[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Speedway_06
Quote:
Originally posted by Jocephus
That said, if you use dry rock, make sure to add some live rock to it to seed the rest. It will take quite a while for the marco rock to seed and function as if it were live. So you end up with a somewhat reduced filtering capacity for the first year or so. Personally, I think it is a great idea, as long as you are patient enough that you won't push a heavy bioload into the tank before it is ready.
My question is How Long does it take generally to seed dry "live" rock? How much live rock would you use to seed around 50 lbs of this macro rock?
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i dont think anyone can really tell exactly how long it takes for dead rock to become fully seeded. it is fine to use after it cures, which can take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks or more. it may not be filled with as much anaerobic bacteria on the inside as its live rock counterpart, but it should continually colonize as you will have introduced sources for this to occur.
i dont think it takes a whole lot of live rock for seeding purposes. ive seen a few ratios mentioned before...20%, 25%, 50%. ill be seeding 25lbs of marco rock with roughly 10lbs or so of fully cured hand-picked Kaelini rock from Premium Aquatics. once its all cured an in my tank, ill be adding livestock very slowly to give my seeded rock time to "catch up" with the new bio-load.