Live Rock And Sand

[akopley]

Does live rock and live sand have to be in water to survive or can i do my aquascaping and then pour the water in a couple of days later? Basically...how long can live rock or live sand survive without being in the water?

[fsn77]

If you want it to stay alive, it cannot dry out. Some circulation wouldn't hurt any, either.

[sir_dudeguy]

it will die if you do that....making it no longer "live" rock. It cant really survive that long out of water...i know that when places ship rock, its usually just wrapped in like a wet newspaper or towel or something, so i would think that's enough water for it...but if you have to take it out for a couple days, just put it in a bucket or something w/the tank water in it.

[Capt. Nemo]

How long can LR be out of water before the corraline algea and bacteria die? 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, etc ?

[sir_dudeguy]

mmm...theres no real "set time" really...because sure, some of the bacteria would die off after a bit, but it would quickly regroup if it wasnt too long. the coraline would come back even if it was all killed off (the coralline has nothing to do w/wether or not the rock is live..just in case you didnt know...just for looks) but i've seen where its been out for quite a whille and come back...i've got a powerhead that i got from someone and it was dry for a week, and the coraline is still growing in the exact spots it was on...sure, it might just be new coralline, but i think it was the same, because i dont have other coraline anywhere else really.

if you must take it out of water (i dont see why you cant just put it in buckets tho?...) then i'd say 30 mins max. the bacteria would prolly die out quick if its completely dry.

[akopley]

DOes it have to just be water or salt water?

[sir_dudeguy]

SALT water lol. just use the water that was in the tank (if there was any) if not then mix some up. Freshwater will kill off all the living stuff if you leave it sit for any period of time in it.

HTH!
mike