29 gallon salt water tank

[xandrew245x]

Unfortunatly no live rock until wednesday Will it still be ok to place my rock directly into my tank, or will I have to cure it seperatley?

 

[csangler]

following your thread, you are asking some great questions. very helpful thx

 

[xandrew245x]

Thanks trying to learn as much as possible, I want my tank to flourish!

 

[csangler]

Inspect your live rock from ***** very well before buying. I bought a piece hastily and later discovered a tiny amount of green algae on it, hopefully it doesn't screw me. good prices for sure though. live and learn I guess

 

[btldreef]

If you can't QT your live rock, it's best to put it in a container with egg crate on the bottom and hyper salinity (1.035 or higher) them and give it a good scrub with a clean tooth brush.
the high salinity usually makes bad hitchhikers crawl out seeking a lower salinity. When they crawl out, they fall to the bottom of the container and can't get back to the rock because if the egg crate. Sometimes it helps to put some food under the egg crate.
The scrubbing will usually knock off any unwanted algae, as well as a possible unwanted hitchhiker.

 

[xandrew245x]

I ordered my live rock from the saltwater store, what kind of hitch hikers might be on the rock, I though thats what you wanted in your tank to help it out? Or will the good ones stay on the rock?

 

[btldreef]

It really doesn't matter what store rock comes from, hitchhikers are always a risk. The nice thing about hyper salinity is, it makes them come out and then you can determine what you want to keep or get rid of. I've had some good hitchhikers like collonista snails, baby brittle starfish and stomatella snails. But I've gotten my fair share of bad ones like pistol shrimps, green serpent starfish (the fish eaters), xanthid crabs, gorilla crabs, etc. unfortunately the bad hitchhikers are far more common than the good. I'd rather sacrifice one or two good ones to decrease the risk of the bad.

 

[snakeblitz33]

The most important ability in this hobby is your observation skills.

 

[xandrew245x]

Ok, I will make sure to soak them in hyper salinity, I am not all to familiar in what all the critters look like, so do I really need the good ones, or can they go to?

 

[btldreef]

You can check here: http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml if you're unsure or post pics of what you find on this site for identification. As long as you don't leave them in hyper salinity for too long they'll be fine

 

[xandrew245x]

ok, do they have to stay in water once they are removed from the rock, or can they be exposed to the air?

 

[snakeblitz33]

The worst critters on live rock are one's you can't really see... ich, flat worms, red bugs, AEFM, microscopic deseases and what not.
Some of the crabs on the rock are good... but if they have pointy claws they most likely are not good.
I've never quarantined live rock, and I have never done hypersalinity treatments, and I haven't ever had problems with pests that I couldn't remove from the rock manually.

 

[xandrew245x]

Thanks for the link, that will definitely help in indentifying them! Just out of curiousity, how do you seperate these things, they are so tiny!

 

[snakeblitz33]

With that said, I've never read anything that says a hypersalinity treatment will keep ich, parasites, microscopic viruses and bad bacteria, red bugs, flat worms, AEFW, and the like from entering the display tank.
Most people, if they want a completely sterile tank, use treated base rock...

 

[xandrew245x]

Well, since i'm using this to cycle my tank, couldn't i just stick my rock in and then watch over a time and remove anything thats bad, I feel that it would be slightly easier than dipping every piece of rock I get in a bucket, think this will work fine?

 

[snakeblitz33]

That's worked for me for years...

 

[xandrew245x]

....well...I think i'm going to just put them right into my tank, I can't wait until they get here on wens! I will post pictures as soon as they are in place. Really excited to add coral/fish, but I have a while still, and more equipment to buy.

 

[btldreef]

It can be a real PITA to catch a bad crab once you're entire tank is aquascaped, which is the main reason I use hyper salinity. I have had flat worms come off in hyper salinity for the record. It's not a sure thing, but it does help.

 

[xandrew245x]

well, if I can't get something out, i'll let you know, and you can say I told you so, and i'll learn my lesson ;P

 

[xandrew245x]

Hm, interesting, just got an email from someone that lives near me, said he seen a post of mine on a different forum about me wishing I would have started with a bigger tank and now he's trying to sell me is 75 gallon set up LOL.