Cycling "Life Rock"

[GOSKN5]

I have 80 pounds of caribsea life rock coming for a new set up.. I won't be setting the tank up for about a month or so.

I plan to put the rock in a brute container with RODI SW.. with a heater and powerhead...

What method of "curing" or cycling would are suggested? Shrimp? Fish food? Etc?

Water changes or not during this time? I hope to have cycled live rock when I am ready to set up the tank...

Thanks for help...

 

[Reefing Madness]

I'd throw a jumbo shrimp in there. No reason to do water changes, you want a high bacteria count..

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I did that for my new setup. I just dumped pure ammonia in with a power head. It cycled in about 3-4 weeks.

 

[Harold Green]

Test the water the rock is in occasionally and continue to add some source of ammonia from time to time after the rock has cycled to keep the bacteria fed in the rock.

 

[Reefing Madness]

The ammonia needs to be kept up, in order for the bacteria to continue to grow, throwing it in one time will cycle it, but with very little bacteria.

 

[Harold Green]

Reefing I think a lot of people think cycling is a one time effort. Throw in the ammonia and forget it. Then unless they add livestock right away they will still have to wait for the tank to continue to cycle when they do add some bioload. I don't believe I've ever read anywhere that you should continue to add ammonia each time the level drops to zero and I don't understand why most how-to's fail to mention that. With so many in a hurry to add fish then they seem surprised when the ammonia starts to rise on their cycled tank.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Ammonia is what keeps the cycle going. There is no difference in adding , fish, food, shrimp or ammonia. The end result is all the same. They produce ammonia.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Thats why I don't like the adding ammonia advice, everyone thinks its a one time deal, when its not. Adding a Jumbo shrimp add a constant supply of ammonia, for quite some time.

 

[Sabellafella]

Imo use ammonium cloride go get a bottle cost 2 dollars , ive ben at it for a month now ive used caribsea liferock and real reef rock , keep droppin drops untill ur ammonia nd nitrites read zero inless then 24 hours and ur good to go

 

[Sabellafella]

Trust me ive used shrimp and ive also used it before with str8 ammonia , it juss seems to smell and takes a while to breakdown , also that rock takes 2 months to fully fully cure and if u are going to setup a tank next month cure it now throw a piece of liverock in with it or youll be starring at an empty tank like me =)

 

[stevediaz1]

I have a question I'm curing my live rock and my heater was on the on position to long water was at over 99 degrees did I kill everything? So what I did was replaced all the water with fresh salt water and I'm starting again did do right or wrong please advise

 

[Harold Green]

All is not lost. Get your temperature stable at around 78 and let the holding container run until the water tests out to have no ammonia. If you're setting up a new tank you can cure the rock in the main tank while you cycle it. Either way the rock will have to be cycled either in the holding container or in the tank.

 

[Lenny_S]

I have a question I'm curing my live rock and my heater was on the on position to long water was at over 99 degrees did I kill everything? So what I did was replaced all the water with fresh salt water and I'm starting again did do right or wrong please advise

If it got up that high, depending on for how long you probably killed most everything on the rock except for the bacteria and possibly the algae. Bacteria increase activity with higher temperatures up to a point, depends on the specific bacteria strain. But almost all bacteria can survive up to pasteurization temperature which is up around 160 degrees Fahrenheit.