Live rock in Fish Tanks
- Thread starter Tillerman
- Start date
find a new petstore, live rock is good, it works as a natural filter. you wouldnt want to medicate the tank with live rock in there but you wouldnt want to medicate your main tank anyway, if you ever wanted to put inverts in there you wouldnt be able too. If your fish ever got sick just Qt them. Plus live rock gives the fish a place to hide. I always Qt my fish before i put them in my tank anyways and have had really good luck deseases.
Pros to LR- It acts as a biological filter for your tank and provides your fish with zooplankton to eat
Cons to LR- If you medicate your tank you have mostly dead rock which could cause an ammonia spike and do more damage to your tank
I think the pros out weigh the cons. You can always set up a hospital tank or do freshwater dips.
Cons to LR- If you medicate your tank you have mostly dead rock which could cause an ammonia spike and do more damage to your tank
I think the pros out weigh the cons. You can always set up a hospital tank or do freshwater dips.
marrone
New member
You need to do fresh water bath as a dip for 1-2 min. isn't going to do much. You need to give your fish a bath of 20-30 min., just make sure you rise the Ph to atleast 8.0.
Before you spend money on live rock you need to determine what your going to have in your tank. If you going to have large fish and feed a lot than your going to need a lot of Live Rock to act as a filter and control nitrates. The rock will take up space in the tank and still mayn't be enough to control nitrates. It maybe better to get dead rock and use a wet/dry filter or canister type filter.
Before you spend money on live rock you need to determine what your going to have in your tank. If you going to have large fish and feed a lot than your going to need a lot of Live Rock to act as a filter and control nitrates. The rock will take up space in the tank and still mayn't be enough to control nitrates. It maybe better to get dead rock and use a wet/dry filter or canister type filter.
peterl23454
New member
also with some agressive FO setups ie.. triggers ,puffers..etc..
you will not be able to have any snails to eat algae off the LR....can be a pain in the butt if it gets out of control... i just redid my trigger tank cause of this . i may take all my lr and set it up by itself and a couple dozen snails.....maybe setup another reef with it
you will not be able to have any snails to eat algae off the LR....can be a pain in the butt if it gets out of control... i just redid my trigger tank cause of this . i may take all my lr and set it up by itself and a couple dozen snails.....maybe setup another reef with it
I disagree with Marrone, 30 mins in freshwater will kill most marine fish. I have always heard/used the 8 min max rule and have had great success, as far as freshwater dips go.
Another problem with live rock in a tank is if you ever need to get the fish out for some reason (fresh water dip) it is almost impossible to catch without taking the rock out. Even with that problem, you will have much healthier/happier fish with live rock in the tank
Another problem with live rock in a tank is if you ever need to get the fish out for some reason (fresh water dip) it is almost impossible to catch without taking the rock out. Even with that problem, you will have much healthier/happier fish with live rock in the tank
marrone
New member
Most fish can handle a 20-30 minute bath without a problem. You need to adjust the fresh water to the Ph in the tank, atleast 8.0, and the fish will be fine. I will not kill the fish but you need to watch the fish and make sure it ok and if not be ready to return it to the QT tank.
As for a 8 minute max rule that's is not going to get some parasites off the fish and for the most part isn't going to do enough. I'm not even sure where you got that rule.
Marrone
I guess the 8 min rule came from everybody I have ever talked too. Also with the 3.5 years experience I had working at a LFS, every fish I dipped with the exception of a few could not tolerate the fresh water (water from a fresh water planted tank whose pH was approx 8.1-8.2 on most days). I think maybe b/c the fish that were being dipped were already weak didn't help but that is the kind of fish you would be dipping to start with. If you have dipped a marine fish in fresh water for 20-30 mins and it survived I am amazed, I believe you, but I am very surprised, I would not have thought it would be possible.
I guess the 8 min rule came from everybody I have ever talked too. Also with the 3.5 years experience I had working at a LFS, every fish I dipped with the exception of a few could not tolerate the fresh water (water from a fresh water planted tank whose pH was approx 8.1-8.2 on most days). I think maybe b/c the fish that were being dipped were already weak didn't help but that is the kind of fish you would be dipping to start with. If you have dipped a marine fish in fresh water for 20-30 mins and it survived I am amazed, I believe you, but I am very surprised, I would not have thought it would be possible.
hate to say it but I've never heard of anyone putting an 8 minute rule on fresh water dips....c'mon it isn't a microwave dinner!
obviously a trigger/puffer and a fu-man-chu lion will have different tolerances but I'll agree with 20-30 min rule being tolerable by about anyone. If that does them in they likely would not have made it otherwise.
They might stress out and have a tantrum but they should live.... I've seen extreme cases where fish got a couple hour soak in FW but they were more rescue cases or when the LFS gives you the fish with the "well, he probably isn't going to make it but you are welcome to try" situations.
Another part of FW dips is keeping the temperature as close as possible as the tank the fish came from. (QT, display, whatever) If they came from an 80 degree tank and got plopped in 50 degree fresh water that is a major shock.
obviously a trigger/puffer and a fu-man-chu lion will have different tolerances but I'll agree with 20-30 min rule being tolerable by about anyone. If that does them in they likely would not have made it otherwise.
They might stress out and have a tantrum but they should live.... I've seen extreme cases where fish got a couple hour soak in FW but they were more rescue cases or when the LFS gives you the fish with the "well, he probably isn't going to make it but you are welcome to try" situations.
Another part of FW dips is keeping the temperature as close as possible as the tank the fish came from. (QT, display, whatever) If they came from an 80 degree tank and got plopped in 50 degree fresh water that is a major shock.
taku
New member
I for one can't believe anyone dips saltwater fish in freshwater for 20-30 minutes. It may not kill them.. but don't you think it would be terrible for them while it's happening? I suppose to some people it's better than some parasite entering the display tank and killing off other fish. I've never fresh water dipped any salt water fish or quarantined... my feeling is if my existing fish are so unhealthy that a new addition introduces a parasite that kills my existing fish.. well i'm not doing something right to begin with and have a larger problem than fresh water dipping times.
marrone
New member
taku
To not Quaratine your fish and take a chance of introducing some thing into you system is wrong. To think that a new fish introduces some thing into your tank and then your fish die from it means that your not doing some thing right is also completely wrong. Any health fish can catch some thing and die from it. So if you don't quaratine your fish your taking a chance of introducing some thing into your tank that could kill some or all of your fish.
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