Buying live rock from SaltwaterFish.com

[ernie p]

All,
I have read conflicting advice on this board about live rock. Some people say it must be cured in a trash can, heater, etc...others say you can put it right in.
I have a new 110 gallon reef tank (about a week old) with 100 pounds of rock that I purchased with the tank.
I ordered more rock from SaltWaterFish (SWF) because it needs it. SWF says that their rock is "cured" - I assume that mean I don't need to do anything else and can put it right in?
Or do I want to dunk it in fresh water for a minute or leave it in a trash can for 3 days or maybe even dance around with it????! ;-)
Thanks for the help...!

 

[viper_930]

You should cure any LR that you buy over the internet and is shipped to you. There will be die-off during the shipping. If you just buy it from a LFS, there wouldn't be much die-off so no need to cure.

 

[grindzgreg]

Yes u will need to cure it again to remove all the hitch hickers, that got a ride on it. Dancing around it should help. But leave it in the trach cans for a week or two. Then use the tests and make sure the Nitrates and ect are correct.
Stay cute

:jumping: :jumping:

 

[viper_930]

Curing the LR does not remove the hitch-hikers. For that, you need to do a hyersaline dip, putting the rock in high salanity like 1.040

 

[grindzgreg]

My way is the right way for curing the rock, ur way removes u

wanted trash, both work hehe
Stay cute

 

[ernie p]

Well thanks all for the quick and thorough responses.
Rock comes in a few days - keep my fingers crossed.
Let's see if I can get a reef tank working in this concrete jungle....
Thanks...!

 

[viper_930]

Originally posted by grindzgreg
My way is the right way for curing the rock, ur way removes u

wanted trash, both work hehe
Stay cute
You said that you can remove hitch-hikers by curing. This does not work. The hitch-hikers will stay on the LR, even through an ammonia spike which most hitch-hikers can live through. And it isn't realy unwanted trash that is removed during the curing process, but dead organic material. This would rot away during the curing and will cause an ammonia spike, which it why you should not put it into your display tank right away.

 

[zap800]

if you have nothing in that tank but water sand and rock all you need to do is plop it in and it will cure in your tank. when these guys/gals say cure it in a separate container it is because there are living creatures in the tank and the amonia spike will kill them. since you have nothing in the tank then it will be ok to just plop it in the tank and let it cure inside the tank. after you cure it do a water cange and you should be good to go.
but thats my $.02

 

[sailfin]

Cure it in the tank. It will help you cycle. I just done my 75g that way and I have completed the cycle, almost, in three weeks. My nitrites are still at .25ppm. You will have to vacuum a little once done but it is much easier, IMO.

 

[ernie p]

I got an Email from SWF who said that I should be fine just putting them in....I'm sure they say that because if everything get's screwed up I can always buy new stuff from them....hahaha..(joking)

 

[rossim]

I ordered LR and LS from SWF yesterday. Hope to have it in tomorrow. Its going in a new 29 gal tank and I'm just going to through it in. I figure any die-off will kick off the cycle.

 

[ernie p]

Well...here's what I got.
The sand came in double heavy duty plastic bags. It had water - just enough to keep everything wet.
The rocks - well - they also came in double plastic bags and they also were "wet". Just a bit of water sloshing around to keep them wet. My concern is that there are maybe 20-30 small fruit flies buzzing around in the bag (I didn't open it - yet).
I spoke to my LFS and asked them if I would be ok just putting them in. They asked if the rocks smelled - I told them about the flies - bottom line they told me to bring them in and they would give me their opinion on whether I should put them in or cure them...etc...etc...SWF told me that they were cured and that I should be able to put them straight in.
Will keep you posted as to what they say....
P.S. If you do get the sand a great trick that I read on this site - that worked well is to get some tubing and a funnel to "put" the sand exactly where you want it in the tank. Otherwise it ends up everywhere. Also learned from experience since the sand is wet you need a wide tube otherwise the sand won't pour down.

 

[tizzo]

NO STOP!!!! It will not smell yet because the organisms just died during transport. Start to cure it and you will smell it soon!!! SWF sold me my "pre-cured" live rock and I was new, and I trusted them... Well, EVERYTHING in my tank died and my ammonia was off the charts!!!! (The "charts" read up to 6!!) I contacted SWF and they told me they would refund my money on the rock, but I had to pay to ship it back. When I asked what they would do about all of my critters dying, they responded that they were not responsable for my "lack of basic aquarium knowledge"

They also advised me to check out the Message boards. Well at the time, I was furious!!! But now, looking back on it... They were right. End conclusion... I cured the rock in a 20 gallon rubbermaid container, and now I love it!!!!

 

[rossim]

Should have 50 lbs of LR from SWF waiting for me when I get home. Its going into a brand new empty (besides water) tank. Am I safe to just put it in and use it to kick off the cycle?

 

[tizzo]

:yes:

 

[zap800]

yup just drop it in and away you go. you dont need anything else to kick staart your cycle. now just sit and sit and sit and sit and wait and wait and wait and wait and read and read and read. and after that read some more

 

[nm reef]

It is my opinion that any LR purchased over the internet will have some die off...and should be cured carefully before adding it to a established system. But...if the LR is going into a new system that is still cycling then it would be fine to add it straight from the box. The die-off will provide the ammonia source to complete the cycle. Under no conditions would I add shipped LR to a well established and stocked display.

 

[ernie p]

Ok here's the update.
I brought the rocks that I bought from SWF to my local fish place and they told me that they should be fine to put in the tank. Reasons (1) They didn't smell (2) It was a new tank so it would just cycle the tank...
In they went - the only thing I should have done more (duh!) is clean them off. When I put them in they had a lot of "junk" on them which has has been picked up by my filters...(Hi! Newbie here...)
Anyway - checking the water (how many kits do I have now?!) and everything seems to be ok (so far).
One problem that I am experiencing (started before the rocks went in) is that I am getting a lot of growth of red stuff on the sand and all over the rocks - algae? I have read that it might be because I have the lights on too long. Also the little crabs I have in there (8 crabs 110gal tank) have started to stop moving (after a week). Are they dieing or full?
I have been keeping the lights on for about 12 hours a day (that's what occurs in the tropics right?!) and I have read that I should scale that back to 7 or 8. I have compact lighting...
So questions:
(1) Enough crabs for my tank - whats the ratio of crabs to gallons?
(2) Red stuff - algae?
(3) Light duration?
(4) My tank will look nice one day right?