Remote Cycle of rock? Is this possible?

[texanjordan]

My tank has been broken down for a few months now following my cross country move. I am building a house which wont be done for another few months. My tank had some corals growing on the overflow and there might be some other biological material that got left behind when I cleaned out my tank for transport. Would this material cause die off when I put water back in the tank, or the fact that the tank has been dry for months allread kill any type of biological material.

My second question is, I have 160 pounds of base rock, can I cycle this remotely in the months prior to my move? I have a trash can large enough to place the dry rock, and I can add a heater and water pumps. I would throw in some live rock to "seed" the base rock, and I have a few bottles of instant cycle. Keep in mind, the sandbed would not be in place obviously, and when I do set up my tank, the rock will be exposed for a little while while I aquascape. My goal would be to keep the cycle as short as possible when I set up. If all I would have to go thru would be a mini cycle, that would be great.

[ramsey]

It should be doable. It wouldn't really be different than curing LR. Just make sure you spike ammonia enough the actually kick off the cycle.

[Bill S]

I'll ditto what Ramsey said. But, yes, you will have a problem when you sent the tank up again, with the old material. With some luck, the newly cured rock will keep the spike from being a problem.

I'm always a proponent of doing things slowly. My tank has now been up probably 6 months, and still has just a handful of fish in it.