questions bout dry rock

izzy69

izzy69

New Member
So I a 55 gal tank ....I have about 20lbs of live rock and I have the diatoms right now. I'm getting 50lbs of dry rock...do I just rinse out the dry rock and then add it straight to my tank or do I have to put it in a different container for a while before I put it in the display tank????? I don't have any fish in there yet......also I went to turn on my lights and as soon as they came on I seen this little bity bug and it ran under my rock...should I be concerned? ??? Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I beg to differ.....There has been a tremendous amount of talk about dry rock and phosphate levels issues......I'd suggest doing a little google search and read up, but yes the rock should be soaked to double check what it's giving off. I would post a link to be very specific in what I'm stating, but if you go to RC you'll find threads regarding what I stated.....
Soak the rock and test......
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
+1 I was having this same discussion at a club meet a few months ago. When I first added Marco Rocks to my tank the salinity sky rocketed. Luckily there wasn't any animals in the tank because they surely would have died.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Marco rock is one of the worst as far as needing to be soaked! That stuff leaches so much phosphate!
I've had really good luck with dry Tonga branch. I've been able to do a quick rinse in my water change water and stick it in and it was fine.
If you can soak if for a a few days, it's a good idea to do so, but yes, it can be added directly to the tank without causing an ammonia spike or anything like a uncured piece of live rock would do.
 
izzy69

izzy69

New Member
Ok thanks a lot ......you guys are so helpful and I really appreciate it....=)so do I have to soak it in saltwater or just regular water would be fine????
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by izzy69 http:///t/390140/questions-bout-dry-rock#post_3453345
Ok thanks a lot ......you guys are so helpful and I really appreciate it....=)so do I have to soak it in saltwater or just regular water would be fine????
salt. Use the water that you pull from your tank at a water change (unless your parameters are terrible), that's what I do.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I'd use regular RO water for soaking....No need to waste salt if your soaking and trying to get a reading on the rock......What type of rock.....
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Phosphates......Excuse my earlier post, but I'd run it in saltwater and run a range of tests on the rock....Phosphates is what your trying to detect. Dry rock can be loaded with phospates
 
izzy69

izzy69

New Member
ok so i should be getting my dry rock in tomorrow. i'll get a tub and fill it with my water change water and test the water before and after the introducton of the dry rock. so how long do i need to soak them for anyway? do i wait til there is no phosphate reading or will all the phosohates stay in the water after i remove the rocks????
 
izzy69

izzy69

New Member
also to add,,,the diatoms in my tank have gotten worse.... i shut off one of my lights and it seemed to help but it still isnt going no where.... should i be concerned or is it just normal and i should let it run its course???
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by izzy69 http:///t/390140/questions-bout-dry-rock#post_3454460
ok so i should be getting my dry rock in tomorrow. i'll get a tub and fill it with my water change water and test the water before and after the introducton of the dry rock. so how long do i need to soak them for anyway? do i wait til there is no phosphate reading or will all the phosohates stay in the water after i remove the rocks????

Cool deal about getting your rock tomorrow....Honestly there isn't a magical number or time frame....The best thing you can do is start soaking the rock and perform water tests.....If you start showing phosphate levels water changes, and you can use some type of phosphate remover to try to help things along. Some people reportedly have run Phosban or GFO......Depending on what the levels are they can exhaust both rather quickly and can get quite expensive this way.
 
izzy69

izzy69

New Member
Ok thanks a lot for all you're guys help.....I would be lost without this forum.....I will update pics once I have everything in the DT:hi:
 
S

smallreef

Guest
Oh thing people are doing is if they notice high Phos readings, people are adding phos-free to their bucket where they are curing the rock or boiling it in phos free...
I dont know if id go that far... maybe adding it after checking to see if it reads high//
 
izzy69

izzy69

New Member
Ok I'll definatly check that out....I've been reading all the reviews of which that rock I ordered and they keep saying that they show no sign of phosphates so hopefully mine will be the same way.....cross my fingers LOL
 
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