Adding LR to an established system

[BrendanH]

Hi All,

I've read many comments in other threads on this but I want to be sure I'm good to go before I damage my tank. My 55g has been up-and-running for about 2.5 months now and all is well. Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite are all at zero and PH and Salinity are where I want them and are stable. I do have a Calcium issue which I'm trying to deal with but I think that's unrelated to this thread. So ... I want to add some more live rock, not a whole lot, maybe 15-20 lbs or so to fill a gap created when I removed an ornamental sea fan that just kept getting uglier and uglier with algae build-up. I've read that adding cured live rock should be fine and result in a minimal spike or maybe none at all. I trust my LFS to sell me truly cured LR but it will take up to an hour to get it home and into the tank. Can I go ahead ???

thanks,
Brendan.

 

[SquishyFish]

A general rule, unless you see the rock taken out of an existing, thriving tank, is that there is no such thing as cured rock. They take the rock and toss it in a tank or a well and let it sit there till it cures. Some places will shift the rock from the "uncured" to the "cured" tank, but even then...how do they know how long that specific rock has been in the tank. I used to work at an LFS....there is no way to accurately keep track. Cure it for a week...see where your levels are at and go from there. Better safe than sorry right!?

 

[BBReef]

I agree. you never want to just throw LR in your tank when you don't really know where it came from. put it in another container with very good water flow and moniter it for a few days and see what the readings are. if the ammonia and nitrite are high, be sure to do water changes to keep them low, you dont want to kill everything on the LR that makes it live.

 

[BrendanH]

Fair enough - sounds like good advice. I'll try to get some rock from the LFS main display tanks but I'm guessing it's unlikely he will want to disturb them. Otherwise I'll monitor at home in a seperate container as advised above. Thanks !