dry live rock

[Dvsfx]

is it a bad idea to add dry rock into an already cycled tank, I need to add additional rock and I have sum laying around that was once in a friends aquarium a long time ago, I thought I could maybe save sum money but If it's not good I won't bother. I also have several hermits and snails in my tank already.

 

[austinsdad]

Put it in a separate container of salt water and test it. Not uncommon for dry rock to have stuff that starts to decay again once it gets wet. Brush it off real good with a stiff nylon brush and water first.

 

[Dvsfx]

how long should I have it in the alternate container? I read that it would not be out of the question to bleach it before adding it to the container , of course a very very thorough rinse would be deemed necessary

 

[MacDracor]

Leave it in until there's no ammonia or nitrite. Can also add some Cycle or something to speed that up. IF you decide to bleach it, rinse and soak several times until you cannot smell any bleach. Then in a final rinse, treat it with a chemical dechlorinator.

 

[Dvsfx]

if I were to add a uv filter into the container would this also speed up the process, I tend to use it when I'm preparing water before tank changes after I've d-ionized it but when I had it o before I noticed a small shock when I put my hand in the water lol was terribly painful like I could keep my hand in it, does this mean the filters defective? or is that simply it working?

 

[Dvsfx]

wasn't painful ***

 

[Gti_Leo]

leave it in for about a week

 

[MacDracor]

I've never been a fan of UV filters. Not for ponds or for aquariums. Proper biology is more beneficial than sterile water, IMO.
Two things to consider with your UV sterilizer with the cycling rock questions.
First, the point of the cycle is to grow bacteria, not to kill it. Seems counterintuitive to me.
Second, most of the bacteria you're growing will be in the rock or on the container sides, not floating around the water column, so I don't see it actually affecting the cycle in any way.
As for the shock... sounds like there's a short in it, and current is getting into the water. While probably not a huge issue, it's certainly not a good thing.

 

[Dvsfx]

alright thank you very much for your insight! I'll leave the rock in the container for a week or so I'm just doing a major clean of it with a brush and breaking off anything loose, but is it alright to sterilize my water with the UV for water changes? I tend to do this days before hand just so I'm prepared making d-ionized water for top offs and pre-mixing sum saltwater for the changes I then bottle it up. does this seem like I good method? and I got a used ion exchange chamber online so It was cheap but I sadly didn't get any instructions . it's easy to work but I was curious about the filter inside of it, does it need to be replaced every so often or what I'll take a picture if your curious as to see what it looks like

 

[Dvsfx]

here it is full of tiny beads an has two colors two them , I just set up a siphon from my tap run it thru this and then into a bucket , then dechlorinate.

 

[MacDracor]

With the sterilization, again, I don't believe it will do any harm, but I don't personally see any benefit to it. If you're using RO/DI water, it should be relatively free of any bacteria to begin with. I think this one comes down to personal preference.
I'm sure the ion exchange resin will need to be replaced eventually, but I have never used one. See if you can find the instructions for it online?

 

[Dvsfx]

alright will do thanx for your time, I really appreciate it! this is a great forum

 

[Dvsfx]

oh one last quick question , it involves aquarium janitors how many should I have in my 10 gallon I read 1 snail every 2-3 gallons does this also apply for crabs or are they counted as they same?
right now I have
3 trochus snails
hermits include
1 zebra
1 scarlet
1 unknown (he's green with dark blue eye stalks) I don't buy things I don't know anything about but my buddy wanted something in my tank so he picked him out.
and 1 emerald crab that hitchhiked in on the live rock, pretty good deal considering there 15.00 a pop at my LFS

I know variety is the spice of life so possibly a couple diffrent snails?

 

[Dvsfx]

and since I finally got the idea that building bacteria seems to be good instead of killing everything , would water from my aquarium work better on the dry rock then just freshly mixed saltwater

 

[MacDracor]

Your clean up crew sounds good to me. There are some on the forum here who don't use cuc's at all with no problem, but at least you haven't way overstocked like some sites recommend!
Using tankwater, or at least a small amount, might speed it up slightly, but I don't think it would be a huge difference. The bacteria you want will show up regardless, but remember, it clings to surfaces more than it floats in the water.