cleaning LR in a cycling tank?

[beefjerky402]

i started cycling my 10g with just LR and LS a couple days ago, but as i look at the LR i see that i should have brushed off some of dead stuff on the LR off. is it ok for me to take the LR out one at a time and give them a brush off during my cycle or should i just wait for my tank to totally cycle to clean them off?

[Physh1]

I'd wait till your cycle ends before you do anything. This dead stuff is actually helpfull to your cycle. In fact, I'd venture to say by the time your tank is basically cycled a lot of it will be broken down anyhow.

 

Cameron

[MrKrispy]

Well from my latest experience, I would say take the rock out and remove most (not all) of the dead material. I had the same problem, left most of it on, and now I have horrible hair algae everywhere. I use very pure water (18 Mohm E-pure) and my cleaning crew isn't keeping up with it. I took 2 of the top 3 rocks out after the cycle, scrubbed off most of the hair algae, and they are doing good. The two lower foundation rocks are screwed still.

 

I tested the water frequently during and after the cycle. I got NO detectable ammonia/nitrites/nitrates after scrubbing the rocks, using Salifert and Seachem test kits. So you would be extending the cycle by say, 2 weeks, but may avoid months of hair algae issues.

 

HOWEVER, my diatoms and red sludge stuff did go away within a few weeks of my cycle ending, so don't worry about those.

 

Just my opinions, there a lot more people with more experience here (Physh1 included!)

[ModemMan8]

i can share my recent experience. i just finished cycling a 12 gal ecplipse with live sand and rock. i put the rocks from my LFS right in and left everything intact. worms, pods and snail hictchhiker critters began to eat the debris even before I could get crabs and more snails in. i also started 12 hours of light a day right away. now i just use a turkey baster to clean the rock about an hour before i change out the filter medium once a week. i also supplement with reef vitamins/trace elements. rocks are growing macroalgae and new corraline like crazy. i vote for leaving the rocks alone and letting your cycle do its thing. got any pics?