Rocks coming today - Need some advice

It is dry rock and so it can be stored dry. You will have to cycle it in saltwater before you can start adding livestock to your tank though.

 

Yeah, dry rock is fine. How are you going to cycle the tank?

 

Just an FYI, a lot of folks tend to believe that larger tanks are easier to maintain, although a 40 vs. a 29 wouldn't be a huge difference. Larger tanks are more labor intensive, but generally the parameters can be more stable and there's more room for error. I'm sure there are dissenting opinions out there. I went from a 29 gal BC to a 75 to a 180. I find that I don't worry as much about the 180 from day to day.

 

I like my nanocube because it helped me figure out the whole process and get into a feeding / cleaning / testing / water change routine. It's only been about 7 months since I started and I'm now upgrading to a 40g breeder with a 20g sump. (I can't reasonably go any bigger than that where I want to keep the tank)

 

I didn't put this in my previous reply to your post...but, I made the mistake of putting dry rock directly in my 60 gal tank and cycling the tank with it. I fought issues for more than a year. I am starting up a 2nd tank now and bought Pukani rock from BRS ...but, I am following their instructions on curing/cooking the rock first for 4 to 5 weeks. I am going to setup the tank this coming weekend with cured rock. Patience is very difficult, but I'm confident it will payoff. Here's a link to the video..

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/howto-curing-live-rock-for-saltwater-aquariums/

There are multiple opinions on this topic...I just know that my prior experience of putting dry rock in directly without curing/cooking first created a very rough start. I worked through it, but wow...lots of issues.

 

Damn, I wish I would've seen that video before I started.

 

I wish I had watched that video also before I set up my 60.

So...issues...basically two: cyano and algae. One of the keys to "curing" or cooking the rock is the absence of light. It's done basically in a dark area. So, no light means that cyano and algae cannot grow. The organics on the rock break down by allowing 'good' bacteria to eat it up...in the process the rock 'cycles'. So, you're really doing two things at the same time - curing and cycling. What I did with my 60 is put the dry rock in the tank, filled it with saltwater, added some live sand, put in a couple cheap fish (another bad thing), and turned on the lights...instant ree, right? Well...over time, the organics left on the dry rock breakdown. Decomposing organics is basically nutrients in the tank - and nutrients plus light will feed cyano and feed algae growth. So for over a year (probably closer to 2) I battled cyano and algae...it was horrible. When I would do water changes, I would remove most of the rock and scrub them in buckets of saltwater to clean them off...ug. I almost quit the hobby multiple times because it seemed like an endless battle. Again...watch the video - it says the same thing I just said. Starting with dry rock is great because you don't inherit a bunch of hitch hikers...but make NO MISTAKE, there are plenty of dead organic material on that rock that needs to be removed. The ONLY way to get it off is to let bacteria eat it off. So, my most basic advice to you is do what they say to do in the video. Waiting the 4 to 5 weeks to setup your tank is well worth the hassle in the long run.

 

i also suggest googling Rock reincarnation... beyond "cooking" . i will be doing this method with my brs pukani