Pre Cycled Rock. Does that make sense?

Tonynlo · 04/28/2009, 12:52 PM

I recently upgraded from a 55 to a 90 and had a question about live rock. I have about 60-65lbs of LR in my DT currently. I purchased 25lbs of â€œPre Cycled Live Rockâ€ from marcorocks.com. I have had the rock sitting in a tote in my basement with a power head running for about a week and there has been no water chemistry change or smells. I am confused about the term â€œpre cycledâ€. I canâ€™t quite understand how a rock can be cycledâ€¦ I thought that water was cycled. Is it safe to just ADD the pre cycled rock to a pre existing tank?

-Thanks

Fizz71 · 04/28/2009, 01:09 PM

Actually water doesn't cycle..cycling is the process of nitrobacter and nitrosomona bacteria growing on the live rock until it reaches equilibrium with die off/detritus/etc present.

They're probably referring to the fact that they let all the ocean die off happen in their tubs and gave it time to re-populate the bacteria so you may see only a little die off in your tub from shipping.

It is possible to have zero cycle time with good LR although I've never seen it with shipped stuff. If you don't see ammonia you may see an instant jump in nitrate from your die-off in shipping getting instantly processed by the bacteria in the rock already which is a good sign.

If you have nitrate and you went a whole week with 0 ammonia and nitrite it's probably safe to add to the DT. If you could go another week to be safe, I would....test it daily....if ammonia doesn't blink, have at it!

Tonynlo · 04/28/2009, 01:26 PM

I probably should have mentioned that this was dry base rock.

Fizz71 · 04/28/2009, 01:34 PM

If it was dry, it's not live and won't ever be until you seed it. I looked at the site quickly before and thoght they sold wet pre-cycled AND dry...now I look again and it's ALL dry. SORRY.

In that case you have two choices....just put it in your tank and let your live rock seed the dead stuff, or put some LR from your DT into the tub and let it populate. Honestly though I think that's over kill....just put it in your tank.

I would test the pH of your tub water though, just to be safe. It looks like the rock was all from the ocean, just not living reefs which is a cool concept, but the rock will do nothing for your tank until your existing rock gets to re-populate it with bacteria. I think the term "cycled" is a bad/misleading choice of words on that site.

04/28/2009, 12:52 PM	#1
Tonynlo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Spencerport, NY Posts: 535	Pre Cycled Rock. Does that make sense? I recently upgraded from a 55 to a 90 and had a question about live rock. I have about 60-65lbs of LR in my DT currently. I purchased 25lbs of â€œPre Cycled Live Rockâ€ from marcorocks.com. I have had the rock sitting in a tote in my basement with a power head running for about a week and there has been no water chemistry change or smells. I am confused about the term â€œpre cycledâ€. I canâ€™t quite understand how a rock can be cycledâ€¦ I thought that water was cycled. Is it safe to just ADD the pre cycled rock to a pre existing tank? -Thanks __________________ Do what you can do, that's all you can do. 125 Gallon in wall system.

04/28/2009, 01:09 PM	#2
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	Actually water doesn't cycle..cycling is the process of nitrobacter and nitrosomona bacteria growing on the live rock until it reaches equilibrium with die off/detritus/etc present. They're probably referring to the fact that they let all the ocean die off happen in their tubs and gave it time to re-populate the bacteria so you may see only a little die off in your tub from shipping. It is possible to have zero cycle time with good LR although I've never seen it with shipped stuff. If you don't see ammonia you may see an instant jump in nitrate from your die-off in shipping getting instantly processed by the bacteria in the rock already which is a good sign. If you have nitrate and you went a whole week with 0 ammonia and nitrite it's probably safe to add to the DT. If you could go another week to be safe, I would....test it daily....if ammonia doesn't blink, have at it! __________________ --Fizz Current Tank Info: Current system is 8x2x2 240g peninsula setup with a single "chamber" 100g sump in the basement with an RDSB. All corals are 100% home grown from frags of fellow reefers (low natural reef impact).

04/28/2009, 01:26 PM	#3
Tonynlo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Spencerport, NY Posts: 535	I probably should have mentioned that this was dry base rock. __________________ Do what you can do, that's all you can do. 125 Gallon in wall system.

04/28/2009, 01:34 PM	#4
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	If it was dry, it's not live and won't ever be until you seed it. I looked at the site quickly before and thoght they sold wet pre-cycled AND dry...now I look again and it's ALL dry. SORRY. In that case you have two choices....just put it in your tank and let your live rock seed the dead stuff, or put some LR from your DT into the tub and let it populate. Honestly though I think that's over kill....just put it in your tank. I would test the pH of your tub water though, just to be safe. It looks like the rock was all from the ocean, just not living reefs which is a cool concept, but the rock will do nothing for your tank until your existing rock gets to re-populate it with bacteria. I think the term "cycled" is a bad/misleading choice of words on that site. __________________ --Fizz Current Tank Info: Current system is 8x2x2 240g peninsula setup with a single "chamber" 100g sump in the basement with an RDSB. All corals are 100% home grown from frags of fellow reefers (low natural reef impact).