adding dead rock to existing tank?

[ducky]

I purchased a used Eclipse today and it came with several pounds of LR. I have my existing 180G with sump that I could put it in to seed it but I was afraid I might have some decomposition or *other* problem. Should I not worry about it or should I set up the eclipse and then seed it from my main tank?
Thanks...

 

[markanderson]

LR should be added slowly with the same cation used when adding fish. I always quarantine my lr before putting it into my tank.

 

[nycbob]

what do u mean by deadrock? is it baserock? if it is baserock, then simple wash it and put in into ur dt.

 

[ducky]

Sorry, it used to LR now it is dead rock...

 

[bonebrake]

I bought dead rock (Marco rock) and it cycled very hard - lots of ammonia. I even washed it off prior to putting it in my tank. If you're placing it in an established system you will be risking everything. I would place it in a separate container for a week first and see if you get an ammonia spike - if you don't go ahead and put it in your display, but if you do then you can cycle it separately.

 

[teen]

yea, most base rock is safe. as bonebrake said, there can potentially be organics on the rock that break down in your tank and cause an ammonia spike.
it really dpends on the rock. if its just a few pieces with not many crevices (something like tonga branch) and you dont see a lot of dried up organic matter, like dead plant life, im sure it will be fine.
i have like 50lbs of marcos base rock in my basement for my new tank. it is very jagged and has lots of crevices and you can see it is full of old sponge and other dried up plant matter. this is the stuff that will break down and potentially cause an ammonia spike.

 

[ducky]

Thanks for the feedback. That's what I was thinking might be a possibility. I will put it in one of my other tanks with my old berlin skimmer and let it cycle before I add it to the main tank. I put some of my old CC in my sump when I moved into my new tank. Do you think it would be okay to put that in the tank with the rock to help with cycling or should I do it with only the rock? I want to replace the CC with sand but I am not sure I want to remove all of the substrate in my sump at once, plus I just added a bunch of pod starter. What do you think?

 

[teen]

you dont really need the rock to cycle. all you have to do is put it in a bucket of salt water for a few days with a small powerhead and a heater. if you dont see an ammonia spike within a week or two, then your not going to get one. you can just put it in your main tank and eventually it will become live.
as for the CC. i would just take it all out, dump it and add base sand. then seed the base sand with a few cups of live sand. only thing is you have to keep an eye on your levels because this can throw your tank into a mini cycle. i doubt it will be a big spike in ammonia or anything, but just have the means to do a water change asap if needed.

 

[ducky]

Thanks teen, there really isn't much CC in my sump and I can turn off my return while I do the change out. I have a couple of hitchhiker crabs in there so I guess I will just put everything in a bucket instead of my DT so they don't get loose. You think my pods will be okay?

 

[teen]

if you can get a cup of live sand from a lfs that has a nice reef display or a diverse refugium and seed the new sand, you will see pods in no time. and im sure theres pods in your cc that wont make it, but at the same time theres also pods in your LR that wont be touched.

 

[ducky]

I have an established 180G DT that goes with the refugium, I just happened upon this sweet deal on the eclipse and thought I would set up another DT that would allow me to house some things I can't put in my DT now. I know I had a lot of pods in the tank before I added my last batch of LR but once I cleaned the glass and couldn't see them any more I thought maybe they were traumatized by all the changes so I reseeded. What I would like to do in this new tank is put in black sand instead of the white like I have in my larger DT and I am afraid if I try to seed it with the white sand it will get mixed which I would like to avoid. I may try to seed it with a stocking full of sand from my DT if I see that the sand won't leak out. I will take my time with this, there is no rush.

 

[teen]

dont use white sand. it will mix somehow. try and use a piece of LR from your DT to seed the smaller tank or a hand full of macro algae.

 

[ducky]

Thanks teen, I hadn't thought of that. The lady I got my LR from still had a chaeto filled sump that she hasn't sold, I'll bet that she will sell me some of her chaeto cheap, I was going to go pick up a few more drygood things from her anyway and I can put it in my existing sump until I am ready for it in the new tank.