Live Rock Hitchhikers

Spyderturbo007

Spyderturbo007

New member
I got my tank filled and I'm going to cycle the tank with the live rock here in the next few days. I'm planning to start with about 60 or 70lbs, but I'm not sure what kind to buy nor what I'm supposed to do with it when I get the stuff home. I was also going to get about 10lbs of rubble rock for the sump.

I've read that you should rinse it in a bucket of salt water and then go over it and remove undesirable hitchhikers with tweezers or other means. The problem is that I don't know what is desirable and what is undesirable.

Is there anything else that I need to do? The guy at the store also said that I should throw in a regular old cocktail shrimp when I put in the live rock to start the nitrogen cycle and then remove it after about 3 days. He also said to throw in half a bottle of Special Blend at the same time as the live rock.

Then watch the water chemistry until I see the Ammonia / Nitrites spike and then return to 0ppm. Then it's a water change and a Nitrate test. If the Nitrates look good, I'm ready for fish! :D

Is that correct?
 
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2095557 <-- this tread should be informative if you haven't read it already.

When your nitrates pop up definitely do your water change add your clean up crew (snails, hermits, etc) before your fish. Should start seeing algae by this time. While your CUC is going to town I would set-up a quarantine tank for your new fish arrivals. Be sure to read up on QTing.
 
I use a hydrometer that I purchased. It's a little high right now so I need to dilute things tonight. It's at 1.026.

Should I go through the rock piece by piece, or throw it in the tank and pull stuff out over the next few weeks when I'm waiting for it to cycle?

Does the live rock require full lighting 10 - 12h a day like coral would? I have a 4-bulb T5 setup right now.
 
1.026 is fine. Are you mixing your own water? If so, is it RO water? Generally, you will have algae fairly regularly if you are using tap water. As far as the rock goes, there's many opinions, so I don't want to tell you the wrong thing to do. I wouldn't keep the light on while cycling...I think that is a general consensus here either way shouldn't hurt besides potentially more algae.
 
I picked up an RO/DI system and used that for making my saltwater along with Instant Ocean salt. I used tap water to wash my sand, but other than that, everything else was made with the RO/DI.

Now I just need to find about what to do with the rock.

I looked through the link you posted and there are some great pictures in there, but most of them don't have a caption that says good or bad.
 
Wow, chad316, that helps a lot!

Can this be done outside? I know the sun might dry things out a little quicker, but I figured I could just keep dunking it in salt water if it started to dry out. I guess if the article says it can survive for days out of water, a few hours while I go through it won't hurt anything.

Any thoughts on what type of rock to buy or stay away from? The LFS has the following types to choose from:

  • Solomon Island ($5.99/lb)
  • Tukani/Totoka ($5.99/lb)
  • Premium Cultured Caribbean ($8.99/lb)
  • "Real Reef" Bioactive Cultured Live Rock ($8.99/lb)

Thanks again for all your help.
 
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Just a tip. I use a hydrometer too. Well I went to my LFS and had my water tested and my hydrometer was .003 off. That's a big deal because I thought I was safe at 1.024 and I learned my water was actually at 1.027, which my LFS said is enough to kill fish and he was surprised anything was alive in my tank. So I now know to adjust for the offset and my hydrometer shouldn't be above 1.022. So get it tested, bring it to the LFS with you if you need. But make sure it's correct. I think it killed about $100 of my livestock already before I knew.
 
Some rock has more critters and pets than others. I like the look of tonga it s more branched but usually doesn't have as much life on/in it.
I also have bala rock it had alot of life it's alright.
 
SushiGirl said:
You have to read the responses, there are very few that don't say whether they're good or bad...
Click to expand...

I was just scrolling through and looking at the pretty pictures, which is probably why I missed that part. :o

I ended up going last night and picking up just under 50lbs of live rock. I got 25lbs of what they called "Real Reef" Bioactive Cultured Live Rock, 18lbs of Tukani/Totoka, 4lbs Premium Cultured Caribbean and 5lbs of Rubble Rock.

