Temp Live Rock Storage

[mp3z24]

Alright, someone close to me is selling live rock, and I'm thinking of picking up ~30-40 lbs from him. Since my tank is not up and running yet, I wont be able to simply put it in the tank right away. Im trying to have tank ready to start mid next week....

Anyway, after a brief discussion with him, we have some ideas.

One idea is to store the live rock after I get it for a few days to give me some time to get the tank ready for rock/sand/water/etc. Can I put it in a large rubbermaid container and toss a light, and some powerheads on it for a few days? if yes, do i have to "feed" the bacteria and hitchhikers that come with it? or will they be okay for a few days?


Also, since this rock is coming from an established tank, I dont think i will see a cycle once I put it in my tank. That said, I know that I will have to wait a bit until the DSB is seeded well enough to handle a bio load. Should I use a shrimp to assist the seeding of the DSB, or let the procees go by itself. Our opinion is that the shrimp shouldnt cause another cycle b/c the rock will have a good amount of bacteria to handle most of the ammonia load.

Any opinions... ideas... etc... so i can make a good decision on this rock. Oh, he said that it is coming out of the tank early next week, so I have to figure it out soon...

Sorry for the barrage of questions... I haven't really seen any discussion on this situation before.

thanks all
~mike

 

[RLG2182]

Yeah... you can put the LR in a rubbermaid... just throw in a PH and heater and it should be fine with NO lights. (Just make sure you have saltwater mixed up). No extra feeding is needed, unless there's corals and such growing on them, at which point more than NO will be needed. Is it just coraline growing, or are there polyps, zoos, etc? Rubbermaid is no different from a $4,000 tank... just that nobody wants to look at a rubbermaid

 

[lando]

the rubbermaid container will work just fine. Powerheads and heaters will be needed. Light is optional. See if you can score some of the established substrate as well. If it is LS it is a bonus. If it is CC you may want to decide what you want for the substrate. By seeding your own substrate with the establishd stuff and adding the cured LR you should only experience a small, short cycle. But I do not think you will be able to avoid one all together.

 

[mp3z24]

yeah, forgot the heater... that might help

the corals are available seperately, but i dont think i will be taking them. i have a 55 gal with a 4x65w coralife lunar light. i dont think it is enough light for them. i am going to make up some saltwater this week, provided all goes according to plans. yeah, it wont be aged to much, but i kinda fell into this deal, and it is too good to pass up.

as for the LS... i can get some LS from him, or pick up some from the LFS. i think that would be a good idea to help the sand seed.

i do expect to see some activity on the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates however, i dont think i will have a full blown cycle... if i did, i think i did something wrong.

basically, my concern is throwing in all this stuff at once and getting a tank that is effectively ready to go. i feel like im cheating. dont get me wrong, im not going to stock it with fish right away, but something about skipping the cycle concerned me.