Recommended time frame for cycling rock?

[Enad]

Hey all,

So I've got an established 2 year old system I'm looking to add more rock to, and I found a really great piece of real reef rock from a tank break down but it has been dried so I didn't want to pop it right into my tank and deal with the inevitable phosphate issues it would casue.

I set up a small tank with a heater and powerhead out in my garage and have placed the rocks in there to cycle. I added some Microbactr 7 and also tossed in a small live rock full of Palys into the tank as well to help seed some bacteria and critters.

Now - my question is, what's the recommended time frame for cycling a rock like this? A few weeks, a few months? I'm eager to add it to the tank but I also don't want to deal with major issues due to parameters swings so obviously I'd prefer to wait long enough to avoid any problems like that.

 

[Jekyl]

If you don't want to deal with an ugly phase at all then you're probably looking at 6-12 months. Same time frame you went through before.

 

[Enad]

If you don't want to deal with an ugly phase at all then you're probably looking at 6-12 months. Same time frame you went through before.

I'm not so concerned with the rock itself being ugly for a while, more so the phosphate leeching of dry rock.

 

[Jekyl]

I'm not so concerned with the rock itself being ugly for a while, more so the phosphate leeching of dry rock.

That's what causes the uglies and in turn gets used as food for the algae

 

[Enad]

That's what causes the uglies and in turn gets used as food for the algae

Right. I suppose I can try accelerating it by adding more live rock to the cycling tank, dose some pods and bacteria.

 

[UMALUM]

There is no time frame, it's when you show no phosphate in the colum of whatever your holding it in. You can do weekly 100% water changes or cheat and run phosguard as it's relatively cheaper than salt.

 

[Enad]

There is no time frame, it's when you show no phosphate in the colum of whatever your holding it in. You can do weekly 100% water changes or cheat and run phosguard as it's relatively cheaper than salt.

Thanks. How does running Phosguard work? I see it comes in 100ml packs. Do I just run it in a bag like you would carbon and replace after a while?

 

[UMALUM]

Thanks. How does running Phosguard work? I see it comes in 100ml packs. Do I just run it in a bag like you would carbon and replace after a while?

You'll want to strip the phosphate bound in the old rock then start the cycling and bacteria process. Two totally different beasts and adding cured live rock to the old will only delay the process. After you've successfully rid the old rock of all bound then by all means throw in some live.

 

[PharmrJohn]

That's what causes the uglies and in turn gets used as food for the algae

Yep. It takes a while. I'm in the same boat. But I'm gonna pressure wash mine, bleach them, rinse, pressure wash again, let dry then cure for several months in a Brute. I've got a ways until I can launch my tank anyway......

 

[UMALUM]

In other words you don't want to subject your good rock to what could potentially exit the old.

 

[Enad]

Gotcha. Guess it's gonna take longer than I thought. I'll get some Phosguard - how often do you recommend changing that out?

 

[UMALUM]

Gotcha. Guess it's gonna take longer than I thought. I'll get some Phosguard - how often do you recommend changing that out?

Directions are on their website. I think it's every 4 days until you see levels start to decline.

 

[KrisReef]

Gotcha. Guess it's gonna take longer than I thought. I'll get some Phosguard - how often do you recommend changing that out?

Have you measured phosphate in the tank where the rock is now? It is possible that the amount of phosphate that it adds to the tank is minimal and not a threat to the established tank. I would measure it a couple of times to see if it is crazy high with P or just has some present. If the old tank was low P the rock will only have low amounts to lose to the environment.

I would also measure alk and see if that is stable or not. GL

 

[Enad]

Have you measured phosphate in the tank where the rock is now? It is possible that the amount of phosphate that it adds to the tank is minimal and not a threat to the established tank. I would measure it a couple of times to see if it is crazy high with P or just has some present. If the old tank was low P the rock will only have low amounts to lose to the environment.

I would also measure alk and see if that is stable or not. GL

Haven't measured it yet. They've only been in the water for a day. I was gonna give it a week and test.

My existing tank runs at fairly high phosphate as is, so I'm not wanting to spike it higher. In any case, it's a good idea to check and see, as you said.

 

[KrisReef]

Haven't measured it yet. They've only been in the water for a day. I was gonna give it a week and test.

My existing tank runs at fairly high phosphate as is, so I'm not wanting to spike it higher. In any case, it's a good idea to check and see, as you said.

If it is already high in your tank, if it is measuring lower in the "cycle" tank then in theory the new rock might uptake some of the phosphate out of your higher concentration tank if you added it.

I usually use lanthanium chloride in a bucket (no fishes) to treat high phosphate rock until it hits zero. Then I put it in the cycle tank and remeasure a little later to be sure it is clean. Gl.