Live Rock Cycling

[Wjcastiglione]

Ok guys, I'm getting ready to cycle my tank - and I know there's the LR method...

 

but what does "cured" mean - if I go to the LFS and buy their $3.99/lb Live Rock in water - is this cured? does it need to be cured? I'm such a newb.

 

 

[seabass]

Fully cured generally implies that it is no longer producing more ammonia than it can process. Putting in fully cured live rock will not cause an ammonia spike unless it is transported out of water (which would cause die off that might overwhelm the nitrifying bacteria).

 

You should always cure/cycle live rock in a tank/container which doesn't hold livestock (in case it causes an ammonia spike). Once fully cured, you could add it to your display tank, or add livestock.

 

Note that adding livestock too quickly will still cause an ammonia spike, because the biofilter on the rock has not yet adjusted to the new bio-load. By adding livestock slowly over time, the bacteria will be able to adjust to the new load (and keep up with the ammonia production).

[CronicReefer]

Ok guys, I'm getting ready to cycle my tank - and I know there's the LR method...

 

but what does "cured" mean - if I go to the LFS and buy their $3.99/lb Live Rock in water - is this cured? does it need to be cured? I'm such a newb.

If your fishstore keeps live rock in a pool as filtration like mine does than it should be 100% cured live rock. This will basically speed up your cycle since it will already have a lot of the nitrifying bacteria populations you are trying to produce through cycling. A good rule of thumb is 1lb of rock per gallon but this can vary on preference and other types of filtration you may be running. You can also buy dry reef rock and seed it with the live rock to save some money but it will just take longer for your tank to cycle.

[Wjcastiglione]

If your fishstore keeps live rock in a pool as filtration like mine does than it should be 100% cured live rock. This will basically speed up your cycle since it will already have a lot of the nitrifying bacteria populations you are trying to produce through cycling. A good rule of thumb is 1lb of rock per gallon but this can vary on preference and other types of filtration you may be running. You can also buy dry reef rock and seed it with the live rock to save some money but it will just take longer for your tank to cycle.

 

 

Fully cured generally implies that it is no longer producing more ammonia than it can process. Putting in fully cured live rock will not cause an ammonia spike unless it is transported out of water (which would cause die off that might overwhelm the nitrifying bacteria).

 

You should always cure/cycle live rock in a tank/container which doesn't hold livestock (in case it causes an ammonia spike). Once fully cured, you could add it to your display tank, or add livestock.

 

Note that adding livestock too quickly will still cause an ammonia spike, because the biofilter on the rock has not yet adjusted to the new bio-load. By adding livestock slowly over time, the bacteria will be able to adjust to the new load (and keep up with the ammonia production).

 

Ok - for ease of filling this tank - I'll be filling it with 5 gallon buckets of RO from the LFS. Do I have to mix the salt up well in each bucket? I don't have 5 powerheads and heaters to accomplish this all at once, and it would be like a 6 hour ordeal one bucket at a time. All that will be in the tank the first go around is live sand and live rock.

[seabass]

Just mix it manually in the buckets. For the initial setup, you can get by mixing it without a heater or powerhead.

[Wjcastiglione]

Just mix it manually in the buckets. For the initial setup, you can get by mixing it without a heater or powerhead.

 

Cool. That's what I was hoping for! Thank you very much, seabass.

[talwen]

When I started my 125 I filled it up with ro water and mixed the Salt in the tank. Then added rock and sand after a full day of mixing and testing salinity.