Cooking dry/base rock

elephen · 02-19-2006, 12:55 PM

I want to make sure I do this right but...

Is cooking dry/dead LR the same as cooking rock that is 'established?'

I have about 150lbs of rock someone gave me that has been outside for quite some time, really nice peices (they ended up not liking saltwater tanks). I want to cook it becasue I know there are stored phosphors in the rock, and we all know what those equate to.

Do I have to 'seed' the rock with a peice of from from my current tank or just mix up some new salt water and toss it in my containers with a heater and powerhead?

gman0526 · 02-19-2006, 12:59 PM

What you need is some source of ammonia to jump start the cycle, a raw shrimp should be more than enough. Now if you want to seed the base rock while it's cooking then you can add a piece of established LR to have coralline pods and little critters populate the new rock.

elephen · 02-19-2006, 01:23 PM

Ah raw shrimp! Yum!

gman0526 · 02-19-2006, 02:27 PM

A nice Scampi sounds good right about now, LOL

Cooking is nothing more than curing rock longer and in the dark, making continuous water changes. How many times have we reccomended b4 to use shrimp to start a cycle? Same thing.

One thing though, since the rock is base rock, absolutely devoid of life, this process should take longer since the bacteria need to populate all the rock.

SeanT · 02-19-2006, 03:01 PM

Shrimp would work, so would a small piece of rubble.

elephen · 02-19-2006, 03:24 PM

Well I admit I was having quite the brainfart and couldn't remember since its been dry for a LONG time.

elephen · 02-19-2006, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeanT

Shrimp would work, so would a small piece of rubble.

You mean a small peice of rubble rock per container?

gman0526 · 02-19-2006, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elephen

You mean a small peice of rubble rock per container?

Pretty sure that's what he meant.

SeanT · 02-19-2006, 06:08 PM

Yep.

elephen · 02-20-2006, 07:47 AM

SeanT-

I have a BB question for you...

Ever since I have gone BB my skimmer performance has gone way up (which may partially be attributed to adding a HO UV unit also). Anyway I was doing some thinking the other day. I have quite a bit of particulate matter in the water column although no particles/detritius on the bottom at all. It stays suspended very well but there is always matter in the display. Is it possible that I have TOO much flow not allowing it to get to the skimmer?

Think I should bump up my return pump so I have a quicker overturn (currently running a Mag9.5 for return on my 120g 4x2x2). Or possibly add filter socks?

Not sure if your familiar with my setup so here it is. I have 2 closed loops, 1 Dart with 4 1" outputs and 1 Pan World 150-PS (pressure) powering 2 3/4" eductors that move a TON of water. Return is Mag 9.5. I have noticed detritius was collecting right infront of the overflow boxes so I added a powerhead blowing under the rock in the back to help keep it suspended.

My Phosphate is < .01, Nitrate is 2-6ppm, all per Salifert tests kits. The Nitrate is always extremely hard to read so I just take a 'range' guess based on the color.

MacnReef · 02-21-2006, 10:00 AM

Glad I found this thread...I actually am going to use a bunch of base rock for my new 120 and I was just going to throw it in

Guess I will need to set-up a vat and get it under way.

Mike

elephen · 02-21-2006, 10:49 AM

Bump, anything about too much flow in my last post?

MacnReef · 02-21-2006, 11:03 AM

How big is the sump? A mag9.5 is a little small, considering I was running a Mag12 on my 58. I will be running dual 40HD's on my 120 with penductors...so you may want to bump it up.

Also, filter socks are nice, IMO. I would recommend that you run a 50 - 100 micron felt sock for a few days and either wash it or get a few of them. Run these until the suspended solids are gone.

Mike

elephen · 02-21-2006, 12:32 PM

Flow is not an issue at all, I think its more or less my tank-sump turnover rate.

Sump is very small due to my size restrictions but I am in the process of designing and building a free-standing cabinet to house my skimmer, UV and calcium reactor.

Currently it is a 15g (HAHA YES please don't laugh to hard!) but I will upgrading to a 40-50g sump, possibly a custom acrylic one to fit perfectly underneath my entire stand.

I have some filter socks on order, I just hate waiting to have the darn things shipped from California.

When I do the new sump I may look into a Mag 12 or the next one up, I'd like to go with Eheim but I don't think they have enough flow for what I'm looking for.

MacnReef · 02-21-2006, 02:31 PM

Yeah, I know what you mean about flow. That is why I asked about the size of the sump. Until you get a larger sump, I wouldn't worry too much about upgrading the pump.

"Get a bigger sump then get a bigger pump" - MacnReef

Mike