Have rocks, no tank...

jonnyeatworld · Nov 14, 2018

Waiting for black friday to get my tank and all the equipment i need to get back into the hobby. I still have my 5 stage RODI unit.

Currently i just have dry rock. My question is, should i start soaking the rock now in RODI water and then try to aquascape once i get the tank or should i do the aquascape now and then soak the rock once everything is glued together how i want it?

lapin · Nov 14, 2018

Soak rock now with salt and bacteria source. You can scape it later with out too much die off.
I would make a frame now and place the rock how I wanted it. Cut and drill as needed. Take many pictures so you can get it sort of close to where you want it later. Soak rock now. You will be weeks closer to a finished cycle.

jonnyeatworld · Nov 14, 2018

lapin said:
Soak rock now with salt and bacteria source. You can scape it later with out too much die off.
I would make a frame now and place the rock how I wanted it. Cut and drill as needed. Take many pictures so you can get it sort of close to where you want it later. Soak rock now. You will be weeks closer to a finished cycle.

So just need bacteria source, heater, salt, and a pump right?

jonnyeatworld · Nov 14, 2018

Also, will i be able to glue these rocks together if they are out of the water?

shred5 · Nov 14, 2018

jonnyeatworld said:
Also, will i be able to glue these rocks together if they are out of the water?

Sure.

Also a lot of black Friday sales have started already.

jonnyeatworld · Nov 14, 2018

shred5 said:
Sure.

Also a lot of black Friday sales have started already.

nothing i need yet has been on sale, checking constantly lol

MadTownFess · Nov 18, 2018

lapin said:
Soak rock now with salt and bacteria source. You can scape it later with out too much die off.
I would make a frame now and place the rock how I wanted it. Cut and drill as needed. Take many pictures so you can get it sort of close to where you want it later. Soak rock now. You will be weeks closer to a finished cycle.

I am currently curing my rock, but was holding off on putting any bacteria source in, because I was unsure if water flow is needed. Can it be done in room temperature water with no flow? AKA sitting in a bucket

Sarah24! · Nov 18, 2018

Hello,

Welcome to R2R where the people are totally lovable and have lots and lots of good advice. I was thinking why even buy a tank get more dry rock and make a huge rock wall and just fill your house up

(Yes I’m kidding).

As others have stated I would start soaking it, but I wouldn’t do rodi. I would use salt water, with a pump and then keep it totally dark. It’s going to cycle again if you just do dry rock. This way, it will be more live rock and will have less problems down the road. You could clean it with a dry brush in rodi. But after soak it in a bin with a pump and keep it dark till your ready.

lapin · Nov 18, 2018

MadTownFess said:
I am currently curing my rock, but was holding off on putting any bacteria source in, because I was unsure if water flow is needed. Can it be done in room temperature water with no flow? AKA sitting in a bucket

You do not need water flow and you do n0t need heat. Those 2 things speed the process but are not needed. An ammonia source and bacteria are also not needed but speed the process along. What you do need is salt water to grow the bacteria you want. Try and keep it dark. Algae likes light and you dont want to grow it..