When is cooking rock done?

dead fish · Aug 2, 2012

I have some rock that I got from Ray via j.stacey that's been cooking in the garage since Saturday. Some of it was already in water but all of it was live and cycled previously.
I just tested the nitrates/nitriates and they all test out good. Is it done?

Kpotter2 · Aug 2, 2012

What do you mean done?It will not be done tell you put it in your tank. Put it in

dead fish · Aug 2, 2012

Posted By Kpotter2 on 08/02/2012 09:53 PM
What do you mean done?It will not be done tell you put it in your tank. Put it in
Click to expand...

I mean, isn't supposed to cycle in there for like a month or something?

blackx-runner · Aug 2, 2012

Was there a nitrate/nitrite spike? Was the dry rock completely clean? I would say you either haven't seen the cycle yet, or it was kept wet and "live" and you may not see much of a cycle. Its hard to tell without knowing exactly what you got for rock.
If you are adding it to a tank with inhabitants then yes you want to cycle it separately, or add it in small enough quantities that you won't get a big spike in the tank. If its for a new setup with no critters then you can just put it in the tank and cycle it.

dead fish · Aug 2, 2012

Yeah, it's going in the main tank. It was live then dried out for a bit. Some was kept wet. Don't want to screw anything up.

dead fish · Aug 2, 2012

I'm not sure if there was a spike. I put it in there and tested for the first time this evening.

B-Rad · Aug 3, 2012

This is a good article on cooking rock!
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?p=109759
Hope this helps.

dead fish · Aug 3, 2012

Posted By B-Rad on 08/03/2012 07:51 AM

This is a good article on cooking rock!
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?p=109759
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

yeah, i read that a couple days ago. Deals specifically with taking rock out of an established tank and cleaning it of HA and other nuisance stuff. The rock I've got doesn't fit the description of what the article's mostly about. It's clean, previously live rock. I'll keep looking around for other articles too.
Thanks!

ThyRaven · Aug 3, 2012

If the rock came from j.stacey then you have nothing to worry about with pests and nuisance stuff. They kept there tank pretty clean and health. I'd start moving 4 or 5 pieces every 2 or 3 days into the main tank. Shouldn't need to cook it.

dead fish · Aug 3, 2012

OK, good to know.

Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology or misunderstanding something, too. If the rock was out of water for long enough to "die", am I using the best process to bring it back to life? Do I need to?

blackx-runner · Aug 3, 2012

Posted By thejtl on 08/03/2012 10:30 AM

OK, good to know.
Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology or misunderstanding something, too. If the rock was out of water for long enough to "die", am I using the best process to bring it back to life? Do I need to?
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I would say cycle might be a better term for what you are trying to do with the rock. I think "cooking" is more of a term used to rid the rock of pests, or nuisance algae. If there is was a good amount of die off, then you will want to cycle it in a separate system so a spike won't harm your tank inhabitants. Or you can add minimal amounts to your system at a time. You just don't want to overwhelm your biological filter and cause an ammonia spike in the tank by adding too much at once.

dead fish · Aug 3, 2012

The rock was very clean to the eye. And like I said, I tester nitrites and nitrates yesterday and got very little if anything.

blackx-runner · Aug 3, 2012

Posted By thejtl on 08/03/2012 04:54 PM

The rock was very clean to the eye. And like I said, I tester nitrites and nitrates yesterday and got very little if anything.
Click to expand...

did you test ammonia? That will be the first indicator of any kind of cycle.
the biological life in the rock converts the ammonia to nitrites, then the nitrites are converted to nitrates as the cycle continues.

dead fish · Aug 3, 2012

I didn't have anything here to test for amonia (need to get a full test kit) but I figured no nitrites/nitrates after a week was a good sign.

blackx-runner · Aug 3, 2012

or a sign that ammonia is building up and the cycle is just starting....
I would get an ammonia test kit before you start transferring too much of the rock to your main tank.

dead fish · Aug 3, 2012

And so I will. Good idea. I'll grab some test strips.

dead fish · Aug 3, 2012

Well, I grabbed a whole test kit. Ammonia around 2.0. Guess I'm waiting.

Thanks for the help.

Kpotter2 · Aug 3, 2012

I am kind of lost. If its live rock it shouldn't need cured again. Live rock unless totally dried for weeks should still be good. It will cycle of course, but all live rock will cycle once put in a new tank no matter what you do. Live rock will always have some die off when moving it. Am I wrong here?
Plus your talking about a larger tank and putting a little rock in there should not really impact the tank any more then a normal cycle that's going to happen anyway. Its going to cycle again after its cycle in another container anyway. It the way it has happen with my tanks each time. 29gal,40gal and 75gal. With or with out critters. If you keep the cycle in control then most fish will do just fine. Tangs may not, but the rock is going to cycle again each time you move it from one body of water to the next. I would add the rock in one or two rocks at a time a week until its all in. Really I would just add it all in and watch the perimeters closely and change water when needed. You can always lock the Ammonia and Nitrites with some locking solution.

I could be way off, but some time you live and learn too.

Good Thread here.

dead fish · Aug 4, 2012

Good points, Kyle. I may be trying to be a little over cautious because my tendency is to always want to go too fast. I'd love to hear the thoughts of others on this point.

Some of these rocks are huge as well. I might add a couple of the smaller better looking one. My total water volume is about 230 gallons. Hopefully the system can take it. I'm also a little worried about stressing the powder brown but he seems to be doing well so far.

B-Rad · Aug 4, 2012

The rock that has been out of the water, (dry) will still have dead bacteria deep inside the pours of the rock. This will have to be cycled for a time. Smell it, does it have a bad oder to it?

For the wet live rock, even though the rock was live and cycled previously, you are putting it into a different bio load. The good bacteria, (still living) will have to adjust to the new bio load so you will still see some kind of a cycle.

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