Dry Rock Addition Question

[DLANDINO]

Hi,

I recently tore down my tank leaving only 3 fish and my live sand in place. Today I received a shipment of dry rock from BRS and want to know if I can add it directly to the tank at this point. No rinsing or soaking, just right in? It has been quite some time (7 years) since I built my original reef and can't remember if this is acceptable. Thanks.

 

[bertoni]

Even though the rock is dry, it might have a lot of organic debris on it. I'd cure it in a container with saltwater and a powerhead for at least a day, to see whether there's an ammonia spike, or a lot of phosphate released.

 

[xfactor1315]

How much rock are we talking about? How much was removed? And how much is going back in?

 

[DLANDINO]

Thanks all. So, I removed 62 lbs of rock about 2 months ago and have been running the tank with only sand and fish. So, I am going to put back new, dry rock (about 30 lbs). I realized that in my last tank rendition I had 62 lbs of rock and 80 lbs of sand. This was too much. The tank when full is only about 30 gallons of water once you factor out the rock and sand. So, I was out of space before I began. I had an SPS dominated tank for 6 years and it was very successful IMHO but then it crashed inexplicably. So, in my new build I am going to do softies and MAYBE LPS. I run a very simple setup. No sump, no refugium and only a Deltec MCE 600 HOB skimmer. This skimmer is way too big for the water volume but that is ok. In my 6 years I learned a lot, mostly by trial and error, so I am thinking that my next go round should be a but smoother and cheaper.