Rocks

[Fird]

Does it matter what kind of rock I'm using? I clearly have all types of rocks in my tank, I picked up from a friend and i have some I picked up at the lfs? As you can see they have different texture but live rock is bacteria based so it shouldn't matter, correct?

 

[Kio707]

U should be fine as long as they are cured.

 

[deepseadan]

U should be fine as long as they are cured.

I've never buy cured live rock anymore. I love getting the rock straight from the dirty shipping box. My tanks which started with uncured live rock have 10 times the diversity of life (and coralline colors) in them. I just do a quick scrub with a brush, and throw em in. It's a little more of a cycle battle, but much more life. In fact, it may sound crazy, but I love to add a small piece of just shipped live rock to my older tanks from time to time. It seems to revitalize them. I always notice a major increase of amphipods and copepods after.

 

[Fird]

What would happen if I added uncured rock to an established tank one rock at a time?

 

[Kio707]

You could start your cycle over... Higher trites, ammonia, nitrates. Could possibly kill your live stock. But I'm no expert, sure there are others with advice.

 

[deepseadan]

What would happen if I added uncured rock to an established tank one rock at a time?

If you have a healthy established ecosystem, you won't shouldn't any negative. I never do. No increase in ammonia,nitrates, nitrates, or phosphates. Of course my system has a total water volume of 130 gallons. I imagine if you have a nano tank, you might.