Adding dry rock to established aquarium?

[ezlight]

Hey all, I just got some coral frags for my tank, but my current rock formation isn't tall enough, I need to add rock to get my coral higher and closer to the light. If I add dry rock to the tank, will it start a cycle all over again?

My stocking is currently hermit crabs, an arrow crab, 3 emerald crabs, nass snails, 3 large snails, diamond goby, clown fish, green mandarin (My main concern with a cycle) and also have 3 sand sifting starfish. This is in a 55 gallon tank.

I probably have to double the amount of rock. (Or get a better light:headwally

 

[L_Spec]

What type of lighting do you have?

 

[b0bab0ey]

Hey all, I just got some coral frags for my tank, but my current rock formation isn't tall enough, I need to add rock to get my coral higher and closer to the light. If I add dry rock to the tank, will it start a cycle all over again?

My stocking is currently hermit crabs, an arrow crab, 3 emerald crabs, nass snails, 3 large snails, diamond goby, clown fish, green mandarin (My main concern with a cycle) and also have 3 sand sifting starfish. This is in a 55 gallon tank.

I probably have to double the amount of rock. (Or get a better light:headwally

I would just add it slowly. A few pieces once a week. Give it time for the bacteria to spread.

 

[ezlight]

Power compacts

 

[lil-bit]

tagging along

tagging along

Was thinking about doing the same thing myself, but was going to add live rock. 26gal bowfront and par 30 lights. Think it would start a mini cycle?

 

[someotherguy]

Adding "dead" rock shouldn't start a cycle as long as there isn't any dead organic material on the rock. Most of the rock that is sold is pretty clean, but it is probably a good idea to soak that rock in some RO water for a week or so, with a few water changes along the way, just to try to leach out any other stuff (phosphate for example).
Having said that, it will still take several weeks for this new rock to become part of the functioning filter system, as the bacterial population doesn't get established instantly. With that in mind, don't increase your bioload right away (which is always a good rule to abide by)

 

[hollister]

Dead rock or base rock will not cause a cycle. I would rinse well in ro water first. What type of coral though. Any coral i would add in a new tank would not need higher light. Coral that need higher light also like tanks 1 year or older.

 

[aandfsoccr04]

Can you just put the piece of dead rock in the 30 gallon container that you make your RO water in to top off your tank with a powerhead for a week or do you need a seperate container for the rock?

 

[hollister]

Dead rock or better known as base rock need to accumulating . Just add to main tank with no harm , but i would just rinse off real well first.

 

[someotherguy]

Can you just put the piece of dead rock in the 30 gallon container that you make your RO water in to top off your tank with a powerhead for a week or do you need a seperate container for the rock?

The idea of soaking the rock is to leach out any bad stuff, so it would defeat the purpose to soak it in water that is intended to go into your tank.
What I did recently was to soak some new rock in some water that had just come out of the tank after a water change. What this did was was allow leaching of stuff out, but also gave the biological filter a bit of a head start (my phosphates and nitrates are very low, so I wasn't really soaking the rocks in really dirty water).

 

[aandfsoccr04]

so just do a water change and put some in a 5 gallon bucket and put the rock in there for a day or so and let it soak to get any dead stuff off of it? I've never done this.

 

[ezlight]

Thanks for the tips. I definitely need to add rock to get the corals higher in the tank. With just PC's, down in the bottom wont be good enough. I need to probably double my rock height. I also have an anemone that doesn't seem happy anywhere in my tank. Maybe adding the rock will make him happy also.

Here's some pics to give an idea of what I'm working with.

This picture shows all of the frags that I have now. (yeah, the one on the left in front is upside down. Seems like someone flips him every night)

This is a picture with all the corals, can anyone ID them all for me?

 

[ezlight]

One more thing to add, a few concerns after checking similar threads. This rock came out of a tank probably 6 months ago. Some of that rock was put directly into this tank, and the rest was washed, rinsed with a hose, had a vinegar bath, and was also ran through an old cleaned dishwasher with no soap used. And it's been sitting dried for probably 4-5 moths, and the last month or so, it's been set in my 180 to get an idea of aquascaping for that tank.

 

[Jeff]

Starting a cycle is only done once when the tank is setup. The cycle continues around the clock every day. Adding any organic material (fish waste, food, dead organisms found on rocks, dust dander from the air, etc) will bump the cycle up a notch and make your system work harder. It's all about how fast your system can compensate. An established/mature system will react immediately and you will most likely see no change in the daily routine.
If you add a considerable amount of anything to your system you may see a spike in nutients that your reef can not compensate for before quickly enough to head off bad changes such as cyano, diatoms and algae.
You will most likely see a stage of diatoms on the new rock. It will pass in time.

 

[LoveReef1]

Hello Everyone!
This is really not a reply, but I just can't find the way to post a new post (just subscribed). However, I have A same question as I have a newly established 125 g saltwater aquarium with 60 Lbs live sand and 30 Lbs live rocks and some green chromis. Everything is good so far!
I recently purchased 80 Lbs of Pukani dry live rock. My question is how to add the dry rock to an established aquarium. Any help will be appreciate it and thank you.

 

[incloud]

Clean the rocks in RO, put them in, do a couple decent size water changes over a couple weeks and ride out the resulting diatoms. In a month you'll have live rock and more filtration. Don't over think it, I did for years. Let nature run its' course!

 

[j.falk]

Hello Everyone!
This is really not a reply, but I just can't find the way to post a new post (just subscribed). However, I have A same question as I have a newly established 125 g saltwater aquarium with 60 Lbs live sand and 30 Lbs live rocks and some green chromis. Everything is good so far!
I recently purchased 80 Lbs of Pukani dry live rock. My question is how to add the dry rock to an established aquarium. Any help will be appreciate it and thank you.

Isn't Pukani well known to leech phosphates which will cause algae problems in the future?