placing dry rock directly into established tank?

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I think that listing is weird, because when I think of dry base rock, I think of rock that is completely dry and devoid of life. Pre-cured seems to imply that it still has life, so their ad is contradictory. It's either dry and dead, or it's not completely dry and somewhat cured but now dying because it's drying out.

I would side with saving the PWC water and soak in a tub like suggested. I have been told by LFSs in the past to not add more than 10% of your water volume in LR weight at a time, so if you have a 100g tank, only add 10 lb at a time, but that's probably for fully cured LR not base rock.

I've added 70-80 lb dry base rock to an existing tank without issue, and that was after a couple days of soaking in FW, which did result in a huge ammonia spike from rock that was dry for 2 years and rinsed off thoroughly before soaking!!
 
Yea thats wht kind of confused me that they say its pre cured. Pre cured from what if its dry base rock?..but i still have mine soaking in fresh water not salt water..i don't think it should not make a difference whether its saltwater or not but then again I may be wrong. So far ph has not changed and no ammonia has been detected yet. But its only been a day soaking.
 
You could boil the rocks to be sure you don't get any nuisance algae along the way.
 
Marco rock has a long history of containing dried organic material. By pre-curing it they are re-hydrating and removing most of that organic material that would cause a spike. I still would not add their rock to an established tank without testing it first.
 
Yea I read some where in some forums what cmor saying about marcorocks.. I am not gonna place it in my tank with out testing anymore..I have learned that doing stuff right the first time or as best as possible will save me money later on... I will be testing my rock again tomorrow
 
I only had one damsel and some turbo snails but i took mine to the car wash and powerwashed with regular water, for whatever reason they are covered in chalky dust. so adding directly is a big no, after washing them i soaked in rodi for about 12 hours. tested water for ammonia 0ppm water stayed clear no chalky residue. Then added to my display to my surprise it had 0 effect on my water readings hope this helps
neil
 
Jereli... Did the rock arrive wet/moist? Or was it completely dry?... without any wet newspaper on it? I ask because right now I'm in the middle of some house remodeling and the tank is temporarily in my dining room. I'm thinking that if the rock arrived completely dry that I should be able to leave them in the box for a week or two until I can get the new flooring down. Sorry for hijacking your post... but I figured that since we ended up having a pretty good discussion on the proper procedure of "acclimating" rock from Marco Rocks for future readers that it wouldn't be a problem adding a few questions for the group.
 
Me too tagging along :popcorn:..... I bought some dry base rocks from my LSF but they are still sitting in the box. Do not remember what type of rocks they are but they are huge and will probably have to break them down to smaller sizes.... What is the best way of doing that????? I got them for my new upcoming purchase of a 180 gal RR tank.
 
Tdob...I don't see why you wouldn't be able leave it in the box if its already dry. Wouldn't make no difference. But my rock arrived completely dry. I dont believe it was ever alive to begin with. Your dry rock should be fine in a box.

mwilliams....just take a hammer and chisel to the rock. That should take care of it. It worked for me atleast.
 
Thanks. When you use the hammer & chisel do you need to use the rubber mallet or a regular hammer on the chisel? Don't want to mess up the chisel when I hit it with the hammer....
mwilliams.....
 
Regular hammer is fine, BUT, be sure to wear EYE PROTECTION and try to confine the space you are in. This is coral rock and it will send sharp shards in all directions. Use the rubble in the sump.
 
Will do... I think I still have some of those protective eyeglasses... They are not Coral Rock they are the Volcano Rocks will be using for the base then top off with my LR. And they will get a through cleaning once I break them down to more manageable sizes.
 
I'm not really sure you want to be using volcanic rock... I've heard that you'll have heavy metals leach from the rock into your tank which can really screw things up... I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in to correct me if need be.
 
I hope someone else will chime in because my LFS is and has been using those rocks as the base rocks in their main tank display and it has been setup for number, number and number of years....
Especially before I go to all the work to clean them up and break them up to more manageable sizes....
 
I've also heard several opinions on lava rock. I could be wrong, but I don't think all lava rock is the same.

The tank you say the LFS is using lava rock in, is it a reef tank, fowlr, or FW?

If the rocks leaches heavy metals it will be especially harmful to your inverts and corals .
 
I was doing some research, and from what I found, some "lava rock" is manufactured and is inert. (wont leach). The general consensus from what I saw is most LFS are selling a safe version of "lava rock" that won't leach, often treated to make it inert. I don't know what "treating" the rock actually is but presumably it makes it safe.

If you're concerned, ask the owner or someone who knows where their lava rock comes from, and can answer your questions. If they will tell you their source, research what they do and use.

If they can't or won't answer your questions to your satisfaction, then I'd use something else, but if you feel good about the answers and info you get from them, then I'd give it a try.
 
Okay check with them to see where they are getting them from. But in the meantime they can sit in the box till I get more info from the LFS and before I start cleaning them.
 
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