Adding Live Rock to my 10 gallon?

[pgreco]

Hi all, i hae a ten gallon that has been sut up well over a year. i would like to add some additional live rock in an effort to begin building a nano reef. My question is, do i have to cure the rock b4 i put it in the tank or what is the procedure. The guy at the lfs told me that by adding live rock now my ammonia would spike unless i cure. Any suggestions?

 

[blondenaso1]

I would be a good idea to find good cured LR for your tank. Since it is so small any die off from uncured LR would throw the water parameters way out of wack. Every rock will have some die off, but the less the better. Any LR you order online will probably have a considerabley more amount of die off then any cured store bought LR. Just ask your LFS guy. Find peices that look like they are in good shape and that don't smell. What type of things do you have in the tank now?

 

[pgreco]

right now i have a percula clown, a yellow/purple pseudo snails, hermits and a coral banded shrimp. also have about 3 pounds of live rock

 

[pgreco]

also, if i had to, how would i go about curing the rock without putting it in my tank?

 

[blondenaso1]

If you are planning to order LR online then I would suggest curing it for a couple weeks. Put it in a cooler or bucket with a powerhead or an airstone and check the water. When the ammonia levels drop low enough then you can add it to the tank. The clown is probably the only thing you have to worry about, but he should be fine. I am not sure if you have LS, but if you are planning on adding it, do it now before you put the rock in. Good Luch

 

[fishead]

i just added 25# to my 55 gal. and asked the same question. i chose to add rock immidiatly to save what life might still be in rock. i put it in a 5 gall bucket and checked the ammon. after a couple hours it was way up there (off the chart) i put it in tank anyway. ammon only peaked at .08 i did a ten gal water change four days later and it is now 0 rock recovered nicely still lots of life including plants. i wouldnt cure it , i'd monitor ammon. and do water changes to control it. i think youll retain more life in rock.

 

[blondenaso1]

I definetely agree that that would save more life, but his tank is much smaller and the die off would have a greater effect. You could add it, i'm not sure how the clown will handle the ammonia spike. Do you have another home for your clown that you could put him in until the tank parameters would be back in check? Anyone else have advice?