Hello everyone so I was wondering would I be able to cycle my saltwater fish tank with lava rocks ( I know its obviously not as good as live rock) I have many peices, some that are very porous others that are somewhat porous and others that are barely porous. Would I be able to cycle the tank with lava rocks or would it harm the fish? Also if I can use it what would be best, very porous, somewhat porous, barely porous?
Volcanic Rock Question????
- Thread starter saltwaterulz
- Start date
Definitely not, you need "live" rock to cycle a tank. You could use this "dead" Lava rock in your tank but will need to have a source of ammonia to start the cycle no matter how porous the Lava rock is.
Live rock is the foundation of any SW tank, unless you are going to do Fish Only. Your rock will act as biological filtration for the tank and is extremely vital. If you get good quality rock it will also help speed up your cycle. Lava rock will not help at all with biological filtration or cycling of your tank.
Do yourself a favor and research some more online about Live Rock and SW keeping. Nice live rock will cost you a good amount of $. You can always save a bit by buying 40% live & 60% dry or base rock. The live rock will eventually seed the base rock.
Good luck and remember to research, SW keeping is less forgiving than FW keeping so the more prepared you are, the better your chances of successfully having a nice tank. Asking ?'s that can be easily answered with a click of mouse on google or by browsing this forum is a bad sign of impatience that doesn't translate well into SW keeping.
Live rock is the foundation of any SW tank, unless you are going to do Fish Only. Your rock will act as biological filtration for the tank and is extremely vital. If you get good quality rock it will also help speed up your cycle. Lava rock will not help at all with biological filtration or cycling of your tank.
Do yourself a favor and research some more online about Live Rock and SW keeping. Nice live rock will cost you a good amount of $. You can always save a bit by buying 40% live & 60% dry or base rock. The live rock will eventually seed the base rock.
Good luck and remember to research, SW keeping is less forgiving than FW keeping so the more prepared you are, the better your chances of successfully having a nice tank. Asking ?'s that can be easily answered with a click of mouse on google or by browsing this forum is a bad sign of impatience that doesn't translate well into SW keeping.
If you're going the fish-only route then you just need to cycle the tank normally by either:
- dosing with pure Ammonia
- adding a raw shrimp or prawn
- some use fish food to create an AM source
- using cheap fish (a bit inhumane but people do it)
Have you ever cycled a FW tank, it's the same process. Make sure to get a test kit to monitor your Ammonia, Nitrite, PH, & Nitrate, so you'll know when your cycle is complete. Be patient & stock your tank slowly & lightly AFTER your tank is fully cycled.
IMO a SW tank without live rock is nowhere near as cool. Even if you just buy a few pounds of live rock, the benefits are many. The fact that I can watch my rock cultivate with new organisms endlessly is pretty amazing.
good luck
- dosing with pure Ammonia
- adding a raw shrimp or prawn
- some use fish food to create an AM source
- using cheap fish (a bit inhumane but people do it)
Have you ever cycled a FW tank, it's the same process. Make sure to get a test kit to monitor your Ammonia, Nitrite, PH, & Nitrate, so you'll know when your cycle is complete. Be patient & stock your tank slowly & lightly AFTER your tank is fully cycled.
IMO a SW tank without live rock is nowhere near as cool. Even if you just buy a few pounds of live rock, the benefits are many. The fact that I can watch my rock cultivate with new organisms endlessly is pretty amazing.
good luck
well could i still cycle with the rocks just so it doesnt look completely empty while its cycling? also how much ammonia would i need? i got an 80 gallon corner pentagon tank. Also how much ammonia do i put in a time and do i just stir it around?
I would go the raw shrimp/prawn route for your cycle, just google it online and you'll have plenty to read up on http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cycling+a+tank+with+raw+shrimp&aq=f&oq=&aqi= .
You can put the rock in, it won't cause any issues with your cycle since it's dead rock.
You can put the rock in, it won't cause any issues with your cycle since it's dead rock.
It really doesnt matter what you put in the tank. What that guy is trying to say is that dry rock isnt going to cycle your tank. I would put whatever rock you wanted in the aquarium in before the cycling process. This way if you have live rock you can "cure it" in tank. Do what you want, but do some reading first. I dont mean to direct people away from this site, but a great website is wet web media. This is a site just filled with FAQ's about pretty much everything. All questions have been answered by a number of well versed people so you can read multiple points, and know what are the "rules" and the "guidelines" and then do what you want. It also speeds up the research time so that you dont have to ask people on here every little question, and so that they wont miss any fine details. Good luck
thanks guys for all the help but i got another question sorry. What would be better since im gunna use the dead rock should i put some of it in my filter or should i stik with the bio balls?
Q answered in your other thread. Please don't double post Qs. It gets confusing to folks answering them. 