cycling with live rock...

[peckhead]

ok...so as some of you know i have some live rock curing right now in a ten gallon tank with a power head. and a friend of mine is cycling a 30 gallon tank(i let him use my account to post on here aswell). is it a good idea to take the lr out of the curing tank and put it in the 30g to help it cycle and then after 2-3 weeks when the rock doesnt smell anymore i want to take teh rock out of my friends 30 g and put it in my 44g. will this cause any spikes or anything for me or him? thank you

 

[keith burn]

Originally Posted by peckhead
ok...so as some of you know i have some live rock curing right now in a ten gallon tank with a power head. and a friend of mine is cycling a 30 gallon tank(i let him use my account to post on here aswell). is it a good idea to take the lr out of the curing tank and put it in the 30g to help it cycle and then after 2-3 weeks when the rock doesnt smell anymore i want to take teh rock out of my friends 30 g and put it in my 44g. will this cause any spikes or anything for me or him? thank you

the smell is not the sine the lr is cured do wc about 4 finger from the top 1 or 2 times a week and test water the wq is what the cure is for.but yes it will be ok...

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by peckhead
ok...so as some of you know i have some live rock curing right now in a ten gallon tank with a power head. and a friend of mine is cycling a 30 gallon tank(i let him use my account to post on here aswell). is it a good idea to take the lr out of the curing tank and put it in the 30g to help it cycle and then after 2-3 weeks when the rock doesnt smell anymore i want to take teh rock out of my friends 30 g and put it in my 44g. will this cause any spikes or anything for me or him? thank you
Yes, as long as it is fully cured (ammonia and nitrite both read a steady zero) when you put it into your tank it would be fine.

 

[peckhead]

ok. when cycling a tank with uncured rock do you need to do water changes or when the tank is fully cycled will the ammonia and nitrates and trites drop by them self? and what is a sign that the rock is cured? thanks

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by peckhead
ok. when cycling a tank with uncured rock do you need to do water changes or when the tank is fully cycled will the ammonia and nitrates and trites drop by them self? and what is a sign that the rock is cured? thanks
When the ammonia and nitrite reach zero then the tank is cycled. If you are curing it in a seperate container then you only have to wait for the ammonia to reach zero for it to be cured. I wouldn't let the ammonia get too high, there is some debate over how high you should let it get. When I cured my rock, I only did one water change. There was no odor, but the ammonia did reach 8ppm. I didn't have very much die off though. If you have alot then you may want to do more frequent waterchanges.

 

[hot883]

You will need to do a water change on anything you want to live if the ammonia reaches 1ppm. Yes you are curing live rock but again you do not want all the beneficial critters and bacteria to die in the high ammonia.

 

[peckhead]

last question...if i cure the live rock in the 30g tank and take it out when the ammonia is back to zero does that mean that the tank has now cycled??

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by peckhead
last question...if i cure the live rock in the 30g tank and take it out when the ammonia is back to zero does that mean that the tank has now cycled??
No, the rock is cured when ammonia reaches zero, the tank is cycled when both ammonia and nitrite are at a steady zero.