I got some of the rock set where I want it, but from moving the sand around so much the tank got cloudy again and I couldn't see what I was doing. Note to self, put rock in tank first and then add sand. :facepalm:

Do I need to be turning my lights on for this rock while I cycle the tank?
 
Yeah, that thread people post pics to find out what stuff is & the answers are after the pics. Unfortunately people don't check the thread before posting so it's getting long with multiples of the same thing.

Sounds like you got some nice rock. Make sure to bury them down to the glass on the bottom so they won't fall if something burrows under them.

Here are some hitchhiker links.
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchhikers.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/
http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml

Having lights on is not required, you can if you want.
 
SushiGirl said:
Yeah, that thread people post pics to find out what stuff is & the answers are after the pics. Unfortunately people don't check the thread before posting so it's getting long with multiples of the same thing.
Click to expand...

After going through a bunch of pages, I have a much better idea of what I'm looking for when I look over them. I also noticed that you seem to be the resident expert. :D



SushiGirl said:
Make sure to bury them down to the glass on the bottom so they won't fall if something burrows under them.
Click to expand...

I put down the egg crate at the bottom of the tank and moved the sand out of the way before I set the rock, so they are sitting directly on the egg crate. How sturdy do they have to be? I have a few of them set together to allow a little cave at the bottom and a tunnel shape at the top. I can grab them and they wiggle a little, but not much.

I guess it's not like I'm putting a gorilla in the tank, but didn't know how sturdy they have to be.

Here is the first one I got done. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of the rock.

firstformation.jpg
 
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You want to be sure that it wont come crashing down for sure. Make sure there's not much sand between the egg crate and the rocks, because if you get a burrower it could be bad news down the line. Looks like you set the rock right on top of the egg crate from the picture, so just put arm pressure on the rocks to make sure they are stable. What size is your tank? 70 gallon?
 
chad316 said:
You want to be sure that it wont come crashing down for sure. Make sure there's not much sand between the egg crate and the rocks, because if you get a burrower it could be bad news down the line. Looks like you set the rock right on top of the egg crate from the picture, so just put arm pressure on the rocks to make sure they are stable. What size is your tank? 70 gallon?
Click to expand...

I was able to move the sand and set them directly on the egg crate. I can push down on them and they are solid, but if I wiggle the one on the right it moves ever so slightly. I tried to get it solid by jamming pieces of rubble rock around it, but no matter what I did, it still had a little wiggle. It only moves about 1/8" when you wiggle it around.

The piece on the left and on the top is actually just resting on both of the other pieces, but it's solid too. It's almost like it was made to fit there.

The tank is a 55g. I wanted to go bigger, but I wasn't sure about putting that much weight on my 1st floor.
 
Hitchhikers are what got me hooked on this hobby LOL.

I have a few rocks that wiggle. Every once in a while my boyfriend moves one with his arm, but since I have so much rock (the dreaded wall LOL) it really doesn't go anywhere. Your rocks on top would make me nervous, maybe get some reef epoxy and stick them together so they don't move. That's what I would do. You will be amazed at just how strong snails & hermits can be, they're like little levers...get in a crack & push & they can move a rock the size of yours.
 
SushiGirl said:
Your rocks on top would make me nervous, maybe get some reef epoxy and stick them together so they don't move. That's what I would do.
Click to expand...

I saw they had both the putty and the epoxy at the store. Is one recommended over the other? I have plenty of time since it will be awhile until the tank cycles and I'm ready for the CUC.

I guess once you glue them together there is no going back though? Do they have to sit out for awhile, or do you just glue them and stick them back in the tank?

SushiGirl said:
You will be amazed at just how strong snails & hermits can be, they're like little levers...get in a crack & push & they can move a rock the size of yours.
Click to expand...

I never thought of that, but you make a good point. I would rather be safe than sorry especially when dealing with 55 gallons of salt water in my living room.
 
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