Preparing Rock

Dale_M said:
Would you recommend getting real live rock to a beginner?
I do mean live, as in Tampa Bay Saltwater's live rock, fresh out of the ocean.
I live in the Tampa Bay area and it would be easy to purchase from them.
I realize that there will be plenty of micro and macro life on these rocks and the potential for pests and I am just wondering if it would be too overwhelming to a beginner?
Click to expand...

Why not? Do some research set up your tank I say you will be just fine. I wish I had a source close to me I would love some fresh LR..
 
Tonga branch is very dense and would require 2 lbs per gallon. On the other end of the spectrum, Fiji pukani is very porous and sufficient surface area can be achieved by using less than 1 lb per gallon.

I like to compensate by using medium sized aragonite sand which has more surface area than the rock itself.
 
Is it cool if i cure my dry rock on my apartment patio(it's consistently in the 80's-90's F*)? This stuff is really starting to stink! Another question- i bought 10lbs of aquamax dry pukani rock, but i'm only curing half of it in distilled water with a pump and heater. Since my ro/di system didn't come in it, i figured i would only cure what i'm going to use. How long can i expect the rocks to be completely clean? Can i use a phosphate or phosphorous tester along with the other tests to determine when the rocks are ready?
 
Sk8r said:
2) live-but-barely rock suffered in shipping or came from a troubled tank. THIS I would "˜tub' in the dark in 80 degree 1.024 salinity agitated salt water for two months before use. This will pretty well kill off nastiness and leave you with brown bare rock. You can use a Rubbermaid Brute trash can or something with a garbage can liner, and just give it a heater and a fairly strong pump. Eheims are good small workhorses and can later serve as a salt mixing pump or water-change pump. Or you can use what will be your sump skimmer: just let it do this job. However"”if your skimmer isn't really moving the water, you need a more potent pump. You don't want dead spots in the circulation. Do water changes weekly and also test your water to be sure it's staying at 1.024. Test for phosphate a day after water change and if you're getting a reading despite the water changes, you might as well start running GFO in a reactor right now. The water changes will ordinarily be enough.
Click to expand...

I'm starting from scratch. How much pukani do you think could fit in a 55g can? Also, what size pump would I need?
 
Hello and thank you for all of this wonderful information. I am about 12 hours into my tub and have a foolish noob question. Where do you measure the salinity at? I'm set up with 80 lbs in a 32 or 34 gal brute garbage can. I've got my sump pump on bottom with a hose on the outlet blasting water at the top and a power head midway down, each about 1/3 of the way around the bin. I do have a used sump and line and failed to rinse it. If I measure the salinity at the top or about 2/3 of the way down I get one reading but if I measure it from what's coming out of the hose I get a much higher reading. Reading right where the water comes out rather than blasting water into the hygrometer gave me the same reading as the rest of the tub. Any thoughts? Thank you again.
 
Another noob here, setting up my first saltwater tank

Tank drilled 300 gal
sumps 100 gallon combination of 3 sumps

currently running as freshwater.

i have been doing freshwater for about 5 years and finally decided a couple months ago to go into a reef setup

got the water changing station with RODI and 2 tanks .

here is my question

Starting with BRS 250 lbs of Pukani dry rock, have been reading about the PO4 leaching out and crazy algee grownth. i took out out as many live sponges and any other suff i found on the pukani, then power washed the rock. let it soak in bleach 20:1 solution for 3 days. then soked in clean water for two days. its drying now. now im planning on putting it in circulating salt water using hw salt for about 3 months. do you guys think i will be ok doing this method. i really dont want to mess around with acid as its scares me a bit.

what salinity should i keep the rock while curing for max bacteria production
what temp ?
i will be using all rodi water
i also plan on adding a couple pieces of live rock that i picked up from a local fishstore that i have in my 40 g quarentene tank that i setup up last week.

how do i know if the live rock from the LFS has no pests. been watching it for a week and see nothing so far ? should i treat it for pests before mixing it with my pukani in curing bins ? any advice on dipping or pest prevention from you experts. As i stated its my first salt water tank and i'm trying to do it the right way.

Thank You
 
Im stating up a new tank and I want to use dry rock. REEF SAVER DRY LIVE ROCK. Do i need to add anything to the tank to jump start it?

Thanks in advance!
 
Looks ok to me. Lots of tiny holes. That's a good thing. Be sure to go thru the steps of rock prep before adding to your tank.
 
How did that work out? Based on what Im reading people cure the rock for over a month... Lmk as I might be doing the same.

Thanks

Mikepl84 said:
Another noob here, setting up my first saltwater tank

Tank drilled 300 gal
sumps 100 gallon combination of 3 sumps

currently running as freshwater.

i have been doing freshwater for about 5 years and finally decided a couple months ago to go into a reef setup

got the water changing station with RODI and 2 tanks .

here is my question

Starting with BRS 250 lbs of Pukani dry rock, have been reading about the PO4 leaching out and crazy algee grownth. i took out out as many live sponges and any other suff i found on the pukani, then power washed the rock. let it soak in bleach 20:1 solution for 3 days. then soked in clean water for two days. its drying now. now im planning on putting it in circulating salt water using hw salt for about 3 months. do you guys think i will be ok doing this method. i really dont want to mess around with acid as its scares me a bit.

what salinity should i keep the rock while curing for max bacteria production
what temp ?
i will be using all rodi water
i also plan on adding a couple pieces of live rock that i picked up from a local fishstore that i have in my 40 g quarentene tank that i setup up last week.

how do i know if the live rock from the LFS has no pests. been watching it for a week and see nothing so far ? should i treat it for pests before mixing it with my pukani in curing bins ? any advice on dipping or pest prevention from you experts. As i stated its my first salt water tank and i'm trying to do it the right way.

Thank You
Click to expand...
 
i cured mine for almost 4 months in dark trash cans with pumps on and a lid on. this was 4 years ago, now i am selling 2 rocks from my tank that are covered in mushrooms and polyps and might need to replace the those rocks. debating on whether to put dry rock in, or buy some live rock. they will probably total 10-12 lbs of rock in my 240 gallon tank, with a few hundred pounds of already cycled, coraline covered rock.

corey
 
I've been doing a fair amount of research by watching youtube videos and reading various forums before committing myself to starting a reef aquarium.

I have an unusual question regarding uncured rocks. I understand the process of curing the rock but what happens once it's cured? Do I need to put it into tank straight away or can I scape it and leave it out for a while?

I can't remember if I watched or read it somewhere but this particular video / article said once the rock is cured, I have about an hour to put it into the tank to start my cycling process.

Another question is can I cycle the rocks outside and cover it. I mentioned the process to my better half and she wasn't keen on the smell.

Cheers, Xiled.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Phosphate flow out of live rock
Replies
0
Views
81
SantaMonica
S
S
Nutrient Export
Replies
0
Views
65
SantaMonica
S
U
Rock full of nitrates and phos
Replies
10
Views
456
SantaMonica
S
W
Potential 65G
Replies
11
Views
178
kharmaguru
kharmaguru
J
Bare Bottom QT tank won't start cycle :(
Replies
13
Views
413
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
Back
Top