Cycling of your new live Rocks

[Harlequinmania]

Live rocks in your marine aquarium contribute greatly to your success of your aquarium, and the porous found within the rocks which is extremely porous and serve as the primary biological filter in saltwater tanks that is required to have a healthy aquarium.

The many holes and crannies in this rock give it a tremendous amount of surface area for both the beneficial aerobic (needs oxygen) and anaerobic (does not need oxygen) bacteria to live on. This is what makes live rock such a great biological filter for your tank. The beneficial bacteria helps convert the ammonia from fish waste and uneaten fish food into nitrIte. The second step is when this bacteria converts the nitrIte into nitrAte. The last step is when the anaerobic bacteria converts the nitrAte into harmless nitrogen gas that escapes via the water surface.

However, using un-curved live rock which you just purschase for the local LFS is going to be a problem if you did not cure it prior to putting it into your tank. You are going to see a much greater die off rate then those pre-cured rock which will result in a ammonia spike !!

These are some of the recommend method used for the cycling of our newly bought live rock which is summarised as follows:

1) When the live rock is unpacked , look and remove any white, slimy areas and anything else that is decaying. The white spots may represent an organism, typically a soft coral, hard coral or sponge, has died. Removal will help to minimise the stress on the system by removing another source of nutrients and prevent containment to your tank water.

2)Clean off some of the invertebrates on the rock, such as sponges and corals. But unless you know what you are removing and are experienced they you may remove some very valuable specimens. There is no need to be so harsh and take to it with a brush and scrub it clean. This practice is rather excessive.

3)Inspect each rock for the presence of bristle worms and hary crabs and remove any if found. Bristle worms have a tendency to come out of the rock, or hang partially out, after the rock has been in transit. You may also leave your rock out of the water for a few hour to let these pest drop out of your rocks.

It is also a good idea to remove any plant growth, both macro and micro algae, as these can easilyre-grow from the root system left behind.

4) A mechanical filter can be used during this period to help remove suspended solids from the system during cycling, but ensure that it is cleaned regularly, every day is preferred. This is because the material the filter catches is not removed from the system. It will continue to break down and contribute to the addition of pollutants in the system.

5) Operate the skimmer continuously and tune such that a dry, dark foam is collected.

6) Run activated carbon if possible in a high flow area of the system such that the water passes through it.Once the cycle is over use activated carbon as usual, whether intermittently or continuous.

7) Operating a lighting during the cycling of the rocks helps to promote coraline algae growth but it is not really necessary , however a 6 hour lighting-period with blue actinic lighting is good .

8) Performacing of the higher frequency of water changes the better, as this helps to keep spped up the process of the cycling . The amount of the water change can vary, but a 50% is a good start. If there are problems with such a high volume change then decrease to a level that is possible. But the higher the water change the better as it will remove more of the nutrients and pollutants and speed up the cycling.

9) Lastly, You will need to monitor the water parameters with your test kit(s) for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in order to determine the cycling process. However, once you have no longer detect ammonia and nitrite and there is no longer a foul smell, you can consider the process complete. How long it takes depends on the shape/quality of the rocks in when you start the process.

[successnowhere]

Tks for sharing, but for Point 8. must we really change water frequently during tank cycling process?

[Harlequinmania]

Tks for sharing, but for Point 8. must we really change water frequently during tank cycling process?

It does help alot to speed up the process with frequent water change, but a minimuim one time change of 50% during the completion of the cycling process is a highly recommanded before you put any fish in..

[Harlequinmania]

Another good link contributed by one of the reefer here; SaltAquarium's LiveRock Guide

[Oprime]

Best to get "cured" live rock. Its cleaned thoroughly and looks amazing......no need to worry about the worms and sponges. Pretty good stuff.....

[finind]

a final test if the liverock is cured is to throw in some food

if no worms crawl out then good lor.. else ..LL

[dnsfpl]

its really hard work to cure LR

i dried my rocks for more than a month but yet a gorilla crab manage to survive

thankfully my chopstick manage to finish it off

[finind]

its really hard work to cure LR

i dried my rocks for more than a month but yet a gorilla crab manage to survive

thankfully my chopstick manage to finish it off

last time i killed one with chopstick too

and that was immediately after that bar-girl change to soft-shell crab :D

[Oprime]

Bro thats the best part and the beauty of it - WE DONT HAVE TO DO IT OURSELVES! We can buy it ready made cured and cleaned at 8 bucks a kg from Iwarna! No fuss no mess.

