live rock for a newbie

[pescarlover]

Would like some input from you veterans, wanted to start a SW tank for fish and live rock. Would a complete rookie be able to start using live rock, allowing it to cycle for about two months before putting in fish have a decent chance of success? Did not know if I should go fish first. Is one way better in terms of results than another?

[OrionGirl]

Live rock can be used to cycle the tank, if it is uncured. Most LR in your LFS will be cured, so won't work great for cycling (no die off). Uncured rock will have tons of die off, and you want that to feed your bacteria. If you don't want the uncured die off, then fill the tank with salt water, throw in some cocktail shrimp, monitor the ammonia and nitrites. When they zero out, do a water change to reduce nitrates, add your cured rock, and then start adding fish--least aggressive first. Either way, the rock should go in before fish, and the whole thing probably will not take 2 months. Testing along the way is vital--it will tell you when the tank is ready for fish.

Live rock is for everyone, not just the experienced hobbyist. ;) It's not quite as important as the water, but probably a close second.

What size tank do you have? Any thoughts for stock?

[Turbo]

OrionGirl....Im back with another question.

I was reading your reply on uncured live rock and that ends up being what I will be getting since I can get it for free. When cycling the tank with uncured lr, do I put the sand in the tank with a mix of live sand and the uncured lr at the same time and let it cycle? Also, Im still not sure on how much sand(depth) I should place in the tank. I was told to get a couple bags from Home Depot and mix in about 20-30% live sand. This is for a 30 gallon.

[OrionGirl]

I wouldn't put the live sand in until after the rock has cycled. The ammonia/nitrite spike of the cycling process will be lethal to the life in the live sand. So, I would go wtih 3-4 inches of regular play sand, cycle it, and then add the live sand. You can also purchase activator kits that include the beneficial organisms-- a good deal, IMB. I'm not a fan of the live sand sold most places. If it isn't coming straight out of a running tank, I suspect that it won't contain very much life. Certainly, none of the pre-bagged products I have seen at various stores seemed very life like to me.

[TKOS]

I am wondering if the critters in LS are different from the bacteria and stuff on LR. If a tank was cycled using LR and regular sand, would that ordinary sand become LS? Or is LS something completely different?

[mogurnda]

The sand will become live with bacteria and some infauna, but LS shipped from the ocean has a lot of different kinds of fauna than LR. There are lots of burrowing worms and stars that probably won't travel with LR, for example. Even if you get fresh LS, it never hurts to boost diversity with a detritivore kit, or a little LS from a friend's tank.