CodKing Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 I bought a fairly large chunk of coral rock from organisim a few weeks ago for a bit of and experiment and now I want to use it in the nano I'm planning. I've been doing a bunch of reading but can't seem to find a nice and simple guide on what to do to prepare the rock for use in the tank. I'm looking for info as basic as what water, what salt, temps, adding anything like ammonia. The rock was soaked in fresh chlorinated tap water for a couple of weeks and has been sitting dry now for maybe another couple. Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 mix up some saltwater in a bucket or get some from the beach and adjust the salinity chuck a heater in there perhaps your wave pump when it arrives and wait . it will go through a cycle as per normal you will get an ammonia spike then it will settle down will take a few months though. other option is to buy cycled rock . pet world have it at $25 a kg i think which is quite expensive but as far as i know they are the only lfs selling it at the moment. i do have some cycled rock in the garage in a large container but i will have to test it as ive been slack topping up and i dont know whether the salinity changes have affected the bacteria or not . its not live rock as such as it dosent have pods or other beneficial critters or even coralline algae but its cycled base rock and its defiantly free from pests like bad algae and pest anemones. dont add ammonia or any fish food or anything to start the cycle as there will be enough crud in the rock to get it started when mixing up salt water its best to use RODI water which has a total dissolved solids of 0(TDS=0) probably the easiest way for you to get it rather than buying a RODI unit is to buy the 10l containers of "pure dew" water for about$6 at the supermarket.(dont buy spring or mineral water) tap water has dissolved minerals and can have phosphates which all contribute to nuisance algae growth . this becomes especially important when you top up losses due to evaporation as using tap water will just be adding more and more minerals every time you top up. as for salt red sea salt is about $18 for 2 kg which makes 60l for the first time just mix it up according to the packet and get your rock cycling. for the temp 25 or 26 c will be fine, the salinty your aiming for should be 1.024-1.025 buy a refractometer if you havent already, they are cheap enough on fishstreet get the atc model. using a hydrometer doesnt really cut it as they are too inaccurate. also as far as cycling goes the type of bacteria you are trying to cultivate is anaerobic and lives inside the airless pores of the rockwork , this bacteria takes nitrate and turns it into nitrogen gas there will still be the aerobic ammonia and nitrite reducing types on the outside of the rock which will come naturally but for marine purposes its the anaerobic bacteria that is most important Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodKing Posted June 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Mate, once again a bunch of super info. Thanks very much! Prolly a month before display hardware starts arriving so I've got plenty of time to get things started. If you've got some rock to spare I assume I'd want to get my rock to a similar state before combining yeah? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 yeah or once ya get the hardware set up grab some of my rock and your away wont have much of a cycle that way and just chuck your rock in my container in garage to cycle as its gonna be a while before i need it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.