Cycling dry rock in trashcan, heater?

[PaDDy Killer]

Hello everyone, I am about to pull the trigger on a Red Sea 650 G2. I currently have a RS 350 that's way out of warranty but RS has stepped up and giving me a credit towards a new tank. I have about 30 pounds or so of dry rock I have removed out of my aquarium as my toadstools are taking over. Yesterday, I put the dry rock in a container and did about a ten gallon water change. I was using my sand siphon so I got a good amount of detritus in the container and added about ten gallons of clean salt water. I added a power head for circulation. Do I need to run a heater with the rock? Should I put a live rock from my display tank into the container? There was a little sand when I did my water change that went into the container.

 

[JTP424]

If the dry rock stayed wet, i.e. went straight from display tank into can you should be fine, it's basically live rock at this point. I would run a heater if it's anywhere like a garage etc where it might get cold.

 

[PaDDy Killer]

If the dry rock stayed wet, i.e. went straight from display tank into can you should be fine, it's basically live rock at this point. I would run a heater if it's anywhere like a garage etc where it might get cold.

It's been dead as I have had it in my shed for a while. I have removed rock over the years as my toad stools took more realastate.

 

[bubbgee]

Yes, I have done this while waiting for the new tank to set up. I used a powerhead and dosed bacteria (microbacter 7 xlm). Did not need to use a heater since I will dispose of the water anyway and I am in Southern California (just left it in the garage). Dropped in some dried mysis and pellets and tested for ammonia and nitrates. Took 3 weeks and then once the new tank was up, just dropped in the rocks and new water and dosed more bacteria and monitored ammonia.

 

[PaDDy Killer]

Yes, I have done this while waiting for the new tank to set up. I used a powerhead and dosed bacteria (microbacter 7 xlm). Did not need to use a heater since I will dispose of the water anyway and I am in Southern California (just left it in the garage). Dropped in some dried mysis and pellets and tested for ammonia and nitrates. Took 3 weeks and then once the new tank was up, just dropped in the rocks and new water and dosed more bacteria and monitored ammonia.

Stupid question- How will I know when the rocks are ready to put in the display tank? When you are testing are you looking for no ammonia or nitrates? Should I do a water change at some point? I am also in SoCal and it is set up in my garage, and as you know it, it feels more like summer currently.

 

[bubbgee]

i used

Stupid question- How will I know when the rocks are ready to put in the display tank? When you are testing are you looking for no ammonia or nitrates? Should I do a water change at some point? I am also in SoCal and it is set up in my garage, and as you know it, it feels more like summer currently.

I used the seachem ammonia guard and just dropped that in the bin with the water and rocks. Just follow the cycle as you would for a display tank-- ammonia will rise, then nitrites then nitrates which will rise. You can use any test kit at this point, since it is not the display tank you're testing.

I used new water in the display tank and threw out the water from cycling the bin. You can use that if you want to save the bacteria in the water column, but that is up to you. I'd rather use a new baseline instead in the display.

 

[PaDDy Killer]

i used
I used the seachem ammonia guard and just dropped that in the bin with the water and rocks. Just follow the cycle as you would for a display tank-- ammonia will rise, then nitrites then nitrates which will rise. You can use any test kit at this point, since it is not the display tank you're testing.

I used new water in the display tank and threw out the water from cycling the bin. You can use that if you want to save the bacteria in the water column, but that is up to you. I'd rather use a new baseline instead in the display.

Cool, thanks for the info. I am assuming I have a good amount of bacteria since I used water from my display tank.