Curing live rock/tank cycle

So! I ordered 40lbs of this Caribbean base rock that's only suppose to have coralline algae on it with no other life so no curing needed, but this dude called me yesterday from Florida and told me due to shortage they will be upgrading my order at no additional cost to me, as we spoke the rock was still sitting at the bottom of the ocean, so he said this rock will need to be cured, I know nothing about this, but since my tank is empty and has not started it's cycle, could I cure and cycle the tank at the same time?

 

Yes you can. I uploaded a file for you to read. It is fairly simple. ;D

 

Maybe this thread will help as well:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/water-changes-during-cycle-130912-4.html

 

Here is a little advice from me, as i am nearing the end of my cycle, while curing live rock in my new marine tank. You are going to get advice from alot of people, most of them are going to tell you NOT to do water changes. Ammonia and Nitrite spike in every aquarium during the cycle. But DO NOT let your nitrites reach 5+. When/If nitrites get that high, its slows down the bacteria growth that convert your nitrites to nitrates and the cycle can get stuck. If your nitrites get around the 5ppm mark, do a 50% water change. By doing a water change you are only removing some of the nitrites from the tank, you are not removing the beneficial bacteria as they do not live in the water column. I got this advice in a thread from Dr. Tims. My nitrites have been stuck at 5+ppm for almost 3 weeks. I did a 50% water change yesterday to bring my nitrites down, it brought it down to 3ppm and this morning my nitrates are 1ppm. The water change worked. So the "no water change" advice is only good if the nitrites dont get too high. Keep that in mind.

 

ohhh!! Sounds like a lot of work, I'm up for it, thanks sticksmith.

 

+1... I like this advice.

 

No problem. Good luck to you and just take it slow. ;D

 

Thanks for the advice, I sure will be keeping an eye if that, glad I bought 2 test kits, one mainly to keep on eye on things during the cycle.

 

I'm curious about this concept as well. I want to cycle my tank with live rock as well, but I have heard that most of the coraline algae will die during the cycle. Is this true? If so, it kind of seems like a waste to buy the nice LR to start off no?

 

I don't think a lot of the coralline algae will die off, it takes a long time to kill off coralline and the cycle should be finished long before that stuff dies off.