cycling base rock question...

[naesco]

Originally Posted by someguy

I just finished doing just what you are asking about. I had about 65 lbs of clean, dead rock and bought one nice piece of live rock. My live rock had nice shape, good coraline algea and no obvious pests.
I did the cycle in my display tank with heaters and a couple of powerheads. I kept the temp at 80, and fed the tank with fish food about once a week. I tested for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite once a week to make sure things were progressing. After about 6 weeks, all three parameters were down to 0.
About half way through, I hooked up my sump and started running my skimmer and some carbon and phosphate media. As a result, I got a really good cycle, with minimal algea growth. I've now added a CUC and my first three fish, and everyone is happy.

You should be adding one fish per month as you will create problems. Do not add any further fish for some time.