theMeat

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At start up I put 100 lbs. of dry pukani into my 220, along with about 70 lbs live rock from my previous tank.
Also put 3 garbage bags of sand, about 70 lbs, that a member here gave me. That had been sitting in his yard for 2 mos., along with about 40-50 lbs from my previous tank.
The initial cycle was not bad, and that was 16-17 mos ago, still haven't needed a water change. I actually put bio balls in about 6 mos ago to try and get some po4.
 

vio

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Last year , after i lost my tank (Dinoflagellates.... ARGH!) 220 Gal. i start again 300 Gal. i got no way to take some "Good" water from anybody (i drive motorcycle most) so i order 660 pounds of Pukani Dry Rocks, i cure for 2 months (add Bacteria, change water etc.) for some reason i believe i am OK. i end up , lots of H.A. Now i am back on Tonga and refuge (90 Gal. +30 Gal. refuge) i got nothing in my swamp (60 gal. i mean Rocks, just one block of MarinePure Ceramic Biomedia Plate 8x8x4) and cure again the rocks for few months, until i like it, i use 220 Gal. for cure (Algae Scrubber and Bio-Pellets) i may convert the 220 Gal. in refuge .
 

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vio

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theMeat

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Vio, thread may go in a dif direction?

You have way too much rock. Empty your fuge of rock and grow some macro. It will consume nitrate and phosphate. Instead of mostly store until its saturated then release.

Bleach for cleaning rock will take weeks, and alot more effort. Muriatic acid will take days and offer better results. But in a new tank that needs to cycle unnecessary. Unless the rock isn't dry, or has pests.

"Good" water is far less effective to seed a new tank than some rock and/or a filter sock.

Think those 3 lights on your scrubber are too intense and slowing your growth. Try experimenting/replacing one of them with a smaller wattage. Would guess if you do you will end up replacing all of them
 
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tnc112105

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Thank you everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it!


When my husband and I bought the Pukani rock, we understood that it would take a while for rock to cure and for the phosphate to come out of the rock. By no means are we intending to set up the tank in a weekend. We have our 55 gallon tank set up which is housing our livestock and corals, so the rock can take as long as it needs to finish curing so we don't run into problems.


The 55 gallon tank is actually the reason we went with dry rock from the get-go. The number of pests that can be introduced from live rock and the initial cost were the two deciding factors for us to start with dry rock for our new tank. I am hoping to speed up the process by running GFO and heavy skimming from Day 1 to absorb the phosphate as it is produced.


I'm going to give the aquascape another go this weekend. Hopefully I can have these rocks wet and start the curing process by Sunday. Since the rocks are going to be releasing nutrients into the water for a while, does it matter if I use dechlorinated tap water for curing?
 

vio

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Vio, thread may go in a dif direction?

You have way too much rock. Empty your fuge of rock and grow some macro. It will consume nitrate and phosphate. Instead of mostly store until its saturated then release.

Bleach for cleaning rock will take weeks, and alot more effort. Muriatic acid will take days and offer better results. But in a new tank that needs to cycle unnecessary. Unless the rock isn't dry, or has pests.

"Good" water is far less effective to seed a new tank than some rock and/or a filter sock.

Think those 3 lights on your scrubber are too intense and slowing your growth. Try experimenting/replacing one of them with a smaller wattage. Would guess if you do you will end up replacing all of them
I got Algae Scrubber, light are perfect ask Ravi, https://www.manhattanreefs.com/foru...diy-algae-scrubber-simple-cheap-design-4.html, also my Chaeto, last time i remove 1/2 of 40 lb. bag, i am in good direction, just need more time, i am 110% Bio, that the reason i got so much Rocks, i got nice yellow orange sponge , some corals, Rocks turn in nice color every week, i prefer Bio then Acid Muriatic. I chose the nice one for refuge, most still cure, until i like it.The reason i said "wrong direction" O.P. was about glue rocks not cure, i pick up that.:)
 

edd

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Thank you everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it!


When my husband and I bought the Pukani rock, we understood that it would take a while for rock to cure and for the phosphate to come out of the rock. By no means are we intending to set up the tank in a weekend. We have our 55 gallon tank set up which is housing our livestock and corals, so the rock can take as long as it needs to finish curing so we don't run into problems.


The 55 gallon tank is actually the reason we went with dry rock from the get-go. The number of pests that can be introduced from live rock and the initial cost were the two deciding factors for us to start with dry rock for our new tank. I am hoping to speed up the process by running GFO and heavy skimming from Day 1 to absorb the phosphate as it is produced.


I'm going to give the aquascape another go this weekend. Hopefully I can have these rocks wet and start the curing process by Sunday. Since the rocks are going to be releasing nutrients into the water for a while, does it matter if I use dechlorinated tap water for curing?

use only ro/di water or you will be adding phosphate and nitrates to your rock.
since your rock is dry it is easier to set up rock. if you keep playing with the rock you should need little epoxy. i rarely use it for aquascaping.
 

theMeat

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ny
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use only ro/di water or you will be adding phosphate and nitrates to your rock.
since your rock is dry it is easier to set up rock. if you keep playing with the rock you should need little epoxy. i rarely use it for aquascaping.
Good points
I rarely use glue or rods, just place together nicely, making sure the bottom rocks sit flat onto tank bottom. Especially with pukani, which can be easily manipulated into shapes that fit together.
On a new tank you may change your mind about structure once you start putting corals in, and being able to move the rock around to stir things up makes getting throu new tank syndrome more managable
 

fritz

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J-B Weld "WaterWeld" is great stuff. Its available at any lowes and is super strong. The key is obviously to mix the two parts together well, they are a playdough constancy. The other trick is to do the rock in two parts.

I start with one rock and mush half the epoxy I will use into all the crevices where it will contact the other rock. I make sure the epoxy has a great bond to this rock. I then go and do the same thing to the other rock. When you then put these two rocks together (tightly) the epoxy will bind to itself and it will become one rock.

Your skimmer won't be the same though for about a week.
 

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