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01/17/2014, 08:47 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 279
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Converting dry rock to live rock
So I took some live rock out of my tank about a year ago and left it outside on the deck. During this time it has seen all the seasons. Now I've decided I want to add some of this rock back into my system. I rinsed off the rock with tap water just to remove as much crap I could. Then I let it dry for a day or two.
On waterchange day, I threw the rock into a container with water from my display, a heater, and two powerheads. I didn't really think this was going to cycle because I assumed after a year, it would just be "dry" rock with not much dead organic matter on it. But 2 weeks later, I'm getting an ammonia reading of 1.0 ppm, no trates or trites. This surprised me and makes me really glad I didn't just rinse it off and throw it into my tank. But does anyone know why a cycle has started under these circumstances? I'm confused because you don't need to really "cure" dry rock you buy from BRS or somewhere, so why would this be any different? edit: would throwing a little bit of mysis in the container speed up the process at all? |
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01/17/2014, 08:53 PM
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#2 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Boulder,CO
Posts: 1,291
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IMO since you used water from your DT, which is already seeded with useful bacteria, the dry rock started its own mine cycle...It would be beneficial at this point to ghost feed the container.
Also good call in putting the dry rock into its own container. Even with "live rock" bought from an LFS it is best to try and cycle the rock before putting it into an established tank. If by some possibility the rock is not fully cured it will cause a mine cycle like in your case.
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90G DT w/ 30G sump, 2 Apollo SolarBlast Dimmable LEDs, 160 Reef Octopus Extreme, Neptune Apex, Mag 7, MP10 & MP40 |
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01/17/2014, 08:56 PM
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#3 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Meshoppen, Pennsylvania
Posts: 49
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What do you mean by ghost feed jw
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01/17/2014, 09:00 PM
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#4 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Boulder,CO
Posts: 1,291
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feeding a tank that has no fish in it like there was fish in it. This will increase ammonia which in turn will help jump start the cycle.
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90G DT w/ 30G sump, 2 Apollo SolarBlast Dimmable LEDs, 160 Reef Octopus Extreme, Neptune Apex, Mag 7, MP10 & MP40 |
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01/17/2014, 09:04 PM
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#5 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 7,408
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It will also give all of the bacteria something to eat so that they don't die.
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01/17/2014, 09:15 PM
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#6 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Meshoppen, Pennsylvania
Posts: 49
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Ok nice to know thanks
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01/17/2014, 11:44 PM
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#7 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 279
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Quote:
If I'm understanding correctly, when you say "useful bacteria" you're referring to bacteria other than the nitrifying bacteria that breaks down ammonia and trites. This, combined with the fact that this was dry rock with a lack of nitrifying bacteria, is the reason I am seeing this stage of elevated ammonia, but no trites or trates yet. For some reason, I just assumed that my display water would more or less "seed" the dry rock without any sort of cycle... Thank you for the response though, I will start ghost feeding |
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01/17/2014, 11:50 PM
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#8 |
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Apsiring Alhcohlolic
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 772
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All you need is dry rock. Do a search for "sea monkeys". Follow the instructions and they will make it into live rock.
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120G AGA Dual Overflow, 40G B Sump, SRO-2000int, 2 Eheim 200w Heater, Eheim 1262 Return, BRS C & GFO React., BR-1000ss Biopellet React., Tunze 5017 ATO, 2 MP-40wes, DIY 76LED (36RB,24NW,6B,6CW,4Moon) |
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