How to cycle with live rock??

I have a 75 gallon tank that i am making fish only with live rock. I have a double long hood light, 75 gal. bio-filter, crushed coral, and about 80 lbs of I think base rock. The formerly live rock was given to me and I was told it was in a saltwater tank than put in a freshwater tank and i let it sit outside for about a week before placing it in my tank. The tank is up and running with the right salt level and 8.2 ph. I was told to cycle with damsels but three out of the five have died. The tank has been running for 2 weeks and i had my water tested and told the ammonia was fine and nitrites were noticed. Is there anything else i should do while it is cycling and what should i do to make the dead rock live again??Will it eventually just get bacteria on it or should i do something??Also do i need any more equipment like a protein skimmer even though it it will be fowlr??

 

At this point, I would just leave things be and let nature take it's course. Are you testing your water at present? If you are, let us know what your results are

 

As it has been said, just let the nature do the trick. I don't know if there is a precise definition of live rock, however the rock colonized by ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle bacteria can be regarded as a live rock. During the cycling process you will notice lots of algae blooms caused by high levels of chemical elements like silica. Once silica based compounds are processed by algae and your ammonia/nitrate cycle enters the stead-state phase you water can be regarded as mature.


Please refer to many different posts in the algae bloom/newbie sections to get more details on cycle and possible side-effects.

Good luck!

 

your base rock will become live once its colonized with bacteria. to make it look like the good liverock you see in other peoples tanks you would need to seed it with a small piece of LR that has coralline algae(purple, pink,ect.. algae) on it. it will eventually spread to the other rocks,and glass. Im in the process now, just a few weeks ahead of you. If you noticed any nitrites then your tank is still cycling, but not much longer. once your nitrites go to ZERO then your nitrates will rise, if your nitrates are high at the end do a water change(some have other opinions). i did not cycle with fish thou it all happens the same, its nature just wait,and test.
This is only my opinion so if anyone thinks other wise by all means correct me, im also a noob.
as for the skimmer, you will be amazed at the stuff it takes out of the water, DIY a skimmer cheap and pretty easy once you learn how they work. you wont need it for a while thou atleast until you have some fish in the tank.

 

As long as all of your parameters are up to par and you have seeded your tank with some rock with coralline you should begin to see coralline growth after your initial diatom and algae blooms. You will need sufficient calcium levels to sustain growth as well as low phosphate levels. As the tank matures and coralline growth is healthy it will help to keep nuisance algae to a minimum as the coralline will utilize the nutrients required of other algaes. Our tank has been up for about 4.5 months and all of our rock is now encrusted with coralline and 80% of the back glass is encrusted. The sides and front would be coated as well if I did not scrape on an almost daily basis.

 

its a slow process the cycle but the longer you wait the better it will be ,
If you need to speed things along their is some products you can buy such as CYCLE to bump things along.
Just remember patients is a virtue and nothing rings more true than this with a marine aquarium.
good luck

 

Thanks to all those who are answering my questions they are very helpful for someone just starting a saltwater tank. I tested my water recently and found the ph to be 8.2, ammonia 0.5, nitrite 0.25, and nitrates are 0. So the cycle must still have a way to go. I am assuming the ammonia will drop to zero and the nitrites will increase and then fall and the nitrates will then increase.

 

probly another 3wks- month befor you get normal readings. in the mean time read alot of books and plan your stocking.

 

When Your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels droop down, pay attention to calcium/magnesium. Having nice/stable levels calcium/magnesium will boost the growth of coraline algae!