Cooking dry rock?

[Reeftanker3295]

How i understand this is that you put all your rock in a big container with a powerhead and heater and let it sit in there in the dark for a long time and do partial water changes every week or so. I would understand how this kills algae because it cant feed but what does cooking rock do for dry rock? And a few questions, how hot do you keep the container? How much flow do you need? How big of a container would i need for 50-60 pounds of dry marco rock?

[twelve volt pro]

When I did mine, I set about 50#s up in a 30 gallon tote, with a Koralina 1 and an old heater I had setting around. I also set in a smaller piece of live rock out of my tank to seed it. This way you can almost just fill your tank and set your rock in and no cycle needed. Almost. I still waited two weeks after filling mine to transfer the livestock over from my smaller tank, and did so slowly.

Thats just how I did mine.

[Reeftanker3295]

So is it pretty much just cycling your rocks and making sure no algae grows because theres nothing to feed it? do you keep it at the same water temp as your main tanks or higher?

[twelve volt pro]

I kept mine at the same temp, same SG, everything except obviously light. When I got my bigger tank all built and setup, the rock was ready to go in. Like I said, I still waited about two weeks, and ran a few tests during that time to make sure there was no mini cycle due to the live sand, which there wasn't. I cooked my rock for about a month and a half and did a total of two or three small water changes.

[Reeftanker3295]

Alright thanks thats what ill do with my 50 pounds of dry rock then

[Phishnoob]

I built a new sump and am using it to cook some dry rocks that the guy I bought a used tank from threw in. A skimmer and flow with salt water and we are good to go. It is really temperate here so I didn't put in a heater yet. When live rock goes in with it I'll do that.

[Reeftanker3295]

Could somebody clear up what cooking rock actually does though? sounds like its just curing over a long period of time with no light. Is it just so that without light theres no chance of algae growing on them during the curing process? Should i add in a couple of pieces of rock that will be in the tank later on? This is going to be for my native tank so im thinking maybe add in some LI sound rock with them during the cooking process? And this native tank is going to be running at around 70 degrees so should i just not use a heater so that they are at the same temperature they will be in the tank?

[Fat Tony]

Cooking rock purges the rock of available unbound phosphates. The bacteria need something to feed on, and phosphates are what is available

[Reeftanker3295]

So its pretty much just giving the bacteria just phosphates to eat instead of having food and everything in the water so that when you do add the rock in theres absolutely no phsophates? This cures the rock as well right so when i start up my tank i can just throw it in and it will be fine, no cycle? I thought dry rock had nothing to worry about since it was dried up but i know that it has phosphates and die off too now

[motorslave]

When you cook rock, you add nothing to the tank. No food or anything that puts nutrients into the tank. The bacteria will continue to feed on any nutrients in the rock until the rock is void of these nutrients (the very same nutrients that feed alga). This allows you to start a new system with CLEAN rock! You need the bacteria to do this so you will have to cycle the dry rock to some extent in order to establish a population of bacteria. The easiest way IMO would be to add a piece of LR and that would introduce the bacteria.
No fish or animals of any kind in the cooking tank. Leave the rock to cook until it there is nothing left to feed the bacteria. This will be evident when the rock stops sloughing off what looks like sand or dust of sorts collecting on the bottom of the tank (no sand bet either, just rock). This is the waste created by the bacteria feeding. This is a long process and generally takes several months to do completely and correctly. HTH

[Reeftanker3295]

Well i wont have fish in my tank until months after its set up since the native fish wont be available in the winter so thats ok. Will adding a piece of rock from the long island sound be enough to kick start the bacteria in there or should i buy some live rock from the LFS?

[motorslave]

Considering pollution levels I wouldn't put anything in a tank from any location near shore. Just not worth the risk of introducing something bad to the tank. I would recommend getting a piece from the LFS.