newbee ??'s for solana aquarium

[Caige]

I have a 34gal solona aquarium... have some stupid questions.

First let me give you background. This tank has been cycled since mid june 08. I have about 45lb's of LR.... about 3in of live sand. 10 nassarius snails, 5 turbo snails, 5 hermit crabls.

Just put in last week 1) small Neon green zoo 2) small leather finger zoo

okay, question time:

1) In the back of the solana in the middle chamber where I have the activated carbon and BIO balls. I am reading in these other numerous threads that I can go without the activated carbon and then replace the BIO balls with crushed LR.
- is it true i don't need the carbon?
- how do I get crushed LR? I have a piece of LR that has been sitting in a box for over a month.. do I just hit this with a hammer? or does it have to be cured LR from my tank?

2) The sponge that sits above the middle chamber in the same section I talked about in #1..... Do I have to rinse this sponge out weekly? I ask cause it seems to get clogged... but I thought if I rinse it off i'm getting rid of some of the great BIO build up i've been waiting for!

Thanks all so much!!!!!!!

[MCluett]

from what i have read from other peoples threads they usually get rid of the sponge as well as the carbon and run the LR in there filter. you can by LR rumble from your LFS or just smash up some you arlready have. the LR you have in a box is it in water, if not it is probably dead rock now.

[cmor1701d]

The build up on the sponge needs to be cleaned weekly at a minimum. Rinse it in aged or used SW, then replace. Most people just remove the sponge. You want LR rubble, not crushed LR. LR rubble is just that, small pebble sized and larger bits that broke during shipping.
Yes you can make your rubble from the piece that is sitting in the box. Wrap it in a towel that you don't care about, but that is clean and has been thorougly rinsed in plain water. When you smash base rock it small pieces will go flying. Wear eye protection too as sometimes the towel will tear from the sharp pieces.
Don't use the mud size particles. If you can sift it through your fingers held closely together, throw it out. You want rubble, not sand or particles.
When you are done getting your furstrations and anger out on that rock, rinse the rubble in some aged SW before putting it in your filter to get the dust off.
It will become LR rubble in short order.

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by MCluett

the LR you have in a box is it in water, if not it is probably dead rock now.

It will become live again in the tank. No worries. Use it. It's not like a piece on display where you really want the feather worms and such to survive.