Seeding live rock

[greneis7]

Hey guys! Going to start getting approx. 50lbs of "dead" rock ready for my new tank. I found this step by step and think it's pretty straight forward, please take a look and let me know what you think.

•Fill the plastic tub with salt water. Livestockusa.org recommends a 35 gallon tub for 40 to 65 pounds of live rock. Do not fill to the top. Your live rock will displace water when you put it in.

•Step 2
Test the pH of the water. If necessary, condition it so that it has a pH between 8.2 and 8.4 using a pH increasing or decreasing product.

•Step 3
Check the specific gravity of the water using a hydrometer. The water should have a specific gravity of 1.021 to 1.025; if it is outside this range raise or lower the salt level accordingly.

•Step 4
Maintain a water temperature in the mid 70s to around 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the curing process.

•Step 5
Clean the live rock. Remove sponges from the live rock--with a gloved finger, press the rock, and when you find a soft spot, you have found a sponge. They die in the air and will foul your tank quickly, according to Reeftime.com. Also remove hitchhikers, such as shrimp and crabs. You can also use a soft brush and gently scrub the live rock. This will speed the seeding process and not harm desirable living organisms on the live rock.

•Step 6
Place live rock into the water. It will remain submerged for two to four weeks during the seeding process.

•Step 7
Insert and turn on the powerheads (submersible water pumps) to keep the water oxygenated. The live rock is now seeding.

•Step 8
Perform 20 to 30 percent water changes every two or three days, suggests Marinedepot.com. This keeps ammonia levels down. Siphon off the dead matter from the bottom of the tub.

•Step 9
Test frequently for ammonia and nitrates. When ammonia levels cease spiking and nitrates drop off to zero, states Marinedepot.com, the live rock is seeded. The live rock should smell fresh. If you detect the scent of rotten eggs, you should continue seeding.

A few questions...
Because this has been in a rubbermaid for like 7yrs, I'd planned to shake it off and rinse it first. Do I still need to scrub it?

How much "live" rock from the LFS should I add to the mix to give life to the dead rock? (The tank is 110gal so I will need more than this starter 50lbs)

One guy told me that I needed a light on it as well. Thoughts on this?

I'm starting this process in a large rubbermaid because I still need to get the tank to my house... will it be okay to transfer the rock to the tank before it's totally done or should I wait? The tank is going to have to go through a cycle itself, so I was thinking it could just kind of do this together?

Help me bring this stuff back to life! :tumble:

 

[greneis7]

Any thoughts as to how much sand I'm going to want to put in?
I have a BSJ that will eventually go in here, so I need a decent amount. I just have no clue how to figure out how many bags/lbs I'm going to need.

 

[Adalius]

For the rock, if it's been dead for 7 years I think a good rinse should be plenty, maybe a light scrub to loosen up any dried out detritus on them so you're not dealing with it.

How much live rock you want to do is up to you. The more you put in to seed the faster it will seed. You're going to end up needing between 110-150 lbs roughly, so I'd put as much as you can in with the dry rock to start seeding without cramping the container to the point that you're getting dead spots.

As for the sand question, I usually shoot for 5" in my tanks, BSJ's need around 5-7", you just have to be careful of getting too deep and going anoxic which could start to form hydrogen sulfide gas. So if you wanted to do 5" you'd take your length in inches * width in inches * 5" / 1728 * 70.
Basically you're getting cubic inches, converting to cubic feet by / 1728, and multiplying by the average weight of a cubic foot of sand which is about 70 lbs for aragamax. This should get you the weight you need for 5", if you change the 5" in the formula to whatever you want your sand depth that'd work too.

Each type of sand is a little different, sugar sand packs tighter and weighs more per cubic foot, where as crushed shells are less dense and weight less, but the formula should get you in the ballpark. And then figure you're going to be seeding that with a cup or two of live sand as well, which shouldn't impact your depth in a 110g.

 

[greneis7]

I picked up another 30lbs of live rock and split everything between two rubbermaids. I have powerheads on both, and a heater on one that I will just switch back and forth.
I have about 30lbs in my 29gl tank right now and I think that it will eventually go into the big one.
I also threw some spira in there... not sure if it's going to make a huge difference, but with that much "dead" rock, I figured it could use all the help it could get. I also put my filter floss that I changed today in one of the tubs.