I would boil or bleach any base rock you use, and perhaps cure it for a few weeks. I would expect that since it is essentially sterile, there will be no die-off and therefore no cycle. I would only be afraid that somehow it would have been contaminated, ie. perhaps it has been sitting in a garage near motor oil, pesticides, etc. I used 150 lbs of base rock in my tank and although I cannot say for certain when it became "live", I have not had any problems with it, and after six months, I would say that it is impossible to tell the difference between my Kanai live rock and the base rock, aside from two large chunks that do not receive much direct light. My base rock was live rock that was bleached, rinsed and left unused for about five years.
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-Quinn
Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906
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