Confused with live rock

[Pseudomugil]

This is kind of a dumb question but how do you transport live rock from the store to your tank? The closest store to me that has it is almost an hour away.

And can I start a tank with all dry rock and a bit of live rock and eventually the dry rock will become live? I don't want to get a ton of live rock as it is like $9 a pound.

 

[agfish12]

You can start with dry rock but you usually have to seed it. If you use some live and some dry then yes over time the dry rock will start to harbor the beneficial bacteria and organisms. I let my live rock sit for 3 days out of water and yes there was some die off but it still has plenty of things left alive in it it.


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[BigRedsReefs10]

No need for any "live" rock at all, as the dry will become live during the cycle. Lr really only means rock that's been through a nitrogen cycle


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[agfish12]

And to add to big red. The nitrogen cycle is only the beginning. You will have to be patient to add stuff and let the different algae blooms happen


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[Sniperhank]

If you wanted to use live rock, simply keep it wet. You could get a container and wrap it in wet paper (which is how they ship the stuff) or have a bucket of saltwater to toss it in.

But, like was stated, there is NO need for any live rock as it will all turn live. I spent an arm and a leg having my live rock shipped to me. There was cool things and bad things that came in on it and I got the look that I wanted specifically...but it could have been done with a macro or base rock as well had I looked into it.

 

[agfish12]

Ask around in your local area too. Ppl are always getting rid of rock if you don't want to spend a lot of money


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[Mebbid]

I agree with Sniper. Just go with dry rock, it can be bought for $3 / lb at bulk reef supply. With dry rock there's no need to add anything to it other than a nitrogen cycle. The only real benefit to using live rock is that you get some interesting hitch hikers..... which is also the worst thing about live rock because you get some horrible hitch hikers.

 

[dylan p]

If you want coralline algae on the rock you'll have to seed it with live rock. There's plenty of benefits to adding a little live rock to the dry rock. Often live rock has pods and all sorts of little creatures in it and coralline. That's what makes it live rock. Not just going threw a nitrogen cycle. If you add some live rock to the dry rock it will eventually turn into live rock. But if you go with all dry rock it wont really ever be live rock


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[Sniperhank]

But, 9 bucks per pound is pretty pricey for some pods and coralline...You can buy thousands of pods for much less to seed a tank and coralline algae can come in off of snails or even get some scrapings from a friend's tank for free. I know I'm scraping the stuff off of my tank and could easily give some up rather than having my skimmer go nuts when I do it. It might be pretty, but when the growth takes off like a rocket it can be as much of a nuisance as byropsis.

 

[Mebbid]

If you want coralline algae on the rock you'll have to seed it with live rock. There's plenty of benefits to adding a little live rock to the dry rock. Often live rock has pods and all sorts of little creatures in it and coralline. That's what makes it live rock. Not just going threw a nitrogen cycle. If you add some live rock to the dry rock it will eventually turn into live rock. But if you go with all dry rock it wont really ever be live rock


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That all depends on what your definition of what "Live rock" is. For me it's rock that has beneficial bacteria living on it. The other stuff is just filler.

If you add any sort of clean up crew at all then you will be seeding the tank with coralline algae. And if you truly want to have those little critters such as pods in your tank, it's as easy as adding them later on down the road. There's hundreds of places to buy copepods for your tank. In fact, doing it that way will save you hundreds of dollars and a lot of headache by avoiding undesirable hitch hikers like bristle worms, coral pests, flat worms, Nudibranchs, Aiptasia, Mojano, hydroids, mantis shrimp, and vermetid snails.

Every time I have to go into my tank to inject vinegar into aiptasia or having to go in and kill vermetid snails I kick myself over and over because it would have been prevented by paying 1/3 of the price for dry rock.

 

[Pseudomugil]

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'm gonna do mostly dry rock to start and maybe a piece or 2 of live rock.

 

[dylan p]

Just my personal preference, I would rather get a nice chunk of coralline covered live rock to seed the tank then rely on a couple snails and hermits to seed a whole tank. + I like the majority of hitchhikers I've had come in on live rock. Vermetid snails and hydroids are the worst thing I've delt with. All the crabs/ shrimp or things that won't spread can go in the refugium and the rest can be fixed with a dip or just plucking them out. I think it's pretty neat seeing what goes on after lights out in a tank with live rock over dead rock even if there's a little more work involved.


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[Pseudomugil]

Another thing, how can I start a cycle? Everyone says use a cocktail shrimp but I can't. Is there any other things I can use, like a few shrimp pellets?

 

[Sniperhank]

You can use anything that decomps...I say to avoid flake and pellet food as it will swamp your system with phosphates. This of course is why I say an uncooked shrimp normally. If this isn't something available to you you can simply use pure ammonia to dose the tank up to 2 ppm to start the cycle. As you test the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels you will know to dose back up to 2 ppm until all ammonia and nitrite are consumed in a 24 hour period to know you can safely add livestock to your tank.

 

[Mebbid]

You can use anything that decomps...I say to avoid flake and pellet food as it will swamp your system with phosphates. This of course is why I say an uncooked shrimp normally. If this isn't something available to you you can simply use pure ammonia to dose the tank up to 2 ppm to start the cycle. As you test the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels you will know to dose back up to 2 ppm until all ammonia and nitrite are consumed in a 24 hour period to know you can safely add livestock to your tank.

+1 the shrimp is suggested because it's easy. Pure ammonia works just as well as the shrimp. Most people get theirs at Ace Hardware.

 

[Sniperhank]

I believe the 'test' to see if it's pure is to shake it to see if it bubbles? I really don't recall atm.

 

[Mebbid]

I believe the 'test' to see if it's pure is to shake it to see if it bubbles? I really don't recall atm.

Yeppers. I've never personally seen it with surfactants in it, but some have. If all else fails you can find it online easily enough.

 

[54seaweed]

you can wrap it in wet news paper or put in 5g buckets with sw , you prob would need a few
buckets.

 

[Pseudomugil]

So I dose the ammonia back up to 2ppm every day until the nitrites and ammonia are at 0 and the nitrates are at a safe level?

And then once all nitrites and ammonia are gone I can add some hardy inverts such as hermits and snails?

 

[Sniperhank]

You don't have to do it daily...but once you get to the point you dose to 2ppm and the ammonia and nitrites are gone in a 24 hour period you are ready to do large water changes to get your nitrates down to 0 and add fish.