ksadam Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 I cured my dry rock outside since it's warm, turned out pretty well and you can get those algae issues out of the way pretty quick when the sun is shining on it. Quote Link to comment
aclman88 Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 18 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: Bucket, saltwater, rock, and circulation, plus your heater would be fine. If you use dry rock, you don't strictly need bottled bacteria but it can take a really long time to cycle dry rock without it so I highly recommend using some with dry rock. Live rock shouldn't need bacteria, it just speeds it up a bit. Lights on vs. off during the cycle is a whole debate in itself but it's thought that it can encourage nuisance algae growth. I usually leave lights off when cycling unless I'm trying to save something on the rock (a hitchhiking coral or something). How long are we talking to cycle dry rock (I have the Tim’s ammonia and would use microbacter7)? Would having a little piece or two of live rock speed up the process at all? Quote Link to comment
tgore Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Having some rock to seed the bacterial growth would definitely speed things up. The length of the cycle is different for everyone. Best to just go off the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings to make that determination. Sure you can "instantly" cycle a tank with bacterial boosters and some live rock additions, but the instant a fish is added the bio load has then been increased. This is why it takes time for a tank to truly become established. Do you simple testing and utilize live rock and/or bacterial additives and you will be fine. Just don't get discouraged during the "ugly phase" it's part of the tank's maturation process and will fade with time. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 3 hours ago, aclman88 said: How long are we talking to cycle dry rock (I have the Tim’s ammonia and would use microbacter7)? Would having a little piece or two of live rock speed up the process at all? Everyones cycle time with dry rock in particular is different. Most commonly seen is 4 weeks. Cured liverock only- no cycle Liverock- anywhere from a week to 4 Live &dry- depends. The more liverock used the less time in my experience. My tank 50/50 was just over a week, my tank that had only 2 small pieces with the rest dry- 6 weeks. Quote Link to comment
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