woohoo! live rock is on it's way!

[fighting0]

Just bought 10lbs of base rock and 10lbs of live rock. Over time, the live rock will make the base rock "live." :jumping:
When it gets here (hopefully soon), am I correct in assuming I can put the base rock in, and then the (cured) live rock on top of that?
Hopefully there will have been enough die-off on the live rock that it will start my cycle. If not, I guess I'll have to add the frozen shrimp into the tank.
So far, in the tank I have:
Live Sand, saltwater
(for those curious, this is a 20H tank I'm setting up)
Thanks for any input!
-Scott

 

[moby]

Just make sure you scrub the live rock thoroughly to remove any large critters that will die off anyway. If it is soft and squishy it should be removed otherwise the amount of die off will be too much and you'll get an extremely large amount of ammonia and once the cycle is over this will result in a ton of nitrates forcing a larger amount of initial water change.
Good luck with your new set up and rock!

Moby

 

[chipmaker]

No matter what condition yur live and base rock arrives its more than adequate to start a cycle, and no need to add a dead shrimp and start a polutted mess instead of a cycled tank..........You got the right idea so don't go ruin it with dead shrimp, and what arrives alive as hitch hikers on that rock will be alive once the cycle is over in most cases. Add dead shrimp, ammonia goes really high as does nitrite and lots more stuff starts to die off.......

 

[fighting0]

thanks for the input! can i use those rubber dishwashing gloves to handle the stuff? what kind of soft-bristle brush could i use (an unused toothbrush?) to clean the rock?
what kind of 'critters' are you talking about (feather dusters or crabs?)
sorry for all the questions.. rock is arriving today! yay!!! :jumping:

 

[moby]

Hi fighting0,
Okay lets see, yes you probably should wear gloves, the dishwashing kind are good. Just to be safe, you know some of these creepy crawlys can irritate the skin, such as bristle worms.
Since this is cured live rock as you mentioned earlier, I would inspect it for any large lumps of sponge or slimey unidentifiable "stuff". These organisms usually die in the cycling process
Scrubbing may not be necessary since it is already cured. If it looks nasty or smells bad an unused toothbrush makes a good scrubber, rinse with fresh salt H2O.
Don't worry about scrubbing too hard, its rock, you won't hurt it.
Best of luck with your new rock, this is exciting isn't it!

Moby

 

[fighting0]

Originally Posted by moby
Hi fighting0,
Okay lets see, yes you probably should wear gloves, the dishwashing kind are good. Just to be safe, you know some of these creepy crawlys can irritate the skin, such as bristle worms.
Since this is cured live rock as you mentioned earlier, I would inspect it for any large lumps of sponge or slimey unidentifiable "stuff". These organisms usually die in the cycling process
Scrubbing may not be necessary since it is already cured. If it looks nasty or smells bad an unused toothbrush makes a good scrubber, rinse with fresh salt H2O.
Don't worry about scrubbing too hard, its rock, you won't hurt it.
Best of luck with your new rock, this is exciting isn't it!

Moby

Wooo hoooo!!!! I can't wait to start working on it!!! Yeah, it's exciting!

 

[fighting0]

Ok, the base rock and live rock are in... looks pretty sweet...
2 concerns I had:
- There wasn't really and mushy stuff to brush off.
- There wasn't really any "smell" to it.
Should I be worried that it won't kick off the cycle?
-Scott

 

[moby]

Don'y sweat it, I'm pretty sure you will get a cycle. :happyfish
Moby