Live Rock Curing

[damselsrck]

I might be buying some lr tomorrow, and I was just wondering how I should go about adding it to my tank. I would drive to the fish store (15 min), and bring the rock back in either a box or bag (depending on how many lbs. I buy). Could I add the rock directly to my tank? The clerk said that they kept it in a tank, and they just got a couple pieces that already have coralline on them (it was from a tank it had been in over a year. How much life should I expect to see on it? How long until stuff starts popping out (on average)?

 

[granny]

It sounds as though your rock has already been cleaned and cured which means your job is much easier. It doesnt have to be packed in water for you to transport it, a damp paper towel ontop is all you need or wrap in plastic bag, but your trip is so short, it will be fine.
If nothing else is in your tank, then you can add your rock with no problems and not worry about a brief ammonia spike. Rock does add to the bio load and will cause your tank to cycle to handle the increase, but if your system is up and running and you have no delicate fish to worry about-go for it. YOu will want to check your rock for any undesirable hitchhikers-especially aiptasia, certain crabs and shrimp. Sometimes if you leave itin the bucket or cooler for a while 'things' will crawl out-decide if youwant to keep them or not!
YOur light and water quality will both affect the coraline algae. If your calcium levels, hardness etc are ok, and you have sufficient light, it will only take about a month before you see active growth on your rock-
Now, if the rock has not been cured or cleaned, you will need to do this yourself and it is a tedious process.

 

[damselsrck]

I believe it is cured, but that is what I got out of the conversation. I have extra equipment on-hand to cure lr in a separate tank/tub.

 

[granny]

Are there fish in your tank now and how large is it?
You can safely add about 10-12 lbs of live rock to an existing tank with fish - it is akin to adding one fish to your tank-with no negative effects. But if you have no fish, you might as well add it all to your tank now.

 

[damselsrck]

I have 2 fish, 1 yellowtail damsel, and 1 occ. clownfish. My tank is a 46-gallon. I just called the fish store and the rock is cured. I want to try and get the addition of rock over asap, how should I go about this so as not to harm the fish? I also would like to add sand to my tank on top of my layer of sand and crushed coral. When I started out I hated the way the crushed coral looked and so I put it in first, and then layered the sand over it....my damsel has dug up holes/ditches in the sandbed so that now I have a mixture of crushed coral and sand. Would adding a thicker sandbed help, or just make more of a mess?

 

[granny]

The p[roblem with adding sand when you already have crushed coral is that the sand will filter to the bottom and the coral will end up on top.
Dare I suggest sifting out the coral? and before you put the rock in.
How much rock are you planning on buying tomorrow? With such a light fish load and if the rock looks really good, I would probably just add it to the tank. Your clowns are pretty hardy and if the live rock is clean it shouldnt raise your bioload much and wil soon help aid the filtration. You can save money by buying dead or clean rock for the bottom which of course has no impact positive or nagative on your tank load, then put the live rock pieces on top. You dont want to bury the nice pieces with lots of coraline on the bottom. Over time the live stuff will spread to the dead rock anyway.

 

[damselsrck]

yeah, I was thinking about sifting through the sand...I also have a bunch of these shells I bought for my hermit crabs (so that they wouldn't kill snails/other hermits for shells...) I was planning on taking those out and then hiding them behind the rocks, where the hermits can get to them, but I don't have to look at a sandbed spotted with shells...my mom (not into fish) though we had had a snail/hermit massacre :scared:

 

[granny]

Good idea-they do look pretty messy.
Have fun adding your live rock. It is pretty cool watching stuff come alive on it.
I have had worms, small crabs, lots of different kinds of algae-like seaweed-even colonial polyps and the purple is so brilliant, then when the green comes out and softens it, looks great!

 

[damselsrck]

may I ask where, local or online, you bought it? I'm just afraid that after reading all these reviews of people finding things in lr I will be dissapointed with mine, but I guess if it does anymore than help stabilize the tank I will be satisfied.

 

[granny]

When I set up my first tank, I ordered 100 lbs of uncured live rock from a place in Fl. Found the add in the back of a marine fish magazine. I had to meet the box at the airport-transported it home and loaded up my 90 gallon with it. I used the rock to cycle the tank and it was pretty amazing what came out of it.
The rock I put in my newest tank was purchased at my LFS. It is all FIJI rock and they have tons of it set up in large cleaning tanks. It is expensive-$9 a lb, but you can pick out the rocks you want-the size, shape and just pick out the pieces with lots of purple already on them.
They also keep boxes of dead coral reef rock, some of which still has lots of color on it and they sell that for $2 a lb. So, this time, I bougt 50 lbs of dead rock and tufa rock to form the framwork and added another 50 lbs of beutiful purple covered rock on top. The tank cylced quickly in about 2 weeks and has been going great ever since.
If your lfs doesnt have a good selection, its worth checking with the nearest large city which may have an exclusive fish store with lots of stuff available.
Ours has ponds set up for all kinds of fish.

 

[damselsrck]

Wow, well this will be the first time I am going to this fish store. And yes, it SPECIALIZES IN SALTWATER FISH!! The last store I used had puppies too....kinda dissapointing. It's not as big though as one in the big city, it specializes in fish, but still has over 2000 in just show aquariums with items that are not for sale. If this closer one is a dissapointment, I'll make a longer commute to a larger, but speicialized, store. :thinking: