Adding dry rock to mature tank, how do you do it?

[bct15]

My system is mature, 4-5 years old, and I experienced a tank crash lay last year losing a bunch of stuff. In the process of rebuilding I'm swapping to an sps dominant system. I have two or three large rocks that are at the top of my rock wall that are covered in green star polyps. I am trying to decide if it is worth my while to manually remove the gsp or replace the rocks with something new. If I replace the rocks I plan to use some dry rock but I'm not exactly sure what kind or how to put it in. My thought is I should cycle it in a large Rubbermaid container using some liverock from my sump to seed and speed up the process rather than just put the dryrock in my tank. Have any of you added new dry rock to a mature system and how did you do it?


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[revsgirl]

Bump


Chasing the Dream Giver, not the dream! Tonya

 

[Mason Dixon]

I did and I got a huge outbreak of cyano, its on everything. I would definitely cure it for a month or 2.

 

[Reefing Madness]

I have a rather large system, so adding 50lbs of dry rock didnt' do anything to my system. I've added dry rocks before to smaller systems with no issues. Its all in the amount you add at one time. All depends on the water volume, but you can add a bit at a time without cycling. Or like you were thinking, throw it all in a tub and cycle it all that way.

 

[cdness]

Slowly... Add a piece here and there to the sump and spread it out over a month or two depending on how much you want to add... I do it all the time as I give away small pieces of rock to help seed new tanks.

 

[NanaReefer]

Personally I too would cook it first. Both ways your going to experience die off. I'd rather experience it out side of my DT rather inside.


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[Aqua fire/medic]

I did this in my nano, I'm not saying it created my Dino problem..... But I will say that prior to adding the dry rock I did not have Dino

 

[PastyOWG]

I've been able to add reef cleaners rocks to an established aquarium without having a problem after rinsing them thoroughly.

 

[jduck]

I would make sure that the rock has been acid washed and wasn't going to add anything to my system. Would also want to put it in a tub to make sure it wasn't going to leach anything especially phosphates.

 

[bct15]

I've seen some reports of certain rocks leaching phosphates, is there a typical amount of time before this stops? If I was to get some dry rock I'd be adding about twenty to thirty pounds at a time in a total of about 230-250 gallons. I haven't fully decided on going the new rock route and if I do I'm trying to decide between Marco rock or brs rock.


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