Some Questions about live rocks ...

To answer the question:

IF you have an established tank with live rock in it, Putting in some rock will not be a big deal... Try to buy a little bit and put it in and let it culture (seed itself). you may see some mini cycle happen on the rock to.

Now if you want to put a bit more like I did... I did a big water change and put two rocks in roughly 20lbs of rock... and I put "Stabillity" in the tank. To alleviate the introduction of that amount of rock.

If you are starting a brand new tank:
You can put all the rock you want in that tank and let it cycle.... just dont add live stock for a while... it may take a month depending on the amount of die off to. Also keep the skimmer running...and do a large water change at the end of the month ...let that puppy simmer and cycle... Some may disagree on the wait ah month...but ive done this to two tanks on start up.
It was just fine.

As for the live rock with stuff on it.... Some people Boil the rocks...some just get a bucket and scrub away in Ro/Di water... reason some suggested Ro/di is you dont want the rocks to absorb things from the Tap water..

You never know what your city water is like that day..there has been instances of bacterial break outs in the water supply or source change being suitable for human consumption but horrible for your tank. For example recently a member in our reef club locally was going through RO/DI filter every few days cause there city changed to run off water treatment..

Tap water in other words is a gamble...a gamble not worth going near.
 
hi all and thnx for replies , my tank is empty now ,
i wanted to add some live rocks but the LFSs ran outta them so i have to wait a while ,
i just wondered if i could add the dead rock , but i don have any power washer or anything like that ,i boiled it too but it seems there r lotsa soft dead stuffs still on it ( in the holes) , so i think i ll get rid of it , i afraid to put in the tank ,
i use ro/di water to mix the salt , and as i said the tank is empty , is it necessary (or good !) to run the sump and skimmer ?
<< It cannot really survive that long out of water. A dead rock can be cured and used at any time, in my opinion >>
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u mean it dosn t matter how long it was outta water (months maybe year or years ) it still can be cured by put it in water ?
and one other silly question just to check if i got it right , when u wanna cure a LR in a brand new uncycled tank , it dosnt matter that the tank is empty and dosnt cycled before yeah ? it will cycle the tank itself ?
thnx :thm:
 
Power washer is available at the local coin-op car wash. Just be sure to select rinse. ;)
 
Its called sea sponge scrub it with a brush and dont hit it with a power washer.. live rock is brittle.. just get a soft tooth brush to get the crevices rinse off in salt water and it should be good to go.. you dont want the sea sponge because it will rott creates lots of ammonia.. but thats bs about what he said since live rock is a filter and if you run a charcoal filter then you shouldnt have any problems.. dont put any fish in the tank if your going to cure the stone.
 
Robert04 said:
Its called sea sponge scrub it with a brush and dont hit it with a power washer.. live rock is brittle.. just get a soft tooth brush to get the crevices rinse off in salt water and it should be good to go.. you dont want the sea sponge because it will rott creates lots of ammonia.. but thats bs about what he said since live rock is a filter and if you run a charcoal filter then you shouldnt have any problems.. dont put any fish in the tank if your going to cure the stone.
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What Rob said. Just dont add live stock.. cycle the rocks in the tank till parameters are stable...may take a few weeks but its worth the wait.

Plus the die off from the rocks will help feed the bacterial growth... I wonder if Vodka dosing would be ok but i need to read more on this before I suggest it.

sorry got off track on the vodka...anyway... cure the rock and cycle the tank at once good idea.
 
