Curing old dry rock (was once live rock) in tank while cycling?

[Sarrakitty]

So here is my situation. I've recently set up a 20 long aquarium (plus a diy sump in a 10 gallon aquarium below it) as my first nano reef. The whole system has only been wet for about a week maybe, and I added some Bio-Spira to help get things started. Recently (yesterday) I also added a piece of live rock I bought at a LFS. Now I also have several pieces of rock, that I want to add, that are currently dry rock. They haven't been in a marine aquarium for years. They were from an old tank my brother used to keep but was taken down years ago, and he gave them to me. Now my question is, how is the best way to get these things back to "live rock" status for my new aquarium, as a want to use these as well. I have read curing is typically done in separate containers/aquariums (and this makes sense, the organic material on rock will break down and release a spike in nitrates nitrites, ammonia, etc) What I want to know though, is since this tank is so new, would it be safe to add the rock right away, and have it be "curing" right there in my tank. What I'm imagining is any residual organic matter left over in nooks and crannies from back when it was live will be broken down and processed as a part of the tank's initial cycle anyway. But I still wanted to ask and make sure this is not a bad idea. Currently the tank only has the chunk of live rock I got yesterday, sand, rubble rock in a refugium section of the sump, and a few larger pieces I got in the rubble (it was carib sea rubble zone, so dry rock with nothing on it) that I liked the look of in the display tank as well.

[seabass]

3 hours ago, Sarrakitty said:

would it be safe to add the rock right away, and have it be "curing" right there in my tank

Personally, I wouldn't subject the new live rock to the ammonia spike which might come from the dry rock.  I'd cure them separately (to try to preserve as much life on the rock as possible).

 

Sounds like you might have more dry rock than live rock.  If that's the case, I'd probably put the live rock in a 5 gallon bucket to continue curing.  Then I'd put the dry rock in your tank and let it break down the left over organics.  You can leave the sand in there if you wish.

 

If there is any loose, or obvious organics on the dry rock, I'd brush it off with a vegetable brush (or toothbrush) prior to putting in the tank.  If you have more bottled bacteria cultures, I'd add some here too.  If not, I probably wouldn't buy more (there will be enough bacteria in the sand).

 

Once the dry rock is cured, change out all the water, then add the live rock to this tank.  But realize, there are many ways to cycle these rocks.  You can certainly add them all together and let the cycle work itself out.  After it's cycled, change out all the water and you're good to go.

 

 

[debbeach13]

You can cure it in the tank if you want. It may be easier to clean any left over organics and detritus in a bucket or tote without having all that dead crude in your nice new clean tank. You might want to search "using old dead rock" to see what others have to say about what happened in their tanks.

[seabass]

Other treatments for the dead dry rock include an acid bath, or soaking in a bleach solution.  The bleach solution is effective at removing organics, and won't dissolve your rock, and is probably safer than working with acid.

 

Basically, you soak the rock in a strong bleach solution outside (to avoid the fumes).  Then you thoroughly rinse the rocks.  Soak the rock in water treated with a strong dose of Prime.  You can let it dry if you wish, but any remaining chlorine will work itself out while you continue to cure the rock.

 

Now that your rock is clean and devoid of organics, you can cure it like typical dry rock.

Follow this guide: http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

 

After the dry rock has a working bio-filter, add your live rock.