curing live rock

[bms]

ok so im not sure if this is the right forum to be posting this question in but i need a lil help. so i bought a 60 gallon tank with about 60 lbs dead "live rock". i also added a few pieces of fully cured live rock from another tank i have. the uncured/dead rock has been sitting in the guys garage who i bought the tank from out of water for a few months hence the reason i assume it is dead or uncured. the tank was established about 5 months ago for a few years but was disassembled when he upgraded to a new tank. most of the pieces are actually dead coral and various pieces of rock. well i added the rock to my tank along with crushed coral substrate and saltwater. i have a cannister filter and a hangon filter/protein skimmer combo. i am in the process of cycling the tank. i have added stress zyme to the tank which is a live beneficial bacteria which is supposed to speed up the cycling process and help maintain colonies of beneficial bacteria. so my question is, is this going to not only cycle my tank but "cure" the rock/coral to "live rock" or is there something else i need to do? i took some of the rock out to smell it to see if it stinks like rotten eggs and as far as i can tell it smells like the ocean (maybe its done cycling? the bacteria i added could have actually worked as my ammonia/nitrites are at 0 ppm. the rock and coral is "bleached white" and has been in the tank for about a week or so now. i am just starting to notice what i think is purple coralline algae. i will attach a photo or two showing the growth of the algae that i just talked about. hope this is in the correct forum, any responses/advice is welcomed and encouraged. thanks in advance for your replies, brian

 

[flower]

The "dead" rock will reseed over time. The critters in the live rock has to populate enough to move to the dead stuff.
So it takes longer than a week. The coraline algae is not a criitter, algae spreads, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. It is not an indicator that the tank has cycled.
As the stuff on the dead rock gets in the water good bactera has to grow enough to clearup the ammonia that comes with the process. So your tank can cycle while your rock cures. When the ammonia spike goes to 0, you are ready....so test and test to watch for that magical moment.

 

[caspervtx]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3090793

The "dead" rock will reseed over time. The critters in the live rock has to populate enough to move to the dead stuff.
Don't want to intrude but I have similar questions as I plan for my tank. Your comment above meets what I understand to be the concept of using "dead base" rock mixed with live rock. My question is two-fold a) suggested per centages of dead vs. live for a "functioning tank" and b) timing. While not all tanks are the saem I read on another web site a similar post where they used the term "years". Didn't think it would take years or even more than a month or so?
Edit: BTW this is why I hang around this website. Every time I come up with a question in my head someone else asks it or very similar and the responses are amazing. Both in relative speed and completeness for understanding the response. Thanks to everyone and I'm done intruding

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by CasperVTX
http:///forum/post/3090795
Don't want to intrude but I have similar questions as I plan for my tank. Your comment above meets what I understand to be the concept of using "dead base" rock mixed with live rock. My question is two-fold a) suggested per centages of dead vs. live for a "functioning tank" and b) timing. While not all tanks are the saem I read on another web site a similar post where they used the term "years". Didn't think it would take years or even more than a month or so?
Edit: BTW this is why I hang around this website. Every time I come up with a question in my head someone else asks it or very similar and the responses are amazing. Both in relative speed and completeness for understanding the response. Thanks to everyone and I'm done intruding

You are not intruding! Welcome!
It all depends on how much dead and how much live rock. Even ornimants become live atfter time. It really isn't anything to concern about at all. The good bacteria is the only thing really needed for a healthy tank.
If you build your stock slow...the good bacteria can handle the load and keep things balanced. This goes for corals and fish. If you put too much into the tank at once an imbalance can cause an ammonia spike.
Also rinsing your media in saltwater will loosen solid stuff and leave the good bacteria to do it's job. So many people rinse in freshwater and kill everything in the filter pads.