Throw it in the dishwasher without soap. That will clean it.
 
snailrider said:
Throw it in the dishwasher without soap. That will clean it.
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DO NOT put anything in your dishwasher. Even without the soap being added, there will still be soap residue in the washer that WILL get on your rocks when the hot water hits them. Same as using the power washer at the lcoal car wash...bad idea. Like everyone said, since the tank is empty go ahead and put the rock in and let it cure. Anything dead will help the tank cycle. Just take your time in adding anything live. The wait will kill you but rushing into it will be the worste thing you caould do. Plus any chemicals that you add to help cycle your tank, will do only that. They will help but nuthing will take the place of a natural cycle. Saltwater tanks are the best, and the #1 thing is to remember is patience. Always take your time. Do yourself a favor and don't go back to the store that gave you such wonderful advise. goodluck
 
thank u all for replies , i m goin to get rid of the dead rock (or whatever it is ) , but unfortunately the LFSs are ran outta live rock and i have to wait for bout atleast 1 or 2 weeks more for the live rocks ,and will let the live rocks cycle the tank ,
any idea / suggestion / advice will be most welcome ....
 
owl said:
thank u all for replies , i m goin to get rid of the dead rock (or whatever it is ) , but unfortunately the LFSs are ran outta live rock and i have to wait for bout atleast 1 or 2 weeks more for the live rocks ,and will let the live rocks cycle the tank ,
any idea / suggestion / advice will be most welcome ....
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Honestly if you dont mind waiting for cycle longer... I would find some dead rock ...base rock what ever the store names it...find someone with good porous rock.

I have a LFS that has rock from our local mountains and a avid hiker in the great nw provides this store with loads of it for 1.99 lb. Live rock is so darn expensive ....since the gas hike ..freight charges have gone up so much..and they are not coming down anytime soon.

Putting all this non live rock in the tank means you have to wait a bit longer...

There is the beer and prawn method... drop a prawn from a market in the tank..drink beer and wait...

There is the Vodka method cause of the co2 base in it...it speeds up bacterial growth.. its ok in cycling process but if you have live stock it must be something you study more on first...there are some with sps tanks who do this vodka dosing but they have a very very nice set up for there tanks and near perfect parameters...they do it to speed up bacterial activity to feed more to the corals...but this is not recommended for novice users. I for one will wait a year or two longer till i perfect my hobby before I even try it.

The safest route is the beer shrimp thing. If you lived in Washington , I would direct you on where to go to get cheap rocks.. I don't know how else I can help yah...I wish i could ..Anything to help a fellow reefer out.

FYI there is no real time for cycle...because all our tanks vary.
The signs you will see are algae blooms...green...diatoms on sand...once it disappears...hopefully no cyano bloom ...may happen... things will clear up and water test should show that things are stable...

After the cycle is done...I would start with investing in a cleaner crew first. Lots of sand bed stirring Nesarrious snails (spelling?)... Astrea snails... Turbos... honestly try to get a lot of sand cleaners...blue leg hermits are good also for rock cleaning... May as well start on the best foot first...these guys will keep your residual left over algae eaten...

Then is the live stock thing.. If you have the space and money, Getting a Quarantine tank is good... rubble rock and heater.. for the future...just advise not needed but good idea. So you can isolate fish before introducing them...and also medicate if need to...

As for corals... I could go on and on about this..but even Dipping corals in Mylafix what ever the spelling for 2 min is good idea to prevent red bug infestation of your display... another topic... but just general info for future reference.
Tried and tested by reefers locally ..the method works.. want more info just PM on this and I will direct you to the link to my local site that i learned much from.
 
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ToeJam said:
Honestly if you dont mind waiting for cycle longer... I would find some dead rock ...base rock what ever the store names it...find someone with good porous rock.

I have a LFS that has rock from our local mountains and a avid hiker in the great nw provides this store with loads of it for 1.99 lb. Live rock is so darn expensive ....since the gas hike ..freight charges have gone up so much..and they are not coming down anytime soon.

Putting all this non live rock in the tank means you have to wait a bit longer...
....
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thnx a lot for reply ..
i don mind waiting, first i wanted to go with shrimp ( and beeeeer ) method but the tank is in my sleeping room and cuz of the smell i rather to wait longer and go with live rock for cycling , almost all of the stores ran outta live rock cuz of the freezing weather , and i have to wait till they bring me some ,
thnx for help again ,
 
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