Cycling with live rock

drew1092 · 08-11-2009, 09:24 AM

Good morning! So I just started my new little 30 gallon reef tank with 35 pounds of live rock and live sand. I was very excited because all sorts of beautiful things are growing out of the rock. I'm not good at ID yet but Im guessing some kind of soft corals and mushrooms. Also a lot of very deep burgendy algae and purple (I assume to be coralline).

Then while using my time wisely at work last night, I started reading many forums that said you should never use such well seeded LR to start a tank. Now I am worried. So far after 3 days, everything looks great. Did I screw up? What should I excpect? Also, I thought I should be running my lights as if I was lighting a reef tank. Is that wrong? Thanks for your suggestions!

ckusnierek · 08-11-2009, 09:40 AM

If you used good wet live rock with little or no die off you will probably be fine.

soft corals are very reliant and will usually survive a cycle.

It sounds like you use fully cured rock and as long as you did not allow it to dry or sit more than a few hours out of water you will have a very minor cycle if at all.

ChrisPrusha · 08-11-2009, 09:43 AM

I don't think you have anything to worry about. There will inevitably be some die-off, but that is to be expected.

Running your lights on a cycling tank is your choice. I always liked to do it so I could see what was going on.

drew1092 · 08-11-2009, 05:57 PM

Thanks for the help, you put my mind at ease. We picked up the rock locally and the guy covered the soft corals with wet paper towels from his tank. Probably out of the tank only 2-3 hours. Glad to here we did it right. Now the problem is figuring what is problematic and what is good. Study time I guess. Thanks again! TRT rocks!(no pun intended)