[kelvin_leeks]

Thanks for the advise

[domvonn]

some rocks do smells but not very overpowering, is it normal ?

[lincolngoh]

a final test if the liverock is cured is to throw in some food

if no worms crawl out then good lor.. else ..LL

Wow. Thanks... gross lol... what will these worm do if unremoved?

[Bennett]

Issit ok if I put in live rock from the sea?? I was snorkeling and fund a few nice rock. Inside found baby octopus, worms and crab. Issit ok to leave them inside? I'm still cycling my water. Is only 1st week.

[simmonsim]

Hi Harlequin, does the sand bed acted the same as Live Rock ? for both aerobic & anarobic bacteria ? Is there any difference between using fresh water sand & salt water sand ?

[Marine_fanaticz]

Hi just asking...

I have a few prices of live rock from my previous saltwater tank. I then removed them upon throwing the tank away due to cracks. the rocks have been soaked in freshwater, and I believe all living organisms in it has dies. the rocks have been dried for about a week under the sun, this no longer making it "live" .

So today I got a new tank with saltwater purchased from my LFS. can I use year rocks for my new tank. will bacteria be able to grow on it again, making it live once more?

Thx

[digibee]

Yes, after awhile those rocks will become "live" again.

You can also dose bacteria while cycling.....

[Marine_fanaticz]

Ok thanks dude!)

[liquidnoise]

I find it interesting as i am cycling the tank as well as the rocks. Inorder to start propoerlly we sun all sand and rocks under direct sunlight till the rocks are white. This should remove all parasites? Now the rocks have been in the tank for about 1 wk. I notice that the areas tats under neath another rock has fast rate to turn pinkish. From wat i read its good sign. There are greenish and brownish and red. which i read from this forum is good as well. my next question will be; if i wanna introduce zoas / mushrooms/ etc. these rocks shdnt be all covered with colors? A very stupid question is will it actually cover the whole rock?

[Marine_fanaticz]

I purchased my live rocks about 4 months ago, dipped them in fresh water and dried them for a week and put it in my new nano ios tank to cycle. I had tested my ammonia went up at first, then nitrites were high. then finally both dropped to zero and nitrates went up. wc. total it took about 4 weeks. so cycle is complete. I added clownfish and have been very healthy since.. water change 10% every week.. 4 months have passes and my rocks still white! worst of all I'm having a sudden diatom attack.. my rocks still very white no form of algae growing. As what some other reefers have advised me, seems a bit wierd. anyone knows why?

[Harlequinmania]

I purchased my live rocks about 4 months ago, dipped them in fresh water and dried them for a week and put it in my new nano ios tank to cycle. I had tested my ammonia went up at first, then nitrites were high. then finally both dropped to zero and nitrates went up. wc. total it took about 4 weeks. so cycle is complete. I added clownfish and have been very healthy since.. water change 10% every week.. 4 months have passes and my rocks still white! worst of all I'm having a sudden diatom attack.. my rocks still very white no form of algae growing. As what some other reefers have advised me, seems a bit wierd. anyone knows why?

The " live" rock is call live for a reason when u dip into the freshwater and dry Over few day it must have been become dead rock by now which turn white. After awhile your coraline algae will come back

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Marine_fanaticz]

I just decom my 4 month nano and rescape... so today start back cycling again.

Point no.4) using mechanical filter like wool, sponge ect... must wash everyday... can wash with freshwater? As in let it run under the tap and place it back?

Thx:)

[bhtteo]

You can try using filter socks, so far i'm very happy with it.

[Marine_fanaticz]

ive got another question, my tank is not in the 2nd week of cycling and i noticed that some of the coraline algae on my rocks are disappearing... probably because i am now switching off all my lights and keeping the tank dark to prevent a diatom outbreak.

My question is, can i start dosing coraline algae additives (purple tech, coraline gro ect) during the cycle? or must i wait for the cycle to end before introducing these additives?

[artxakis]

my tank is abt 1 mth old. my live rock has turned from sporiadic light purple spots to now fully covered with light purple with certain areas very dark purple in colour. some spots are very white in color and it looks rather thick with some pointed edges. any ideas wats dat???? been dosing with alk , mg and ca+ almost daily abt 1/3 teaspoon.

[ongorg]

bros, thanks for sharing. i am abit too late when read this...finger crossed..hope my rocks all ok"