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bnumair
07/05/2010, 09:51 AM
Guys i have a 120 gal reef tank. its got a total of 60-70 lbs of rock in it. its been setup for 2 yrs. i have a lots of corals mostly small frags and 5 fish total.
i am wanting to add more live rock almost 50 lbs to it.
i been reading that if i add that much rock altogather it will crash my tank with die offs. can i put dry live rocks 50lbs in this existing tank without having to worry about ammonia and other water perameter related problems?
eventually they will come alive?
all help is apprtiated. thanks

Allmost
07/05/2010, 09:59 AM
Hello,
if you add fully cured Live rock, then the spike would be minimum, but still bringing the live rocks home will have some die offs, I personally wont risk it with corals :) fish wont be harmed as I have done this in my FOWLR.

there is a thread about use of dry rocks and how to cycle them. I started my reef tank with half and half live rock and no ISsues although some report increased PO4 when adding dry rock, so cooking it wont be a bad Idea.

I would save the water from your next water change and cycle the dry rocks in that water for at least 2 weeks to get them a bit seasoned before adding it to main tank.

bnumair
07/05/2010, 10:06 AM
well i have the option to buy 50lbc live rock cured shipped to me in 3 days or i buy 50lbs dry rock and add it to my existing 60-70lbs. either way i will be taking my corals and fish out to a temporary tank. my question is which rock (live or dry) will better for me in regards to water perameters.
i think dry rock will have less negetive effect on my tank while live rock shipped and out of water for 3 days will have more effect.
also which one will have a less cycle (days wise)
please advise

Allmost
07/05/2010, 10:22 AM
well i have the option to buy 50lbc live rock cured shipped to me in 3 days or i buy 50lbs dry rock and add it to my existing 60-70lbs. either way i will be taking my corals and fish out to a temporary tank. my question is which rock (live or dry) will better for me in regards to water perameters.
i think dry rock will have less negetive effect on my tank while live rock shipped and out of water for 3 days will have more effect.
also which one will have a less cycle (days wise)
please advise
ohh I get what u mean now.

well live rock has higher surface area as well as better pores and .... allowing better filteration (most cases)
live rock will cycle faster, as dry rock has to be seaded, can take up to 6 months.

and to defend dry rock, it costs so much less :P haha and no new unwated hich hickers

bnumair
07/05/2010, 04:45 PM
the rocks i am looking at are at macrorocks.com and justliverock.com. they both claim that the dry live rock is pre cycled and washed off of all the die off and then cooked and dried for a long time. upon receiving just rinse in RO water and add to ur aquarium.
i am getting mixed opinions from LFS's in town. some say they are ok to add without any negetive effect on ur tank some say it will make ur tank go through a cycle again.
i am under the assumption that if the rock is dry and was pre cycled before drying that means all the die off has been washed away. that should not cause any water problem.
any ideas guys?