycle, you'll build that growth. +1 @DamianOZ

Wasn't really curing it per se. Just getting rid of the phosphates the rocks were leaching out. I was dosing it with phosfree. Day 1 phosphates were 0.227 now they are 0.025. It took almost 2 months to get them down to this level. Now they stay here without needing to dose. Someone said in another forum i should ghost feed my Brute Tubs and build up the bacteria, then aquascape with my rocks but leave 4-5 pieces in the Saltwater and add those after water is in to help seed the other rock i let dry out while aquascaping.

 

[michellejy]

Since you are taking it slow anyway, just do the aquascape that will make you happy without worrying about preserving bacteria. Ideally, you will come up with something you want to see for years, so that (to me) is worth extending the time to cycle by a few weeks.

 

[tankstudy]

These days you can buy bacteria, so pulling them out to dry or doing some pre-aquascaping is not going to hurt you.

I actually build my aquascape, fill the tank with water and then just dump in bottled bacteria.