Adding Artificial rock

[Chris1998m]

I’m buying my first marine tank on the weekend! It’s a 200L used setup. The current owner has said I can used the already established saltwater to skip the curing stage. BUT he’s taking some of the live rock out for his new aquarium. So there may be less rock in the aqua scape. My question is can I add artificial rock to the already established aquarium? Or does artificial rock need curing aswell? Cheers Chris

 

[Spare time]

It only needs to be cured if it's dried out and stuff does / needs to rot away on it. However, pet store live rock often contains lots of hitch hikers and pests. It would be better to buy some guaranteed pest free live rock imo and then the rest dry rock. I wouldn't bother with "established saltwater."

 

[Troylee]

The water is worthless you just want some of his rock… with what ever amount of rock you get you can add dry rock such as Marcos etc.. you won’t have any problems down the line

 

[Chris1998m]

The water is worthless you just want some of his rock… with what ever amount of rock you get you can add dry rock such as Marcos etc.. you won’t have any problems down the line

If I add dry rock to the already cured live rock will fish and corals be able to be added almost immediately. Thanks for your reply

 

[Chris1998m]

It only needs to be cured if it's dried out and stuff does / needs to rot away on it. However, pet store live rock often contains lots of hitch hikers and pests. It would be better to buy some guaranteed pest free live rock imo and then the rest dry rock. I wouldn't bother with "established saltwater."

Is the likes of tmc reef rock okay to add? Will it mess up the cured rock and/or need to cycle?

 

[Spare time]

Is the likes of tmc reef rock okay to add? Will it mess up the cured rock and/or need to cycle?

Only previously used rock needs to be cured. As for a cycle, just buy an oversized bottle of cycling bacteria (fritz zyme 9, turbo, microbacter xlm, etc) and dump it in. If you want to add live rock, I'd go with the aquabiomics sand or rock sample, or possible. I know you can get pre seeded media from top shelf which likey would come with little to no pests I'd imagine. I just really don't like lfs live rock unless they have it in a bin separate from their coral and fish system and has never touched those systems at all. Ocean live rock is not beginner friendly as you may have to deal with mantis shrimps and predatory worms and such.

 

[Troylee]

If I add dry rock to the already cured live rock will fish and corals be able to be added almost immediately. Thanks for your reply

Yes you’ll be fine.. as long as you have some live rock in the tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What sort of artificial rock are you planning to add?

 

[Chris1998m]

What sort of artificial rock are you planning to add?

Something along the lines of TMC EcoRock, AquaForest or Marco rock. I will also have live rock that was already in the setup when owned by the previous owner.

 

[Chris1998m]

Aquaforest State on their website "AF ROCK MAY BE ALSO USED IN FUNCTIONING TANKS." guessing this would mean already established aquariums

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Something along the lines of TMC EcoRock, AquaForest or Marco rock. I will also have live rock that was already in the setup when owned by the previous owner.

My reason for asking is that some artificial rock made from cement needs a lot of water washing before use, or else the pH and alk rise too much. That is probably done already or unnecessary for commercial rocks.

As to cycling, as long as there is a bunch of the existing live rock, you should be good to go, but allow it time and don't add a lot of fish at once.

 

[Chris1998m]

My reason for asking is that some artificial rock made from cement needs a lot of water washing before use, or else the pH and alk rise too much. That is probably done already or unnecessary for commercial rocks.

As to cycling, as long as there is a bunch of the existing live rock, you should be good to go, but allow it time and don't add a lot of fish at once.

Okay, how much water washing are we talking? and is this in rodi water or saltwater? and tbh if i was to add more rock id wait alittle to add fish anyway.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Okay, how much water washing are we talking? and is this in rodi water or saltwater? and tbh if i was to add more rock id wait alittle to add fish anyway.

One producer used to put it in a stream in back of the company to cure it. lol

It takes quite a long time to fully cure cement to add to a reef tank. Salt water is not needed.