Cycling rock
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Yes you can. If you’re just cycling rock alone, you may need to get an ammonia source from somewhere like Dr Tim’s or add a fish.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
There is very little nitrifying bacteria in the water column. Using old tank water won't hurt anything but it won't add a significant amount of bacteria to the container with the new rock.
But I'm confused...
Is this new dry rock or ocean live rock? Is the reason you're not adding it directly to your 200 gallon tank because you need to CURE (not cycle) it?
The only reason to do anything with dry rock is if you think you'll have an ammonia spike due to a large amount of organic material that needs to be removed. If this is the case, you CURE the rock to make sure the organics are dealt with.
Same thing with live rock... You might need to cure it if you're worried about a lot of die off.
In either case, there is no need to add an ammonia source since the ammonia is what you're trying to mitigate.
If it's clean dry rock, then just rinse off any dust and add it to the tank. No need to do anything else...
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
And whatever you do, PLEASE don't try to cycle anything using a live fish!!!
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Geos
rock added to an existing tank doesnt need to be cycled. It picks up the bacteria when added. Your tank isn’t dead now bc the rock it has is cycled
adding more rock doesn’t uncycle the current rock. Reef tank water has lots of cycling bac floating in it. It has millions of bac per drop. Lots of people continue that rumor without any proof but it’s untrue.
Dr. Tim even says it in a YouTube video, that reef water doesn’t have cycling bac (which prompts us to buy some)
It doesn’t matter though, if you are simply adding to your current setup. Adding inert materials doesn’t take away from your current rocks ability to handle things for ten months.
if you want the new rock cycled, it doesn’t give you any benefit, you simply add dr Tim’s and a pinch of fish food to a separate container of saltwater holding the rocks and let it sit ten days and they’re cycled. Additionally, because reef water has bacteria, if you set the new rock in your aquarium it’s cycled in ten days by contact.
curing of white rocks in your tank, phosphate changes, are your challenge, not bacteria. Cycling with a fish and bottle bac isn’t harmful. Lots of unfounded, unlinked fear is routine in cycle posts.
rock added to an existing tank doesnt need to be cycled. It picks up the bacteria when added. Your tank isn’t dead now bc the rock it has is cycled
adding more rock doesn’t uncycle the current rock. Reef tank water has lots of cycling bac floating in it. It has millions of bac per drop. Lots of people continue that rumor without any proof but it’s untrue.
Dr. Tim even says it in a YouTube video, that reef water doesn’t have cycling bac (which prompts us to buy some)
It doesn’t matter though, if you are simply adding to your current setup. Adding inert materials doesn’t take away from your current rocks ability to handle things for ten months.
if you want the new rock cycled, it doesn’t give you any benefit, you simply add dr Tim’s and a pinch of fish food to a separate container of saltwater holding the rocks and let it sit ten days and they’re cycled. Additionally, because reef water has bacteria, if you set the new rock in your aquarium it’s cycled in ten days by contact.
curing of white rocks in your tank, phosphate changes, are your challenge, not bacteria. Cycling with a fish and bottle bac isn’t harmful. Lots of unfounded, unlinked fear is routine in cycle posts.
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geosReef
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What I plan on doing a muriatic acid cure first since I got couple gallons left from a job site let dry outside for about a month and start the cycle or how would you approach if you were to cycle the rock?
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youll have to forgive but what you are writing isn’t clear. Dryness was never mentioned
I had said you can add dry rock into your reef and it self cycles
or you can prepare it in a separate container, then add it, which has no benefit.
where did drying come into play
I had said you can add dry rock into your reef and it self cycles
or you can prepare it in a separate container, then add it, which has no benefit.
where did drying come into play
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Simply post a picture of your current tank pls
and post a picture of the rock you want to add.
