pre-cured LR? or cured LR?

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leesanhua

Aquarium Advice Freak
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i just set up my new 15 gallon saltwater tank. i have no experience about it. I was wondering should i buy the cured LR or pre-cured LR?
I have a hang on tank filter -- Emperor 280 and a heater. What else do i need? do i need the skimmer since i only have a small tank.
 
by the way, i haven't put any sand substrate to my new tank yet.
the heater and filter are running and the water is mixed with salt.
 
Pre cured rock is rock that may have been cured but is then shipped which means it will need to be cured again. This is not a problem and can be helpful since you can use this rock to cycle your tank. Unless you are buying cured rock locally or getting very fresh rock you will still need to cure it again as there may be some die off. If you use cured rock in the new tank you may need to add a source of ammonia(cocktail shrimp) for your cycle to get going.
 
If you get cured LR there may not be a cycle because there is already bacteria on the LR this is the advantage of getting cured rock. No curing process, no tank cycle no need to add shrimp to cause a cycle. You pay more for cured LR but you could be able to add fish after a week if your sure there is no amm or die off.
I got 55 lbs of cured LR for my 55 and I never had amm or no2 had fish in a week after I knew the tank was stable.
Sand can be added now or after you get your rock. Adding now might be better so the sand storm your going to get will settle out before you get the rock.
 
As stated by seaham above there may not be a cycle with cured rock but be sure to make sure the tank is stable. Although some bacteria will be present on the rock it may not be enough to sustain a newly added bioload without first building itself up. Of course this is if it comes from a tank without any bioload/ammonia that has been cured for a while.
 
so the sand storm your going to get will settle out before you get the rock.
Click to expand...
The sand storm won't settle till the sand grains are coated with bacteria, making them heavy enough to settle. Putting sand in now means you need a method to cycle the tank (shrimp or LR). You could cycle the sand outside the tank in a tub which will create a much shorter lived sand storm when you do add it to the main tank.
 
do i need the uv skimmer? it's a 15 gallon tank.

i did do some researches, if i use the cured LR in my new tank. The cured LR will mostly end up with dead LR. Since i am a newbie, isn't it better that i cycle the tank?
 
I cycled my tank with LR from LR.com and had a pretty high ammonia spike but the rock is still awesome. I did have die off(mostly sponges) but the snails, limpits, crabs, shrimp, urchins and worms did great. There is great coralline growth.

You dont have to worry about losing the life on the rock and if you just get a bad feeling about it you could do a partial water change to lower the ammonia
 
i have a 15 gallon tank. thinking about going to get 20lbs from liverock.com. will this too many for my tank? rocks that sell in liverock.com, does it come in one big piece?

so.. i assume that i do not need any protein skimmer.

i am thinking about to get 4 fishes for my tank. is this too many?
2 small clown fishes
2 gobies
 
If you order from LR.com just let them know what you are doing with the rock and what sizes you want and they will help you out. 20 lbs would look good and if it looks like just a little too much you can break the rock with hammer/chisel.

In a 15 gal you will need to do frequent water changes. If you keep up with them you wou can get by without a skimmer but I would get one if possible.

Check out the link below for fish possibilities. You normally want 1 inch of adult fish per 5 gallons of tank space(dont measure tail). 4 fish will be too much for your setup. HTH

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?siteid=20&pCatId=2124&TopCatId=2124
 
when should i put the substrate into the tank? before putting any rocks? or wait till the tank fully cycle. i read an article and it says that it's better to leave the rocks in the new set up tank which is bare bottom so that the waste and be siphon out easily.
after reading too many articles.. i am so confuse now... some say this and some say that.... i do not know which is going to work.
 
I'd put the sub. in now, drop a shrimp in the tank, then when the lr arrives remove the shrimp and put the rock in. You will have some bac. started already.
 
I would put the rock on the bottem then add the substrate at that time. If you add the sand after the cycle it will take some time to settle. If added at the beginning it will settle during the cycle and build its needed nitrifying bacteria. This is obviously my preferance and not the rule.
 
can i put the key rocks and gulf rocks in the same tank? i mean can i mix them?
do i need any base rocks?
 
That's a pretty good price except liverocks.com 's price with shipping is just a little more, shipped next day DHL. The only problem I have ever had was the shipper busted the package, wrapped it in plastic, and sent it on it's way. Even with all that I only lost very little. Still had crabs and shrimp swimming around it what little water was left. (about a coffee cup).
 
I got an order tailor made for me by LR.com. It was 10lbs keys, 10lbs gulf and 10lbs base. The base rock is purely for cost. From LR.com it is still good rock not dead rock like most other places. The rock I got was fresh and very full of life. I would not think of going anywhere else. Of course this is just my opinion from my limited experience.
 
I just checked LR.com website and for 15lbs of keys it is $59.25. That is $10 cheaper than the liveaquaria.com. I am not familiar with the rock from them other than posts here that say it is good just not as good as LR.com.
 
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