Live Rock Question

[davex]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the forum and have a couple questions about live rock.
But first a little background. My father and I have recently gotten back in to the hobby after a 15 or so year layoff. Needless to say things have changed in the world of marine aquariums. We got back into the hobby almost on a whim as my father bid on and won a full saltwater setup at a fundraising auction. The highest bidder got the tank, wood stand, filtration system, livestock, fake corals, and set-up by the shop that donated everything. The following are the specs as best I can remember them (I live a few miles away so I'm doing this from memory):
58 gallon drilled tank
Artificial coral
crushed coral gravel
a sump filter with bioballs (not sure of the brand or size of the sump)
An Excalibur skimmer (we just added this and it seems to be working great)
standard fluorescent aquarium lights
1 percula clown
1 small hippo tang
1 banana wrasse
1 yellow chromis
1 coral beauty (this is the only fish that wasn't part of the auction)
After a few early mistakes the tank is doing great. The fish are all eating and getting along and our water parameters are looking good.
So now the questions. We've been studying up on the hobby and we thinking at some point we'd like to move towards having a FOWL tank. So I'm wondering, is it possible to switch over to live rock in a tank that is already established? If so how do we go about it? Also the local fish store said that we would need some sort of special lights that would cost about $500, is this true? Looking forward to some input and thanks in advance.
-Dave

 

[duke13]

Putting LR in your tank now would probably not be a good idea. Introducing LR will cause your tank to cycle again, thus ammonia spikes that maybe deadly to your inhabitants. One way around this is to find a 'babysitter' for about 2-3 weeks until the LR has fully cycled your tank.
Lighting for your tank will probably be expensive. If they're charging you like $500, they better be metal halide. Unless you're going to have corals, you don't need high output lighting. You'll still spend about $200-300 on lighting however. I'd say buy a power compact flourescent lighting fixture, maybe a premade one (I have one made by Current USA). If you're crafty or know someone who is, then make your own lighting fixture. It may be cheaper in the end.

 

[jacknjill]

Yeah you could put live rock in your tank. if it is FULLY cured, then you can put in a little every week. that is if you pick it up locally. if you get it shipped, then you will have to cure it again because the dieoff will most likely cause a mini cycle.
for lighting, unless you get metal halide or something, they will be pretty cheap. for just liverock(lr) you dont need any special lighting. just standard flourescents that come with the hood. hope this helps.
so to summarize, yes you most certainly put some rock in without a doubt HTH

 

[clarkiiclo]

That tank is way to small for a Hippo.
I would consider getting rid of the crushed coral for live sand.
You can remove the crushed coral a bit at a time during weekly water changes.
The CC will build up all sorts of toxins in a few months that will be bad for the tank.

 

[mbrands]

Originally posted by ClarkiiClo
You can remove the crushed coral a bit at a time during weekly water changes.
The CC will build up all sorts of toxins in a few months that will be bad for the tank.
I too made the beginner mistake of crushed coral. If you want to remove it, I would do it while the tank is still young. I've got about 50 pounds of crushed coral in mine and the removal process will take about 3-4 weeks. Test your water more frequently if you decide to do this.

 

[davex]

Thanks for all the input! Now that I think about it I'm not 100% sure that the substate is crushed coral. All I know is that it's not super fine like sandbox sand. I'll have to investigate next time I'm at my parents. As for the Hippo, he came with the tank. He was tiny but he's growing fast! He's maybe 3 inches now and I guess we may have to make other arrangements for him in the future.
-dave

 

[jacknjill]

not all sand is fine. mine has pretty big pices of sand. cc is like gravel sized. the the stuff you put in fw tanks

 

[davex]

Ahhh, then I guess it's probably sand as it's finer then freshwater gravel.
-dave

 

[mbrands]

Originally posted by DaveX
I guess we may have to make other arrangements for him in the future.

If he is in good shape, ask your LFS if they'll take him in exchange for something smaller or store credit. With a new tank I'm sure you'll be spending a small fortune there.