will this mess up my cycle?

Hi everyone. I'm here for your expert advice again.

I set up my tank 2 weeks ago. 25 gallons, 15lbs live rock from LFS, and a couple bags live sand.

The cycling is well on its way - my ammonia was up to 4, three days ago, then it went down to 2 as the nitrates hit 40, and now I have nitrites spiking too. Things are balancing out.

I just picked up some new rock today... but it is without a doubt, dead... considering I just had it in bleach for 30 minutes boiling, then in vinegar, then 4 rinses, and now in baking soda and salt water. It is easily 35lbs worth of "sterile" rock. Will adding it to my tank affect my cycle adversely? I don't mind if it slows it down by a couple days.... but I don't want to mess things up and get to a point where I don't know if the tank is cycled or not.

Any IMHO's?

Thanks In advance. I love this forum. ;D

 

if its basically like base rock after you nuking it, it shouldnt affect your cycle one bit. add away IMO

 

the one-day process is impractical. basically what you just did was poison the rock. to fully nuke it... you need about a week, with a lot of rinsing and drying. IMO putting it in your tank could lead to very bad things like traces of bleach and such

 

I'm not intending on adding it right this minute. I have already set it out to start drying. I've learned to be patient already, and this process is just starting.

I have an order for my lighting setup coming in on Wednesday, so adding it before then doesn't do my any good, it's not like I can put anything else in the tank for a while anyways.