LR question

Subliminal · Mar 20, 2007

So, I had to buy some dog chow @ the local pet store. I asked them if they had any live rock and this guy said they had some pieces upstairs, but a bunch of nice looking ones downstairs.

So we go downstairs and he has a huge tub full of rock, probably 200 lbs+

He says they just bought that from somebody who broke down their tank and that they don't know if it's cured or not. The tub had a light, and water flow, and the water was probably ~ 60 degrees.

The guy was a helluva nice guy, but didn't seem too interested in the facts.

Anyway, I found 2 pieces that I really liked. Looks like there are little wormies on it, and various colors from light green to purple to dark green.

The whole way home I was trying to decide what to do with the stuff. It's only 10 lbs, and my tank has probably 60-70 lbs in it.

Well, I got home, and decided I couldn't do that to my fish. It's like taking science out of it and introducing 'the unknown.

So, I followed the recommendations @ www.liveaquaria.com and stuck it in a 10 gallon tank i had sitting here, with a powerhead, and about 7-8 gallons of saltwater, and put it in a dim corner.

Did I do the right thing?

Edwardw771 · Mar 20, 2007

Yes you could have killed everything in your tank. You can usually smell live rock. to see if its cured. Also test the water thats in the 10 gallon and see if its ok

IrradiatedReef · Mar 20, 2007

I always cure rock, even if it is so called cured rock. Better safe then sorry.

mfisher2112 · Mar 20, 2007

I cure mine with light, but I agree with irradiatedreef, I always cure even the "cured" rock. I just monitor the water chemistry. If you have no smell (and believe me, you'd know if you did! LOL! PEE-UUUU!) then you probably will have a short cure time.

When the ammonia and nitrite are zero, you should be good to go. (I did some water changes and let mine go about another week and a half after the ammonia and nitrite were zero, just to be safe).

Hope that helps.

Subliminal · Mar 21, 2007

Thanks, guys. I'm going to let it cure for a few days, do some tests and some water changes, and go from there.

I'd really like to ensure that i get some good life in my rocks sometime, as I haven't noticed anything moving around on the ones in my tank yet.

Maybe I just need more time, or maybe a bottle of those lil buggers.

Either way, I'm also trying to switch out some of my less showlike pieces for some prettier ones. LR looks awesome, sometimes.

IrradiatedReef · Mar 21, 2007

Just like Mfisher said, just watch the water tests. If the rock is "cured" rock, then I would say that once the rock cycles, it should be safe. If you get a smell and a slime/stress coat, scrub it down and cycle it again. Can even do a salt dip to check for bristle worms and other unwanted inverts. Make a small batch of 1.028 to 1.030 water, dip the rock in it for about 1 minute, rince it then put back in the cure tub with your regular salinity water. If any unwanted inverts are on the rock, they will have scrambled off the rock in most cases and will be sitting on the bottom of the salt dip tub. This will also get rid of some parasites too. It is by far 100% effective, but any amount helps. One less bristle worm is always good in my book. I hate those things! Gives me the heebie jeebies!!!

mfisher2112 · Mar 21, 2007

Sounds like a plan.

Take a look at your tank at night with a flashlight covered with a red film. You'll see things moving! ;D

Are you running a sump with a refugium? Getting some sand and chaeto from someone with an established fuge is a good way to get some extra life running around the tank too.

Subliminal · Mar 21, 2007

No sump or fuge yet. Just live rock and some HOT filtration.

So far my water parameters have been tits the whole time since it cycled *given that was only about a week or two ago*.

I actually won a protein skimmer on ebay yesterday, so that'll be here soon.

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

mfisher2112 · Mar 21, 2007

There's a cheap easy way to get a small fuge on your system.

Pick up an Aquaclear hang on back (the bigger the better, I used a AQ70 on my 30 gallon, but on the 55, I'd use the 110). You can usually get these pretty cheap on Ebay used and working.

Clean it (obviously).

Take the basket that goes in side and cut one of the sides off.

Glue that against the inside of the filter so that it forms a wall between the pump chamber and the "media" chamber.

Take the "grid" piece off the basket.

Glue that so that the grid covers the entire area where the water would cascade out into the tank.

You can now fill the media chamber with rock rubble and some chaeto.

Use a small clamp on light with a decent bulb for extra lighting and PRESTO! Mini hang on back fuge.

Mine works pretty good on my 30 gallon.

Subliminal · Mar 21, 2007

My current filters are 2 Emperor 400s, which are probably about the same thing. I was actually thinking of using rubble inmside them for filtration.

My forthcoming protein skimmer is a flotor biostar, which is a skimmer and a hob filter system with some form of biowheel. I was thinking that would also be a good item to 'mod' to turn it into some sort of fuge.

Thanks for the advice...always greatly appreciated!

Subliminal · Mar 21, 2007

Well, I've had the rock in sw with a powerhead moving it around for about 24 hrs. I just did some tests, and the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate really turned out to be nothing.

Think it's cured (didn't stink at all, either) or I just haven't had it in that 7 gallons long enough yet..?

mfisher2112 · Mar 21, 2007

I'd give it a couple days and test again. Just to be sure. It probably is ok if it came from an established tank and spent little to no time out of water, but just to be safe, give it a couple days, test again and see what happens.

I'd say if all is well by the end of the weekend, you should be good to go.

Subliminal · Mar 22, 2007

Thanks, Matt. Sounds like a good plan to me.