Cali Kid Corals

Adding new rock structures w/o starting a new cycle

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L/B Block

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As the heading says -
I would like to add a new rock structure to my established tank without it starting to cycle.

Prob will be 15-20 lbs would be my guess.
If I just add dead rock -would that be ok-
Can I add live rock?


Thank you
 
no one can answer that question. Hui is correct. If your bio is huge. Then no problem. If your bio is small then major cycle.
So if you have say 500 lbs of rock for years and you throw in 20lbs. Your good.
If you have 20 lbs and throw in 500lbs. You’ve got a problem.
 
Turkeysammich said:
no one can answer that question. Hui is correct. If your bio is huge. Then no problem. If your bio is small then major cycle.
So if you have say 500 lbs of rock for years and you throw in 20lbs. Your good.
If you have 20 lbs and throw in 500lbs. You’ve got a problem.
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Two years tank up- prob 50 lbs of rock.
Adding 15 lbs-errr. Quite the gamble.
This what I thought but wanted to re-affirm.

Thanks for the input
 
Cook your dead rocks with skim waste and old waters from water change +pump and heater for 2 weeks. I made a mistake by rushing and putting in new rockscapes built from old rocks and is currently dealing with algae outbreak
 
Adauqua said:
Cook your dead rocks with skim waste and old waters from water change +pump and heater for 2 weeks. I made a mistake by rushing and putting in new rockscapes built from old rocks and is currently dealing with algae outbreak
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Does this negate the rocks from cycling?
 
Coral reefer said:
Put in a bin with tank water circulation pump and heater for a week or two and you’re good.
What kind of rock are we talking about? Lots of old dead stuff on it? You can bleach first if you’re worried
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In terms of rock-dunno-what rock structures you have? It is something I am contemplating -but I need to take measurements first.

If I go live rock- can I do the same but actually then actually cycle it with my tank water and should be good to go?
 
Coral reefer said:
Put in a bin with tank water circulation pump and heater for a week or two and you’re good.
What kind of rock are we talking about? Lots of old dead stuff on it? You can bleach first if you’re worried
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This - rinse the rock beforehand as much as you can. Unless the rock has tons of dead stuff, you’ll be fine.

I wouldn’t use skimmate. Use your old tank water after a water change. Bucket/heater pump for a week or two depending on the amount of dead stuff and toss it in.

Worst case scenario you’re doing a couple water changes if you notice some sort of negative impact post new rock.
 
I did it before changed 80% of my rock work, but I soaked the dry rock I was adding for like 2 months. So I had zero issues when I did it. Really no cycle. Can't say it's the same If I wouldn't have soaked it first.
 
It’s dead stuff with lack of established bacterial filter that causes a “cycle”, by which we mean noticeable amounts of ammonia and nitrite before it goes to nitrate.

Since you have an established bacterial filter, it’s just how much dead stuff you add and if it’s enough to make ammonia and nitrite faster than it can be broken down by the bacteria. So clean rock is no “cycle”, dirty rock will have some, and dirtier rock will have more.

Practically speaking, I don’t worry about adding some relatively clean rock to an established aquarium.
 
If you're adding inert (by which I mean, nothing to rot, nothing which will be eaten) things, I don't think it'll cause any kind of cycle.

A cycled tank is a tank which has sufficient bacteria (or other things) to consume the amount waste being produced.
If you're not adding waste, nor reducing the amount of bacteria, you should not upend your cycle.

You will get uglies on the new rock, though.
 
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JVU said:
It’s dead stuff with lack of established bacterial filter that causes a “cycle”, by which we mean noticeable amounts of ammonia and nitrite before it goes to nitrate.

Since you have an established bacterial filter, it’s just how much dead stuff you add and if it’s enough to make ammonia and nitrite faster than it can be broken down by the bacteria. So clean rock is no “cycle”, dirty rock will have some, and dirtier rock will have more.

Practically speaking, I don’t worry about adding some relatively clean rock to an established aquarium.
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Thanks for the breakdown -helps immensely!
 
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tribbitt said:
If you're adding inert (by which I mean, nothing to rot, nothing which will be eaten) things, I don't think it'll cause any kind of cycle.

A cycled tank is a tank which has sufficient bacteria (or other things) to consume the amount waste being produced.
If you're not adding waste, nor reducing the amount of bacteria, you should not upend your cycle.

You will get uglies on the new rock, though.
Click to expand...
I can live with the uglies-wonder if the urchin would tackle it!
 
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