live rock to stocked aquarium?

[Price]

I have a FO tank with no live rock that I have had for just over a year. I have no knowledge about live rock myself. I have a wet/dry sump, a skimmer, and 15w uv ster. All appears to be going fine with the parameters so far. I have 1 inch of live sand and just some decorations. The only media I have is a carbon pad in the wetdry.

After reading thru many posts I'm beggining to think I'd be much safer going with live rock in the long run. My question is can I add cured live rock in small amounts to a set up /stocked tank? The tank is a 120 gallon tank so I assume I would need 120+ pounds. Could I add say 10-20 pounds a month or so w/o taking to much risk to the fish I have (yellow tang, marron clown, hippo tang, and a lion fish)? or would adding rock now do more harm than good?

I also have plenty of rubbermaid containers with powerhead/heaters if I needed to keep the rock in there for a short time if that would help.

 

[MOsborne05]

As long as it is cured live rock and it is going directly from the lfs to your tank, and you keep it in water along the way, it should not harm your fish. You might see a little spike in ammonia if there is any die-off but a water change will clear it up. I think it would be beneficial to your tank in the long run because the live rock will filter the tank. Do you have any powerheads on your tank? If not, you will need to pick up a few to circulate the water over the rock.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

I usually shoot a powerhead on my new rocks, cured or not and shake it in a bucket...to remove some unwanted pests...bristleworms and slugs.

 

[TRe]

if the rock is truely cured than you should be fine the problem is it usually isnt.... to be safe you can stick it in a rubbermaid container with a powerhead and check your levels after a week to make sure theres no die off

 

[Lorna]

I would lean towards safer than sorry and keep it in a bucket for a week as Tre suggests. That way you can watch it for any spikes.....add it to the tank afterwards....wait until you have your full amount of rock then slowly remove the bioballs from your wet/dry over the next couple weeks so you don't overload the rock right away.......keep the wetdry and use it as a refugium.......you may want to increase the amount of sand also by adding about 3-4 inches more around the rock as you add it......this will create a deep sand bed, otherwise you need to ensure that you are thoroughly cleaning the sand bed weekly to remove any buiilt up detritus in the sand.....as it a true working sand bed at that depth.

 

[Price]

Alright, I removed the fish (lfs will hold for now) and put in 50 lbs of "cured live rock" (the brand if it matters was Walt Smiths premium fiji). I will get the rest after my next paycheck. Now my (hopefully) last question about the live rock... This is 125 gallon tank but with the live rock and sand it obviously doesnt hold 125 gallons. Do I get enough rock for 125 gallons or 110 gallons since the rock and sand have taken the space?. I assume the 125 but figured I should ask to make sure.

 

[TRe]

id go with a minimum of 125 lbs personally i have closer to 200 lbs in my 125

 

[Lorna]

yes a minimum of 125lbs and maybe even a bit more.....I have 150lbs in a 75g. some of this can be housed in your sump/fuge.....if you don't want it all in the display.

 

[Price]

Ah the sump, didnt think of putting it there. Is it still ok if theres no light source? my sump is under the tank in the stand? My wife just said to me... Ya nice rock you got any room for fish now (with full sarcasim on)

 

[Lorna]

a tank with a large amount of live rock looks almost full the fish swim in and out of the rock as they would in nature. As to rock in the sump......some light such as a small 13w pc over the sump would be all that is needed to even grow some macro algae as a nutrient scrubber.

 

[Price]

I've read (although not sure how old the article was) that people have removed the bioballs (overtime) and replaced that portion with live rock. Now is that ok since the rock isnt submerged it just has water trickled over it? or did I read that and take it the wrong way.

 

[pearl_aqg]

I think you're referring to people replacing bioballs in a sump wet/dry filter with live rock. In which case, yes, the live rock is submerged. Any time you use live rock, whether inside your tank or in a sump, it has to be submerged and also has to receive appropriate saltwater lighting for the microorganisms that live on it to thrive and filter. Live rock is more efficient and doesn't trap nitrates the way bio-balls do, however, so it's pretty much replaced bio-balls in the saltwater hobby.
If interested I have a short article on our site about wet/dry filters that touches on the berlin style and other sump setups, but you can also search the forum, there's quite a bit of information on setting this up.