Adding dry rock to established tank

[ReefsandGeeks]

What i did when I added new dry rock is soak it in RO waste water in a bucket with a powerhead. I'd periodically do a 100% change on the water while running my RODI and just use the waste water to fill the bucket as to not waste the water. Di this every 3-5 days for about 2 months. I'd also check the bucket water before emptying for ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates. Once I read 0s for everything, I called it good and added to my tank. I haven't had any issues with the rock and has been in my tank for about a month so far. It's not "cured" as in good bacteria usable in saltwater, but there's nothing leaching from it at this point. If you really wanted, you could use saltwater and seed it with some bacteria, but if you already have an established tank i don't see the point.

 

[rocsec1]

I have added reef cleaners rock with no problem

 

[guarda]

Mirroring the above. My tank is about 10 years old and I've added dry rock (never more than 1/5 total rock volume at a time) and never had an issue.

 

[Oeste]

I purchased 30lbs of pukani and brs dryrock for my new 29gl and sump.
The pukani had loads of crusty stuff and the brs had some green spots. I read up on Muriatic Baths and went that route (water first, then pour acid in). Two 5gl buckets later I used two .99 cent boxes of baking soda per bucket. Rinsed in DI water twice and let the rock air dry for 48hrs.

Never had anything grow on the rock.

BE VERY CAUTIOUS WHEN USING MURIATIC ACID. Read, read, youtube, read read prior

 

[mickey204]

Mirroring the above. My tank is about 10 years old and I've added dry rock (never more than 1/5 total rock volume at a time) and never had an issue.

Same deal here, I've always added dry rock to systems with no issues.

If your system is running well and established, adding dry rock to it shouldn't be an issue. The biological filtration should easily handle any "rot" or die off that was on the dry rock, if there is any.

Just to be safe, you can always put some RO water in a bucket and rinse/wash the rock (use a toothbrush or larger dish brush) to get any old sediment or loose particles off it prior to putting in.

Now if you don't have enough biological filtration and dump in a wackload, you could run into a problem.