Dry Rock?

[Woodchuck12]

So I have read that dry rock will cause the cycle to take longer. If I had 100 lbs of dry rock and 45 lbs of liverock, approximately how long would it take to cycle the tank?

Thanks, Charlie

[Danzig]

Good question id like to know as well because i have about 50 lbs dry rock and want to know how much LR to buy.

[thegrun]

It is impossible to tell how long, it would mostly depend on the live rock. If it was fully cured you could have little to no cycle, if the live rock or dry rock had a lot of dead organics on it it could take 5-6 weeks.

[Reefmedic79]

+1

@Danzig: the general rule is 1-2 lbs per gallon LR and dry rock combined after that it's mostly asthetic, but more rock gives more potential surface area for the bio-bacteria to populate.

[Woodchuck12]

So for a 90 gallon tank, with a 30 gallon sump and a 10 gallon refugium, do I get rock for a total of a 130 gallon tank or just for the 90 gallon display tank?

[FUA]

that is the way to go as long as you have some LR to seed the dry rock it will all be live soon enough. This is the only way I start up my tanks as I am a shoe string reefer

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by FUA

that is the way to go as long as you have some LR to seed the dry rock it will all be live soon enough. This is the only way I start up my tanks as I am a shoe string reefer

thats what im doing as well, i was mostly wondering how long it takes to seed the dry rock?

sorry not trying to hyjack your thread = (

[dahenley]

seeding dry rock takes a little while.
at about 3 months, you will see a florescent colored algae (in the green tint, but not real algae)
at about 6 months, you will see some florescent red with some normal purple coraline.
after the 6 month mark, the rock looks oh so close to normal live rock.
it should be seeded, but longer never hurts.
(if you look at my build thread, you will see i started out with about 100lbs of dry, and 40lbs of live. )

and you cant tell the difference between my live and dry now.

as for adding to the cycle... i dont think so.
if you started with all dry, then yes.
as long as you have some live, it will aid in the cycling of your tank.

i always recommend dunking your rocks in a few different buckets. it will soak them, but also loosen up any dirt/dust/dried algae/sponges and what not, and allow them to be removed in the next dunk. (i used about 4 buckets and soaked/dunk/ move to next bucket. and did this with all my rocks. and i didnt have any problems with phosphates and what not. just like some people complain about.))

[Woodchuck12]

Would adding any of the bacteria additives help, or should I just leaves those on the shelves at the store? Also, when you dunk the rock, I am assuming you use saltwater. Right? Thanks for all of the help so far!

[timkatz71]

I ordered 100lbs of dry last night and 75lbs of live to start my new tank, I'm hoping that it will all look the same in 6 months...

[TjwBlake]

Originally Posted by Woodchuck12

Would adding any of the bacteria additives help, or should I just leaves those on the shelves at the store? Also, when you dunk the rock, I am assuming you use saltwater. Right? Thanks for all of the help so far!

Adding bacteria is kind of like snake oil.. un-needed. As long as you have the decaying biological matter then you will get the amonia to start the cycle. The live rock you add + a raw shrimp/ghost feeding is enough.
You can dunk your dry rock in regular tap water to clean it.. it wont bother anything.

[Stercus Accidit]

Originally Posted by TjwBlake

You can dunk your dry rock in regular tap water to clean it.. it wont bother anything.

Make sure you don't place the rock directly in the tank following this...it should be obvious but just in case someone mis-interprets. If you are using plain tap water I would advise to allow the rock to dry outside in the sun before placing it in the tank, don't take any chances.

I just started my 20g and placed about 15lbs of LR between the sump and DT along with about 15lbs of dry rock that I "washed" because I have no clue what was done with the dry rock before I got it. That being said, I like to give it a bath in bleach water, allow it to dry out, a bath in white vinegar water then allowed to dry and a couple of rinses with fresh water scrubbing the rock in each step. Haven't had a problem with it causing a medium or large cycle yet, haven't even had one that has been noticeable. The LR I use is fully cured.
HTH