Adding Rock to Existing Setup

[Shane-o]

Our tank has been set up for about 2 months now and we have about 50lbs of live rock in there already. We have 20 assorted cleaner snails, 3 peppermint shrimp and 1 black & yellow chromis. The chromis was just added last week. We had a small blooming of diatoms the last few days but nothing like when it cycled the first couple weeks. I am running a reef octopus skimmer in my sump/refugium and have a batch of Chaetomorpha Macroalgae in the refugium running the light in my refugium alternating with my tank lights. I haven't dosed the tank with anything other than stabilizer when we put the chromis in. We need to add more live rock to the tank and I have a friend who has 40 lbs coming out of an established tank today. Is it ok to add straight in to my tank or should I quarantine since it is coming from another established tank... he is getting rid of it because he is upgrading tanks and decided to go with different rock in the new tank. Another quick question, is it normal to get a mini cycle when I added the first fish to my new tank? I have read a lot of different stuff but can't seem to get a straight answer. Thanks!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

If it's from an established cycled tank you can add it right in with little to no effect. Done this many times!

 

[Shane-o]

Awesome, thats what I was hoping for, I hate setting up the "big" bucket for cycling rock! The last batch took over my bath tub for 6 months in the bin while we were getting the tank built... lol the husband was not too happy about that, but it kept the company wondering what was in the black bin in the tub. : )