Regarding reef water having cycling bacteria-Here’s us cycling a 200 g dry tank with only reef water.
www.reef2reef.com
Cycling with fish isn’t bad, bottle bac protects them just fine we can see in all searchable threads. Using fish and bottle bac to cycle does not harm fish, it presents a disease risk to your tank by adding a non qt wet it‘em into the setup. Ammonia burning isn’t a factor.
and post a picture of the rock you want to add.
Regarding reef water having cycling bacteria-Here’s us cycling a 200 g dry tank with only reef water.
Connecting Established Reef To New Tank
EDIT: In conclusion, if using the method I did - connecting an established reef to a new system with dry rock (clean), I recommend the following: 1. Dose your new tank prior to connecting to your old tank with NO3 and PO4 enough to raise to your established tank levels. 2. Take your skimmer...
www.reef2reef.com
Cycling with fish isn’t bad, bottle bac protects them just fine we can see in all searchable threads. Using fish and bottle bac to cycle does not harm fish, it presents a disease risk to your tank by adding a non qt wet it‘em into the setup. Ammonia burning isn’t a factor.
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GARRIGA
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Unless this is porous rock then it's going to add little value to biological filtration other than what it's surface will provide. At that point, cleaning to prepare it for tank use all I'd do.
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geosReef
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Simply post a picture of your current tank pls
and post a picture of the rock you want to add.
Regarding reef water having cycling bacteria-Here’s us cycling a 200 g dry tank with only reef water.
Connecting Established Reef To New Tank
EDIT: In conclusion, if using the method I did - connecting an established reef to a new system with dry rock (clean), I recommend the following: 1. Dose your new tank prior to connecting to your old tank with NO3 and PO4 enough to raise to your established tank levels. 2. Take your skimmer...
Cycling with fish isn’t bad, bottle bac protects them just fine we can see in all searchable threads. Using fish and bottle bac to cycle does not harm fish, it presents a disease risk to your tank by adding a non qt wet it‘em into the setup. Ammonia burning isn’t a factor.
Simply post a picture of your current tank pls
and post a picture of the rock you want to add.
Regarding reef water having cycling bacteria-Here’s us cycling a 200 g dry tank with only reef water.
Connecting Established Reef To New Tank
EDIT: In conclusion, if using the method I did - connecting an established reef to a new system with dry rock (clean), I recommend the following: 1. Dose your new tank prior to connecting to your old tank with NO3 and PO4 enough to raise to your established tank levels. 2. Take your skimmer...
Cycling with fish isn’t bad, bottle bac protects them just fine we can see in all searchable threads. Using fish and bottle bac to cycle does not harm fish, it presents a disease risk to your tank by adding a non qt wet it‘em into the setup. Ammonia burning isn’t a factor.
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It will not hurt a thing to simply add that rock. I know people typically cure but it's not like it's covered in growths etc, the sandbed in the current tank has more organics comparatively. It's OK to acid or bleach and dry then add. It's OK to add the rock to the tank and the link above shows the expected uglies too.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
Again, you don't cycle rock. You cycle a tank to make sure the biological filter can handle the bioload. Adding new (clean) rock to an established tank doesn't unbalance the bacteria -to- bioload equation...
If you're asking how to clean the rock then bleach, acid, pressure washing, etc are all options.
If you're unsure, put the rock in a container of fresh saltwater and a small powerhead for a day, and then test the water for ammonia. If it's less than 0.25 on an API test, then it's fine... If it has higher ammonia, then you need to cure it. There is already a ton of info on R2R and other sites about curing rock.
But regardless, don't add any ammonia to this new rock... That will completely defeat the purpose of making it safe for your existing tank.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
dnelson7769
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From your pictures, it looks like you have dry rock.
Feel free to "clean" it however you see fit, but it does not require a "cure" step.
You can add it directly to your tank, and the existing rock you have in that tank will "seed" this rock better than any curing you would be doing in a brute barrel. Doing the barrel cure buys you nothing but wasted time.
I thought he was cycling the rock outside of the tank.
