New Rock- Tank cycled?

[ken6217]

I picked soem very nice rock from Something Fishy on Saturday. They said that had it for a few weeks. The rock had no smell at all. I brought it home, hit it with a brush, rinsed it and put it in my tank with about 35% water from my other tank with the balance new water, and a small piece of live rock from my other tank. This morning (Monday) I tested ammonia and nitrite and they are both zero. has the tank cycled or maybe the amount of nitrite or ammonia is still diluted from the new water? My skimmer has not done much with this rock either. I am assuming that there is not much in the water.

With this said, I still needed few more pieces of rock and got them yesterday. They are still in a pail of water and will re- aquascape today. Those pieces do have a smell to them. If the tank has cycled, will that "move" these new pieces along quicker? Will the new rock harm the bacteria of the rock I got on Saturday?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[panmanmatt]

The tank may be "cycled" already but I doubt it could handle the bioload of many fish at this point. I would feed the tank what you would normally feed with fish in it and then check your readings in a few hours and see what you get. If you have any signs of ammonia then the tank is not ready, Also check it again the next morning and see what it shows.

Adding the uncured rock will not harm your LR, it will actually benefit it by supplying an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed on. The existing bacteria will help to cure the new rock. But if you have any livestock in the tank, you will need to cure the new rock in a separate container before putting it in the tank.