LR rubble question

[sooju]

Now that I have some corals I will occasionally want to frag, I'm thinking about getting some rubble to attach them to. If I bought some BR rubble to have on hand, could I just add a single piece at a time (3" or smaller) to the sump for a month before I need it and skip the curing stage? Would a total volume of around 80 gallons handle the waste coming off a single 3" piece of uncured rock? I find it hard to believe that a 3" chunk could produce more than a fish but I could be wrong.

 

[melosu58]

IMO a few very small pieces of rubble will not make much difference. And if it does your existing nitrifying bacteria can handle it.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree. With dry base rubble rock you shouldn't have any issues at all. I got 25lbs and dumped it all in my system after a couple days soaking in old tank water and a nice rinse. I had no issues.

 

[nanoluvr]

I buy about 6-8 good rubble peices every time I go to the LFS to attach my harvested Xenia to (It grows super fast!), and I just stick it in my display tank in various areas to be retrieved later. I've never had any problems with water parameters having any noticable change

 

[sooju]

I buy about 6-8 good rubble peices every time I go to the LFS to attach my harvested Xenia to (It grows super fast!), and I just stick it in my display tank in various areas to be retrieved later. I've never had any problems with water parameters having any noticable change

But you're probably talking about cured rock? I was wondering about uncured live rock or dry base rock.

Thanks for your responses!

 

[buddha_red]

dry base rock just needs a good cleaning then its good to go.

 

[theyoungaquariest]

Yup, I agree with mel, ziggy and buddha a little bit of dry rock wont hurt

 

[SparKy697]

Here:

15 pound box Fiji Rock rubble - 15FR

Frag until your hands fall off.

 

[nanoluvr]

But you're probably talking about cured rock? I was wondering about uncured live rock or dry base rock.

Thanks for your responses!

Yeah it probably is....well as much as it can be at the LFS..you always have die off when you transport it even if it was cured. Anyway...it's usually insignifigant. I wouldn't worry about it hurting anything

 

[SparKy697]

"cured" simply means that any dead material has been broken down and a substantial amount of bacterial life has formed as a result of dealing with the nitrogen cycle. If you are buying lr from the lfs, and it is in an established system, and has been there for some time, it is cured.

Base rock is often rock that has been bleached and is void of any life. No curing is required. You can put that marco rock right in your tank by the handful and you will not see a spike of any kind, although rinsing is always a good idea.

 

[roka64]

Sparky, I just want to add some BR you may need to cure. I have a bunch of marcorock and it has plenty of dried out critters in it. But I do agree in this application of such a small amount of BR.

 

[SparKy697]

Fair enough. I only dealt with one box of marco and it was all nice clean and white. True though that small pieces for fragging should not pose a problem, even if it does have some nasties on it.