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Adding more rock

ThatGuy

ThatGuy

I want to add more rock to my tank. Reason being is most of my rock work doesn't even come halfway up the tank, so I want it to come up to about 3-4'' from the top. I figured I would add about 50lbs of dry rock to the tank. What I don't want is to have a mini cycle or for anything to leech out of the rock. How do you go about cleaning the rock before placing it in the tank? Should I just soak it in RODI? Or should it be fresh SW?


Josh
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Josh, how big is your tank? If you have a big boy, you might be able to get away with adding un-cured rock. Otherwise, you would be better off curing that rock first.....doesn't need light....just saltwater, a heater and a little flow....in a Brute or Tupperware....for at least a month...two would be better.
 
jgraz

jgraz

Josh, if you go with dead rock, like reefrocks you don't need to cure it and it doesn't leach. I still wouldn't add it all at once though. I also would not try this with other dead like Marco or BRS. I've heard both will leach.
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Leaching is one issue, but the other is the remaining dead stuff in the rock….that can’t be washed out. Therefore, that is the more important reason why you need to re-establish the bacterial beasts…… to chew up the dead and restart the nitrification process.
 
ThatGuy

ThatGuy

jgraz said:
Josh, if you go with dead rock, like reefrocks you don't need to cure it and it doesn't leach. I still wouldn't add it all at once though. I also would not try this with other dead like Marco or BRS. I've heard both will leach.
Click to expand...

What if I do it at say 10lbs every other week? Would this work out? Its hard for me to cure it because I have very limited space and the misses might get upset if I have a bucket with water and rocks just sitting around.


Another option I thought of was to take the rock out of my FOWLR tank but I'm afraid of that leeching as well. :/
 
jgraz

jgraz

I would only add uncured rock after curing. Reefrocks is dead and perfectly clean. It can be added without curing again in small amounts. If it was/is live either cure or add in small amounts.
 
NikkiT

NikkiT

You can buy cured rock from some of the sponsors. You may want to consider this.
I would not add dead rock in 10 lb incriments. IMHO, that is asking for a tank crash. You could get lucky, but I doubt it.
Also keep in mind that most dead rock smells pretty yucky when you cure it again (the dead stuff on the rock coming into play again).
I have cured in the garage in a brute with a power head and a heater, if you need to buy dead this may be a good option.
 
jgraz

jgraz

In reading this over again. I should clear things up. When I said dead rock I meant dry rock as in rock that has not been alive. Like reefrocks, Marco, and BRS reef saver. This rock is for the most part clean there is nolife on the rock at all and it will not throw the tank into a cycle.
 
ThatGuy

ThatGuy

So the rock that has been "bleached" and dried is a definate no go? The dry rock I have bought in the past doesn't smell at all and is bleach white. I guess I'll just do it in incraments as I only have a 5 gal bucket at the moment. I'm half tempted to take the rock I have now out and do a step thing and cover it with rubble rock. It takes alot of rock to get the heighth I'm looking for. I'm not even sure 50lbs will be enough.
 
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