lenver Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 So I'm starting my tank this weekend, will finish creating my mixing station, the tank is ready for Saltwater. Question, can I place a nice cultured live rock with the 200 lbs of dry rock that I'm placing in the tank when I'm cycling the tank or do I have to wait till the tank cycles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 the longer the uncultured is with the cultured, the more time you'll have for bacteria to colonize the uncultured rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Congrats on starting the new tank! I did the same thing when i started mine (about 30 lbs) and used live sand. It took mine about 3 weeks to cycle . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I did have a cycle with dry rock last time which I was not expecting. Definitely put the good rock right in there. Even with a modest size piece you can often completely prevent the tank from going through a full cycle. Might get a small ammonia and nitrite spike but with the good rock in there, it's usually quick and painless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 I was prepared to wait a month for the cycle to finish, my question is more towards can I place some rock with algae and other flora so they can start spreading, or do I have to wait for the cycle to finish, don't know if the spikes would affect the algae ( in my experience with FW it wasn't I just want to make sure the same applies for SW), I want to buy a few lbs with coraline and others so I can start seeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 If you're prepared to wait at all. You may as well invest the 10-15 bucks in a bacteria bottle. Dr Tim's or instant ocean bio spira. All it can do is help. It'll help speed things along in a safe way. I've read dr Tim's is the best and can be found in Austin but never used it. I've personally used bio spira to cure some brand new dry rock and it worked well. I cycled about 40 pounds in 3 weeks or so completely. Confirmed with a second shrimp. This rock had zero bacteria on it previously as it was bleached and acid dipped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct67stang Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 If you're prepared to wait at all. You may as well invest the 10-15 bucks in a bacteria bottle. Dr Tim's or instant ocean bio spira. All it can do is help. It'll help speed things along in a safe way. I've read dr Tim's is the best and can be found in Austin but never used it. I've personally used bio spira to cure some brand new dry rock and it worked well. I cycled about 40 pounds in 3 weeks or so completely. Confirmed with a second shrimp. This rock had zero bacteria on it previously as it was bleached and acid dipped. acid dipped? What kind?Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I would put the rock in after the inital cycle since the cycle will kill all the stuff that you want to spread to the other rocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Muriatic acid. It's not a cure all, but it will dissolve the surface layer of rock, releasing alot of phosphate that can take months to years to leech back into the water and fuel algae growth. I figure we get enough phosphate from the foods we feed, I don't need to be adding more. It's a pretty common practice. The science behind it may not be perfect, but others have done it with good results. Only bad thing is it will make the rock a little more brittle. Doing a 20 minute dip in a 1:10 acid to water ratio, I probably lost about 25-30% of the overall rock volume. It's alot more porous now though lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I was prepared to wait a month for the cycle to finish, my question is more towards can I place some rock with algae and other flora so they can start spreading, or do I have to wait for the cycle to finish, don't know if the spikes would affect the algae ( in my experience with FW it wasn't I just want to make sure the same applies for SW), I want to buy a few lbs with coraline and others so I can start seeding. Macro algae uses ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It can go in at the beginning of cycle. If you want to speed up coraline, then add mature reef rubble with color. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 Patrick do you have any rubble for sale? Also is there a requirement on the lighting since I'm still about a month away to getting the lighting setup, or will low light do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Patrick do you have any rubble for sale? Also is there a requirement on the lighting since I'm still about a month away to getting the lighting setup, or will low light do? Yes, I do. Go to my sponsor forum for refugium kits at $10. Low light would be good for coraline. Hold up on macro until you have proper lights. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 13, 2013 Author Share Posted June 13, 2013 OK Patrick, I'll contact you next week when it's running so I can get one of those kits, thank you for your time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Almost done with my RO/DI mixing station, should be ready in the next two days. Will post some pics when done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Adding a pic of my Rockscape, tank should be running by the weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 That rockscape looks fantastic!! Are the rocks on the side far enough away from the glass that you can get your glass cleaner in between? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 The one on the right is, I will move the one on the left a little bit so I can get the scrapper in there, I was thinking of that same thing this morning. RIght now is a blank canvas, once the water is in it I will see what I can place in there, of course will have to wait for the tank to mature, but for starters I want a small school of clowns and 3 nice anemones, I will probably only place smaller species, dragonets, firefish, etc That rockscape looks fantastic!! Are the rocks on the side far enough away from the glass that you can get your glass cleaner in between? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I agree that is a killer rock scape. I second the moving of the rocks though for glass cleaning. When I set my tank up I spaced it to where I can't clean the bottom quadrant on the right pane of glass and it has bugged me for a year lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 What do you guys use to glue the pieces together, I don't really have movement but I want to make sure I don't start having issues later on and since there is no water I think this is the best time to do this. Crazy glue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I personally don't glue my rocks together just because I will never be confident that I don't want to change the rock work. But if i did the glue breaks very easily. I would use aquarium safe epoxy personally. Instant ocean sells some. Comes in a green tube, you kneed it between your fingers to get it mixed up an it looks white when ready. There is also a purple kind as well but i haven't seen it anywhere. I'm not an austinite but I hear the purple kind is sold locally. That's what I would go for. The white looks too bright and unnatural for weeks before it turns dingy from algae and what not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Since your at the stage where you can take the rocks out for a day then I would say definately glue them together. I've had rocks crash down whenever I threw my hand in the tank and it's not cool because you could kill a fish or worse scratch or break your glass. You can pick up hydraulic cement http://www.homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-20-lb-Hydraulic-Water-Stop-Cement-112620/100318534 from either home depot or lowes and its very easy to work with and you'll have your rocks back in your tank by tomorrow. What I did was bought egg crate http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plaskolite-4-ft-x-2-ft-Suspended-Light-Ceiling-Panel-1199233A/202025149 and cut it to fit inside the tank with my hands on both sides since you'll need to put the rocks back in glued and which will also allow you to easily slide a magnetic scrapper in. If the scape you want is the one in the pic then just take them out and place them on the ground side ways in the order that you pull them out then restack on the crate using the pic as a reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Adding more pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nwehrman Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Love the rock work - great job Lenin. Nicole Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 Pics of my new RO/DI mixing station, everything works, just need to decide how I'll be getting the configuration for the SW side, one pump? two? mixing and pumping to the tank via hose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 So an update on the tank been cycling for two weeks now, starting to get brown hair algae it's pearling. PH 8.0 Ammonia 0 PPM, dosing 5ml everyday Nitrite 2.0 PPM Nitrate 40 PPM Specific Gravity 1.024 Temp 81-83 Lights 420, actinic, 420, 10k 420/actinic from 6-9 420/10k from 10-6 I also got a piece of live rock 8 days ago, it had green start polyps, after three days they started coming out and they seem to multiply really fast. Should be a week more to go, then doing a 90% water change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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