Live Rock (again)

[dannyboy01]

Hi there guys when i got my juwel trigon 190 it came with about 15kg of live rock, only thing is that the bloke i got it off had kept it out of water for a while so it was dry. Iam currently cycling the tank at mo with the rock in it and nothing else doing weekly water changes (RO), how long is it going to be before i see any real change in the rock and also how long before i can start stocking. also is it better to run my protein skimmer on or off while curing the rock (it is on at mo and it is extracting waste).

 

[callell]

Run your skimmer 24/7

Test for Ammonia & Nitrites

You will get a spike then a drop off

When those readings are 0 your tank is ready to be slowly stocked

(as long as you other readings are in line)

 

[Ricey]

how dry is "dry" lol

if it was totally bone dry throughout, then there will be zero bacteria on it and therefore zero cycling potential. some of the old dry dead stuff will very slowly turn to NH3 and start the cycle going, but it will be slooow

if the rock was still damp inside, then you might have a slim chance, and you'll probably see a high NH3 spike in the next few days.

 

[dannyboy01]

how dry is "dry" lol

if it was totally bone dry throughout, then there will be zero bacteria on it and therefore zero cycling potential. some of the old dry dead stuff will very slowly turn to NH3 and start the cycle going, but it will be slooow

if the rock was still damp inside, then you might have a slim chance, and you'll probably see a high NH3 spike in the next few days.

Cheers guys its been running for about 2 weeks and there is some signs of purple sponges growing on most of the rocks and the ammonia has got quite high but slowely getting lower now, the guy in the lfs said it will become active but it might take a long time, also im just wary that if i start adding stock when my waters right that i might get bristle worms or other pests come and get the little fishys.

 

[Matty P]

Hope all goes well and the LR wasn't too dry.

Matt

 

[tmreynolds]

how dry is "dry" lol

if it was totally bone dry throughout, then there will be zero bacteria on it and therefore zero cycling potential. some of the old dry dead stuff will very slowly turn to NH3 and start the cycle going, but it will be slooow

if the rock was still damp inside, then you might have a slim chance, and you'll probably see a high NH3 spike in the next few days.

Cheers guys its been running for about 2 weeks and there is some signs of purple sponges growing on most of the rocks and the ammonia has got quite high but slowely getting lower now, the guy in the lfs said it will become active but it might take a long time, also im just wary that if i start adding stock when my waters right that i might get bristle worms or other pests come and get the little fishys.

You need to be measuring for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, temp, sg as a minimum. When ammonia and nitrite are 0 for a week, do a large water change, then you should be ready for your cleaner crew. Nitrates should be below 20ppm. sg should be around 1.025 and ph around 8.2. Make sure you always use RO/DI water for changes.

Don't worry about bristle worms and the like, unless you have a mantis shrimp or rogue crab in there, they don't pose a threat to your fish.

Good luck