LFS said to "brush" my LR when I get it.

[gsxrguru2]

Haven't heard of this one yet, but the guy at the LFS told me when i get my boxes of LR, that i should go over each rock with a toothbrush and get off as much crap as i can. He said specifically the sponges and algae need to be removed. If i am setting up a new tank and plan on curing the rock during the cycle does this need to be done? I am just thinking that brushing the rock would take off a lot of the coralline. Also, the rock he claims to sell is Fiji lr and they sell 50lb boxes for 140.00- does this sound right, seemed too cheap to me- not that i'm complaining but just wondering if its really what he claims it to be. When buying lr, what should i look for to make sure i'm getting good stuff?

 

[talloulou]

I was told to sniff the rock. If it smells like ocean your in good shape. If it smells rotten then you don't want it. But I'm a total new moron who doesn't even know how to make saltwater 8O So you better wait for someone else to advise you.

 

[gsxrguru2]

Damn talloulou you've been postin like a mofo!!!! only on the board for 4 months and over 1000 posts.... but thanks for the advice on sniffing it. I havent even seen the rock that the store sells yet. suppose i'll check it out and make my decision based on how it looks.

 

[Devilishturtles]

You may want to get some of it off, but you really don't need to. The sponges and algae are what add diversity to your tank. I don't know why you would want to get rid of them...

 

[gsxrguru2]

thats what i was thinking... LFS advice go figure

 

[MantisFreak]

I completely agree with your LFS. The sponges will have been exposed to air and will have died. As a result, the more of them that you allow to decompose in the tank, the longer your cycle will be.

The ONLY algae that I want in my tank is coralline algae. As a result, I would scrape the algae off as well. I had a friend who was concerned about losing critters so she put the rock into the tank without removing all of the sponges. She didn't remove the algae either. Within 3 weeks, she had 4 inch long hair algae all over the place.

The only reason I want LR is to provide a place for corals and to provide a great habitat for bacteria to colonize. Bacteria is what makes LR live....not all of the hitchhikers.

 

[seaham358]

Its another one of the questions where there is no right or wrong answer. Its your choice on what you want to do.
I never cleaned my LR and every thing was alright, but then again I did not have much stuff on my LR.
Like they said sponges can be cleaned off because they are more then likely dead if exposed to the air.
Some clean it some don't! If you see tons of algae on it I would clean it, if not then toss in and let the die off cycle the tank.
140 is a good price, I would jump all over that if it looks like nice rock. LFS is giving you a great price there..

 

[buvaren]

My first 2/3 of rock was uncured, and my LFS gave me a preparation made for cleaning LR (think it was made by Kent or someone like that). Not sure how much this stuff helped if any, but it was free and had a brush on one end. I cleaned all of my rock at the time, 22 lbs, and couldn't believe the amount of "stuff" that came out. I also used my tank's saltwater to rinse off the rock in the bathtub, before adding it to the tank. The main thing I wanted to tell you, is that even after cleaning the rock, I still had a great diversity of hitchhikers.

I did buy a second round of rock, to get to my 31 lbs, but it was completely cured and smelled just fine. All of it is great Fiji rock, with beautiful purple, green, and yellow coralline algea on it.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I never brushed any sponges off my rock, nor algae and I've never had a hair algae outbreak and have some reall neat sponges growing on my rock as well. I did brush off the die off. The mucky junk on the rock that covers it, but that was it.

There really is no right or wrong answer here, I agree. I'm just sharing my experiences.

 

[talloulou]

darn talloulou you've been postin like a mofo!!!! only on the board for 4 months and over 1000 posts....

Talloulou hangs head in shame

 

[Fluff]

lol You go talloulou! lol
I agree with seaham. There is no right or wrong here. I've never bothered to brush my rock and have never had a problem. If your using it to cycle with, the die off won't hurt anything.

 

[gsxrguru2]

well once again you all have been more than helpful in providing useful information. What i am going to do is play it by ear, if the rock looks pretty dirty i'll brush if not i'll just toss it in the tank and let the cycle begin...
by the way talloulou like fluff said keep up the good work!