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 L# General Freshwater
  L# Rock Hold Bacteria?
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SubscribeRock Hold Bacteria?
sodaaddict84
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male usa
when i setup my 10gal i put a pourus rock from my established 29gal and since i did this i havent noticed any stress from cycling. i was wondering would the rock hold enough bacteria to skip the cycle?

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Post InfoPosted 11-May-2007 01:41Profile PM Edit Report 
sham
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female usa
Yep. Rock can make a huge difference. In fact if you get something really porous like limestone(texas holey rock) it can even provide areas of denitrification lowering your nitrates. My 29g brackish tank went from 80ppm nitrates at the end of cycling to 10ppm after adding over 20lbs of limestone. I barely did any water changes before stocking it. Saltwater tanks often use alot of limestone or coral rock for that reason. Problem is limestone increases ph so it's not recommended for most tanks and lava rock has a high chance of contaminants and very rough edges that can cause injury so it isn't used often either. For most freshwater tanks smooth rocks are used which don't hold much bacteria.
Post InfoPosted 11-May-2007 01:55Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sodaaddict84
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male usa
im not sure which kinda rock it is. but it looks like limestone in shape, but color and texture feels like concrete, or cement

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Post InfoPosted 11-May-2007 02:26Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sham
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female usa
If it's solid white with smooth areas between the holes it's probably limestone. If it's got various colored stones, is tinted another color, or you can see individual tiny pebbles/grains then it's possibly a "fake" rock. People sometimes make their own rocks out of various compounds especially to use as base rock under better rock. In fact they even make rocks and then drop them in the ocean to grow life for awhile before bringing back up and selling to aquarists. Most of these still raise ph though.
Post InfoPosted 11-May-2007 03:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sodaaddict84
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male usa
i see. im guessing this is one of those fake rocks.

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Post InfoPosted 11-May-2007 06:13Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
divertran
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male usa
Absolutely. Perhaps not enough to skip the cycle altogether but remember that the bacteria does not live in the water, it grows and colonizes on your rocks, substrate, decorations etc. Whenever setting up a tank I always put some gravel in from an existing tank and it really helps the cycle along, as well as reducing the stress created by it a lot.
Post InfoPosted 17-May-2007 10:05Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Shinigami
 
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It's possible. The main factor is how many fish you're going to put into the 10 gallon at first. Circumventing the cycle's effects will depend on the bioload alone. If you add too many fish, you'll need more bacteria to cope, which might not be available on the rock itself when you transfer the rock.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.
Post InfoPosted 18-May-2007 02:12Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
sodaaddict84
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male usa
well so far so good

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Post InfoPosted 23-May-2007 07:38Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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