Reef Tank New
- Thread starter jcai
- Start date
tsx
Member
Curing is making sure it has finished the nitrogen cycle. normaly with mail order rock you keep it in a seperate tank or container. I used a rubermaid container with a powerhead circulating the water. Use your test kits to determine if cycle is finished. do a search for more instructions
In your case however you may be able to check the cycle in your main tank; since you really dont have any livestock to speak of.
In your case however you may be able to check the cycle in your main tank; since you really dont have any livestock to speak of.
midasblenn
Member
When rock is taken out of water even for a 24 to 48 hour period for shipping, the live creatures living in the rock begin to "die-off". The dying organisms will decompose causing high amonia levels in your tank.
Then bacteria will start to grow in the filtration system that eat amonia and change it to nitrite and then the nitrite to nitrate. That is called "cycling".
Normally the first thing you add to a tank is live sand and live rock, then inverts (snails and crabs) , corals and finally fish. Usually in that order.
Since you already have snails in your tank, if you put the rock straight in there the high amonia levels it will create will probably kill the snails.
Ideally if you could move the snails to a different tank, you could put the rock straight in your main aquarium and cycle it that way. Most people will probably tell you that the best way to cycle a tank is with rock IMO.
If thats not an option then you need to get a separate container (like a rubber trashcan) and put some salt water, a protien skimmer and a powerhead in there for circulation. Then put the rock in there and wait a couple weeks for the die-off to occur.
If you cycle the rock in your aquarium then dont run your lights much and dont change the water until the amonia and nitrite levels come down to 0 and <.3. (This will start a huge debate as some will tell you to do water changes during the cycle process to preserve the rock.) But if you change the water out then you will not get the bacteria growth you need in your filter to sustain the other things you will put in there later like inverts and fish. Therefore it will take a lot longer to build up your tank because each time you add something you will have an amonia/nitrite spike and you will have to wait on the tank to adjust to the additional bio-load.
If you cycle the rock in a separate container then you should do several water changes to keep the amonia levels down. Since you are not trying to build up your filter system and there is no other benefit to high amonia, you want to keep the levels low to preserve as much of the rock life as possible.
Get ready for the differing opinions. Ain't this a great country.
Then bacteria will start to grow in the filtration system that eat amonia and change it to nitrite and then the nitrite to nitrate. That is called "cycling".
Normally the first thing you add to a tank is live sand and live rock, then inverts (snails and crabs) , corals and finally fish. Usually in that order.
Since you already have snails in your tank, if you put the rock straight in there the high amonia levels it will create will probably kill the snails.
Ideally if you could move the snails to a different tank, you could put the rock straight in your main aquarium and cycle it that way. Most people will probably tell you that the best way to cycle a tank is with rock IMO.
If thats not an option then you need to get a separate container (like a rubber trashcan) and put some salt water, a protien skimmer and a powerhead in there for circulation. Then put the rock in there and wait a couple weeks for the die-off to occur.
If you cycle the rock in your aquarium then dont run your lights much and dont change the water until the amonia and nitrite levels come down to 0 and <.3. (This will start a huge debate as some will tell you to do water changes during the cycle process to preserve the rock.) But if you change the water out then you will not get the bacteria growth you need in your filter to sustain the other things you will put in there later like inverts and fish. Therefore it will take a lot longer to build up your tank because each time you add something you will have an amonia/nitrite spike and you will have to wait on the tank to adjust to the additional bio-load.
If you cycle the rock in a separate container then you should do several water changes to keep the amonia levels down. Since you are not trying to build up your filter system and there is no other benefit to high amonia, you want to keep the levels low to preserve as much of the rock life as possible.
Get ready for the differing opinions. Ain't this a great country.