Curing Live Rock In New Tank

[tigershark]

I plan to start my 55 Gal tank very soon. I am planning on a 3 to 4 inch DSP and am going to seed it with about 20 LBS of LS. I have about 60 LBS of aragocrete base rock that is curing in a bucket right now and will add it when the pH stabilizes. I am going to buy about 40LBS of live rock and plan to add that immediately to the new tank and cure it while the tank cycles. Will it matter if I add the base rock at the same time and cure/cycle it all together or should I keep the base rock seperate. Also when should I start getting the calcium and Alk levels high to promote coralline algae? I guess after that I can add some janitors after all the levels stabilize. Am I on the right track?

 

[glinton]

Tigershark-
I am in the same boat you are. This is what I have heard, someone more experienced might want to add to it:
Put in your base rock the same time you cycle with the LR. This will promote the spread of bacteria, algae, etc. to your base rock. Plus, you should go ahead and get your levels of calcium and alk stabilized before you put any rock in.
Then, when you begin to see algae growth and the cycle is complete, you can add janitors.
Hope this helps!

 

[nm reef]

TigerShark you've developed a plan that sounds good to me...
I've never used aragocrete myself...but I have cycled a 55 with 45 lbs of un-cured LR.......your plan is very close to what I did.....just monitor the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels and try to keep a decent circulation going. Personally I went ahead and kept the lighting on a normal 8-12 hr per day schedule. After the cycle completes and you see zeros then I'd look into adding a clean - up crew.Myself I wouldn't worry much about calcium/alkalinity until after the cycle completes and things settle a bit. Not long after the cycle completes I'd do a 20% or so water change...then after that I'd begin to monitor and if needed adjust the levels of calcium/alkalinity. From everything I've heard about aragocrete I think in time it will become as live as your LR....I have heard cautions to cure the aragrocrete for a long time to prevent toxic stuff getting in the system....but like I said I have no hands on experience with aragrocrete.
Keep us posted as you progress......my 55 reef is close to 2 years old now and actually I'd kind of like to start a new one.....just to see if I could be as successful the 2nd time around....best of luck with yours.

 

[tigershark]

Well Im glad it sounds like Im on the right track. I've read a couple places that the aragocrete will take from 6 to 8 weeks to cure which is about the time needed to cycle a tank. So I guess I might just add it all in at the same time since I wont have any livestock to risk and we'll see how it goes.