water

[Freenow54]

So wondering on the opinions of others. I want to culture ( cure ) live rock in my existing tank to put in a new tank. See any issues?

 

[lopez052308]

So wondering on the opinions of others. I want to culture ( cure ) live rock in my existing tank to put in a new tank. See any issues?

So the rock in the current tank is already cycled?? And you want to get ride of pest/clean then transfer???

 

[Freenow54]

So the rock in the current tank is already cycled?? And you want to get ride of pest/clean then transfer???

One Rock is. I want to put more in the existing tank, and then transfer to avoid another fishless cycle in my new tank

 

[lopez052308]

One Rock is. I want to put more in the existing tank, and then transfer to avoid another fishless cycle in my new tank

Well if you add live rock that’s not cycled into a tank you probably will have an ammonia spike considering how big the rock is and tank.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm doing it now. I've got 40 lbs of rock in my 20 gallon damsel tank, they've been there for about 4 months already, I should be ready to use them sometime in the summer. I've done it before, it works perfectly.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

So wondering on the opinions of others. I want to culture ( cure ) live rock in my existing tank to put in a new tank. See any issues?

There's a difference between seeding/"cycling" dry rock, and *curing* live rock.

If you want to add more dry rock to your tank so you can use it to help quickly cycle a new tank, then yes, this is often done. But realize this rock will still go through the ugly algae stages.

You can also add biomedia like Matrix to your existing tank/sump for a few weeks and use this to quickly cycle a new system.

If you are talking about using real live rock from the ocean and *curing* it to remove all dead organic matter, this would be best done directly in your new tank as you are setting up... It will have the bacteria necessary to break down the ammonia from any die off and will basically be a fishless cycle.

*Curious why you want to avoid a fishless cycle in the first place?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'm doing it now. I've got 40 lbs of rock in my 20 gallon damsel tank, they've been there for about 4 months already, I should be ready to use them sometime in the summer. I've done it before, it works perfectly.

They're ready now, if all you're looking for is bacteria.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

They're ready now, if all you're looking for is bacteria.

its the new tank that's not ready yet

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

its the new tank that's not ready yet

I feel ya!!

 

[Freenow54]

There's a difference between seeding/"cycling" dry rock, and *curing* live rock.

If you want to add more dry rock to your tank so you can use it to help quickly cycle a new tank, then yes, this is often done. But realize this rock will still go through the ugly algae stages.

You can also add biomedia like Matrix to your existing tank/sump for a few weeks and use this to quickly cycle a new system.

If you are talking about using real live rock from the ocean and *curing* it to remove all dead organic matter, this would be best done directly in your new tank as you are setting up... It will have the bacteria necessary to break down the ammonia from any die off and will basically be a fishless cycle.

*Curious why you want to avoid a fishless cycle in the first place?

I wanted to speed up the process for my third tank while I can slowly add lights ect as I can afford to buy them. I did my second tank from scratch an it took quite a while. Just getting lazy I guess. So to clear things up " live rock" but not from ocean

 

[o2manyfish]

It kind of depends on the size of your existing tank, the amount of mature live rock you have in the tank, and how much additional rock you are trying to cure and whether the rock you are curing is fresh live rock off a reef or dry rock.

If you have a 180g tank with 200lbs of mature rock and you want to add 40lbs of fresh live rock to cure out for the new tank, then dump it into your sump and you should be good to go.

If you have a 180g tank with 200lbs of mature rock and you want to add 100lbs of dry rock to cure for the new tank, then spread it out in sump and tank and you should be good to go.

If you have a 40g tank, with 20lbs of rock and want to cure 40lbs of rock for your new tank, then you are going to have to slowly add the 40lbs of rock over a period of several weeks to keep things in balance and let the biological process occur without any huge changes.

Dave B