Adding rock and sand to established tank

[specialk]

Hola all

Have an established tank.

145 gallon total in system including sump. Bi-weekly 10%-15% water change
Cal - 450
Alk - 7.8
P04 - 0.01 - 0.04
N03 - 5

2 questions:

1. I had some dry rock that I began to cure 4 weeks ago. I am doing it the natural way and things are going as they should. If my testing is any indication, I should be good for adding the rock to my tank in about a week. But going off of BRS testing of curing the rock and the p04 #'s, the po4 should be around 1. I am wondering if adding this rock is going to mess with my numbers enough to cause things to stress out.

2. I also increased the flow in my tank (6 ft long tank) causing sand to blow out from the middle, causing a big gap of the bottom of the tank showing. So I bought some caribsea special grade sand that is made for high flow systems. On the packaging is says adding the sand to an established tank can cause issues. I am wondering if I am going to have anything to worry about adding this sand to the tank as well (and yes I will be rinsing the sand before I add it to the tank)

Thanks and look forward to hearing thoughts ...

 

[specialk]

Also, as a side note .... I had a hard time keeping nutrients in my tank (p04 / n03) as I was always registering 0 or close to, so much so thatI would have to dose spectraside and phosphate. So recently to fix this, I took the Chaeto out of my sump, as that wa sobviously feeding off any of the nutrients that were in my tank. so there is really no nutrient export in my tank other then skimmer and bi-weekly water changes. (I still have the chaeto though and can always add back in if need be)

 

[hatfielj]

Adding new rock or sand will cause a small cycle to occur in your tank, even if it's previously been "curing." Most likely it will just be some annoying surface algae for a few weeks. If it's a small amount of rock and sand, it won't make too big of a mess.

 

[Slicktop]

As far as the sand goes, add a little about every water change and mix it with the existing sand. Do not put it on top of existing sand without mixing. The sand will most likely increase your Alk a little. Taking it slow should prevent any spikes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hola all

Have an established tank.

145 gallon total in system including sump. Bi-weekly 10%-15% water change
Cal - 450
Alk - 7.8
P04 - 0.01 - 0.04
N03 - 5

2 questions:

1. I had some dry rock that I began to cure 4 weeks ago. I am doing it the natural way and things are going as they should. If my testing is any indication, I should be good for adding the rock to my tank in about a week. But going off of BRS testing of curing the rock and the p04 #'s, the po4 should be around 1. I am wondering if adding this rock is going to mess with my numbers enough to cause things to stress out.

2. I also increased the flow in my tank (6 ft long tank) causing sand to blow out from the middle, causing a big gap of the bottom of the tank showing. So I bought some caribsea special grade sand that is made for high flow systems. On the packaging is says adding the sand to an established tank can cause issues. I am wondering if I am going to have anything to worry about adding this sand to the tank as well (and yes I will be rinsing the sand before I add it to the tank)

Thanks and look forward to hearing thoughts ...

What does curing the natural way mean to you?

Normally, adding more rock and sand does not cause a big problem. If the rock has a lot of phosphate on it, it will bring that to the tank.

 

[specialk]

What does curing the natural way mean to you?

Normally, adding more rock and sand does not cause a big problem. If the rock has a lot of phosphate on it, it will bring that to the tank.

Well going on a little over 4 weeks now. Have the rock submerged in a bucket with led blue only low light to prevent algae blooms. Change the water 2x every week. Heater and pump for flow as well obviously

 

[specialk]

Also, have mainly sps system. Will this cause any issues with the sps? Or just some minor stress and maybe low PE for a few days?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well going on a little over 4 weeks now. Have the rock submerged in a bucket with led blue only low light to prevent algae blooms. Change the water 2x every week. Heater and pump for flow as well obviously

I'm confused. You put dry dead rock in water? Is there apparent organic matter (dead stuff) attached to it?

 

[specialk]

I'm confused. You put dry dead rock in water? Is there apparent organic matter (dead stuff) attached to it?

It was rock that was previously dried out...was sitting out in the hot sun for a few months. Then put it into mixed saltwater with pump, light and changing out the water twice a week

If this helps...I did not give it a bleach bath or anything like that. Was just removed from an old tank, put out in the sun and was out there for a considerable time. More then a month actually...more like 4 months

 

[specialk]

Am I better off just yanking the rocks out of there, giving them a bleach bath and do that process to cure them? As I was wathing when BRS tested this and found that bleach bath got most of the p04 (and nitrate) off the rocks ... that was tested as the best method. Am I better off just doing that ... and then putting them into my established tank?

 

[specialk]

Also, just tested the water for p04 that the rocks are in ... 0.61...lol;Nailbiting;Nailbiting (and thats with some chaeto that I just put in there ... ) Nitrate is around 0.75 ppm, looks a bit higher then that actually. (Using red sea to test n03 and Hanna ULR for p04)

This is some toxic water .. lol .. and toxic rock apparently.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

How much rock do you have in your system now and how much of the new rock are you wanting to add?

 

[specialk]

How much rock do you have in your system now and how much of the new rock are you wanting to add?

So that island of rocks to the right, the short stack, it used to be built up around the same size as the island to the left. I took about 5-10 pounds of rock out 2 weeks ago (it was littered with nuclear green palys) and am planning on simply replacing the 5 -10 pounds that I took out.

Then that rick in the center is coming out as well. Again loaded with palys and other junk. So I am going to replace that big piece with a similar big piece I am trying to cure now.

So basically just cleaning up the tank, taking the rocks out with junk on them, and simply replacing them with clean, starting over, rock. lol

PS .. my tank is in renovation phase right now .. so bear with me .. lol