Pre-cycling rocks, a few questions

[flitty]

Hi everyone, never posted here before but this looks like the best spot to post this question. I'll preface this with saying i've kept marine fish for about 8 years now on and off, currently off and i'm getting the itch again to set up a tank. The thing is i'm not sure if it'll be a month, 6 months, a year down the line and i'm wondering if i can get a jump start on things by getting some rock ready to go.

I've seen threads of people saying they cycle their dry rock in bins with heaters/pumps before setting tanks up, i'm wondering if this is advantageous, if i set the rock up and get it established before setting up the tank is this going to speed up the cycling process/time before the tank is ready?

If so, i'm also curious if there is a timeframe i can keep the rocks like this, if i set this up and don't get to them for a year will they be good to use? will they be even better?

Should i be adding pods, mysids, brittle stars and the like or will they starve without light?

I'm mostly trying to weigh up if it's worth setting a bin up with rocks cycling somewhere in anticipation of my next tank and the best ways to do it or if it makes much difference at all, curious to hear other's thoughts.

 

[CindyKz]

I pre-cycled dry rock with a couple of live rocks when I set up my first tank. It worked like a charm. I didn't add use any lights, but I did throw a few pellets of food in now and then and did water changes.

I think whether you add pods, etc depends on whether you plan to cycle with live rock (which will have critters) or 100% dry rock and a bottled bacteria. I've never done the 100% dry rock route so I can't comment on that.

 

[flitty]

I am planning on basically just leaving it with dry rock/bacteria until i find some nice pieces of live rock i can quarantine elsewhere for a bit to try and avoid aiptasia etc then adding those small seed pieces into the bucket too

 

[Aquavaj]

You can keep them like that for as long as you like. Just have to maintain water movement, temp, water changes and a food source for the bacteria to feed on.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

there is a huge advantage to it, you probably won't have much of a cycle, if you have one at all. As mentioned above, keep it heated, circulating, and feed them and you'll be good to go.

I should say this, you should do water changes on it to keep the nutrients within an acceptable range. Maybe one every few months or so