Live Fiji Rock

[shoorty069]

Okay, so im not sure where i should have posted this, but this place looks like a good spot. Anyway, I just recently purchased a Live Fiji Rock from Saltwaterfish.com. It came in the mail today. I put all the pieces in that i wanted in there. People told me they start to sprout all these cool things such as Feather dusters and all sorts of inverts like shrimp. My question is, how long does it take for all this to happen. I have a 55gallon tank with a Emperor 400 with 2 bio wheels. Just the other day i put 2 15" light bulbs specifically for my anemone, it was 50/50(sort of not sure what that means, it has a purple tint). Also, nothing bad is going to come out of these such as octopi or those tape worms right?
THANKS FOR READING MY FIASCO!
ryan

 

[f1shman]

Well, I was looking at ordering some live rock from this website, how is it? It can take a few weeks for it to start sprouting stuff. No the curing method usually removes octopi and worms, but I don't think tape worms come in rocks, i thought those were in like raw food or something, who knows lol. If there was an octopus that would be sweet, you could send it to me! but that is incredibly rare like .000001% 50/50 usually means 1 flurorescnt bulb and 1 acntic bulb (i think, im still kinda new with lighting stuff) But it should come out soon. And you said you heard that live rock sprouts shrimp, ehh not unless there were eggs in it lol, you usually just get little good worms and beneficial algae. The creatures usually come as hitchhikers and are probably hiding in your rock if there is any.

 

[wax32]

Some bulbs are 50/50 in one bulb, meaning a mix of daylight and actinic in one bulb. I have 1 50/50 vho bulb on my tank along with 1 10k and 2 actinics.

 

[ophiura]

I hope this is a tank you are setting up and not an established tank, because of course the rock needs to cure. It will take sometimes weeks or months to see things, but it is there.

 

[wax32]

Ouch, didn't think of that, I see you say you have an anemone already? It might get killed by the cycle your new rock is gonna cause. BTW, welcome to the message board!

 

[shoorty069]

DAAH! that wouldnt be good if my fish and anemone died... The dude at ***** said it should be okay. Then again, ***** did tell me to feed an Iguana crickets, yea, it died two days later. The fish seem to be doing just fine right now. And all my fish are hearty. I have a Clarki Clown, A few different damsels and a goby. Anyway, i hope my fish end up being okay. Any suggestions?
ryan

 

[f1shman]

The rock from saltwaterfish.com is cured, this is the only site that sells cured rock online

 

[mikehaha]

My live rock is coming tomorrow. I ordered some Florida aquacultured rock. I also ordered some Fiji rock from another big (Dr.) site. I thought it was cured as well. But it all still needs to be cured right? Because of die off during shipping. Just wanted to double check. I'm getting ready to set everything up right now.

 

[f1shman]

Ehh i'm not sure about the curing even if its cured at at Dr. i dont think its cured

 

[f1shman]

well im putting them into a brand new tank, so whether or not i need to cure doesnt make much of a difference

 

[shoorty069]

I heard that there can be very harmful and dangerous organisms in the rock if they arent cured, such as an octopus. The person at my local pet store said theyre like clear and very tiny and have really odd looking eyes and if they sting you, youre instantly dead. He said its like one of the worst venoms. Also i heard the pistol shrimp can come in them. The man said some are strong enough to crack the glass walls of your tank! eek!
ryan

 

[puffer32]

It also depends on how small the rock is. if its alot, and you are starting to cycle a tank, it will help your tank to cycle. If its for an already established tank, let it cycle in a seperate tub with a PH for afew weeks and the smell goes away. Small pieces of rubble can be rinsed well then added.

 

[ophiura]

ANY rock that is shipped, regardless of if cured, should be recured upon arrival to avoid potential recycling events and not added to an established tank. If it is a new tank, it is very useful to cycle with LR.
It is EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY unlikely to get something like an octopus in LR. It is shipped damp, and this would not be good for such animals for a couple of days.
I would strongly suggest finding another LFS, because the guy you are talking to is, it would seem, an idiot. Yes, there are blue ringed octopus that are highly venemous and I have never heard of someone getting them as a hitch hiker. Does this guys actually sell stuff? Seems like he is really trying to discourage people from doing this. It just is not all that big of a deal. Maybe now and then people get a mantis. Maybe some pistol shrimp, and they have certain "potential" but the actual cases of people getting a hitch hiker pistol shrimp that breaks the tank glass??? Come on....he's mostly full of it.

 

[f1shman]

Is it okay to cycle a tank with cured rock from this saltwaterfish.com? Or would you recommended cycling a tank with uncured rock from somewhere else. Also Shoorty i think your LFS is trying to scare you.... I've never heard of an octopus like that, and if there is, its incredibly rare.

 

[ophiura]

In all likelihood it will not be cured when it arrives. Because after a few hours out of water, you start getting die off. So even if you got your rock within, say, 24 hours after removal, there is still die off. If you don't see ammonia, then you may try adding dead shrimp to add more ammonia to be sure(uncured rock has enough die off usually to not require this).

 

[f1shman]

Weird, I think my posts were deleted, if not, sorry for posting two. For my 40 gallon breeder tank that I'm planning on making a full reef tank, should I buy cured or uncured rock? What is the procedure once you get them in the tank for cured vs uncured. Because is the cured has some die-off, enough to start the cycle, but not stink, that would be good lol. what do you recommend? And I'm going to have 3 power heads totalling to 690 GPH could I make them point at the LR to clean the die-off off?

 

[ophiura]

I think what people are saying is that if you buy it, and it is shipped, it will be uncured either way to some extent. You can not buy and then ship cured LR and expect it to be cured when it arrives. If it is precured it may have relatively less bulky stuff to die off than fully uncured but it should be good. So rock from here should be fine either way.
If you get an ammonia spike, great. If you don't, then you add another source of ammonia and see what happens. Either way you will be fine, IMO. :yes:
You can only buy cured LR locally and get it to your tank in a couple of hours to presume there will be no die off.

 

[f1shman]

but don't you want a litle die-off anyways to start the cycle?

 

[ophiura]

Yes, you do, and you will get it whether you buy cured rock (and have it shipped) or uncured rock (and have it shipped).
You don't necessarily, but can, cycle with fully cured LR bought locally. If it is fully cured local rock, then you would "push" the tank with adding dead shrimp.
There are ALWAYS ways to get more ammonia, regardless of whether it comes from die off on your rock, or a dead shrimp from the grocery.

 

[f1shman]

So would 50 lbs cured LR "ultimate fiji rock" from this site free shipping $199.99 be a good deal and a good way to start cycling the tank?