new rock?

[water12]

I have a 8 gallon buocube with some live rock and been set up for a while now but I want some new rocks. Can I just take the old ones out and put smaller live rock in there? Or will it mess the bacteria and all up?

 

[Crystal A]

It will re-cycle when you put in new rock.

 

[water12]

Even if it is live rock?

 

[carey]

yep, the new live rock may have die off and can cause an ammonia spike. You can add dead base rock which is alot cheaper and in my opinion looks even better than the chunks of live rock I find locally.

You can also put the new live rock in a rubbermaid container or a small fish tank and let it do it's thing. Just needs salt water, a heater and circulation. It will spike in that tank and not your main tank and risk killing any livestock.