Live Rock from LFS

[cdfjr1975]

I'm thinking of buying rock from LFS for a new tank, should I let it stay fallow before adding live stock, fish or corals? If so how many days?

 

[PatW]

Live rock from most LFS usually is just dry rock that has been tossed into a vat of salt water and cycled. They charge a premium for it. Dry rock is far less expensive but you have to cycle it yourself which takes time.

There are some venders who cycle rock in the ocean. This live rock will have marine fauna in it and commands a premium price.

 

[Dree]

Whether you buy live rock or dry rock, you will still need to cycle the tank. Using live rock and live sand will help speed up the cycle. If you use dry rock and live sand, it’ll take anywhere from 3-5 weeks, with live rock and live sand, maybe 2-4 weeks. There are also cycle “booster” dosings you can buy to help the tank cycle.

 

[cdfjr1975]

Thanks great points. I went to LFS today and looked at their live rock. It was next to tank labeled as "curing 6/8" so it had no livestock around, which was my concern, disease.

The water was yellow, a sign it had not been completely cycled, and had no corraline which is not a good quality. So I have read.

I don't think I will purchase from this LFS. There are more so I will continue my research.

PS their coral didn't look good either.

So back to initial, poorly worded question, should I let this new rock remain fallow to avoid disease?

 

[Ron Reefman]

If you really question the conditions of this LFS, don't buy their live rock. There are 5 or 6 LFS in my area and I only use one, and even then I'm careful about what I get from it. I don't find LFS to be as high a quality as many of the reefers in our local club who I would much rather buy from!

I've bought live rock and dead, dry rock from many different sources and I've never had any issues with disease getting into my tank from the rock. In fact, at 15 years and having as many as 4 tanks set up for years, and even bringing in inverts I collected from the Gulf of Mexico and in the Florida Keys, I've never had a single fish get ich or any other disease. I've had a couple fish shipped to me with issues, but that's why we quarantine new fish. And I've bought some very 'LIVE' rock from the Gulf of Mexico that had algae, sponges and other life on it. I ended up with some die off and a spike in ammonia and a small mini cycle... and some flat worms, but no diseases.

I'd recommend that if you are concerned about the disease issue, buy dead, dry rock and start the cycle on your own. It's not a big deal and it only takes 2 to 4 weeks even if you use the slowest method for cycling the tank.

 

[lion king]

The risk of using real live rock to me is unacceptable. LFS should not be keeping livestock in their live rock tanks. Same for inverts, invert systems should be in vert only. These 2 mishaps present an opportunity for fish disease to spread. There is also the scourge of bubble algae and aiptasia, along with other unwanted hitchhikers. I will only use Caribsea Liferock for my aquariums, once the tank is mature you will never be able to tell which rock was used; like the foundation of your house. It is safer to use dry rock or one of these infused rocks like liferock or walt smith. The cycle will take longer with dry rock. I've managed to cycle my tanks around 2 weeks by using: liferock, live sand, biospira, and dr tims ammonia chloride.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I had the same concern. I actually got all my rock from a friend that was tearing down his tank.

I soaked the rock in a bleach solution doe 3-4 weeks prior to it going into the tank

It took me about 2.5 months to fully cycle the tank even with bacteria additives and ammonia dosing. Ammonia went away very quickly but really took some time for the nitrite to drop. I was fully prepared for the slow process but still was tough to wait it out.

 

[mcarroll]

So back to initial, poorly worded question, should I let this new rock remain fallow to avoid disease?

No.

And it sounds like you're thinking like the fish will go in with the live rock so that could even be a worry – but they won't so it's not.

It should ideally be months before the tank sees fish.

This is especially true if the rock you get isn't really live, as in from the ocean. Dead rock really delays tank maturity and calls for special handling.

Once the live rock is in (and presuming there's nothing to generate an ammonia spike...make sure of this), I'd add a VERY SMALL cuc and keep them in the dark and with no filtration – but with flow and everything else running.

Monitor NO3 and PO4 and do not allow either one to bottom out or even get too close to zero.

It may not take any feeding or dosing to do this, but feeding a very small amount is OK....and dosing a small amount of fertilizer for N and P is OK too and is also easier to control. Don't do anything that testing doesn't indicate though....mostly you want to just let microorganisms populate your rock.

After at least a few weeks (or months) then you can switch on the lights and add some corals and another small batch of cuc.

Continue escalating the amount of livestock in the tank VERY SLOWLY with just cuc and coral, waiting at least a few weeks between additions.

Once you've done a few rounds of this and have a nice little coral population, add a fish. No more than two if they're small.

Then wait again and then go back to adding coral and CUC as needed while the tank settles into having fish. After a few months add another 1-2 fish.

Etc.

 

[cdfjr1975]

@mcaroll thanks for the advice there. I thought I could transfer my quarantined fish in quicker with live rock, but appears I will stick to my initial thoughts and get the reef cleaners rock and slow cycle.

@lionking this was my initial thought with risk reward as well.

Thank you to everyone for the advice!

 

[mcarroll]

@mcaroll thanks for the advice there. I thought I could transfer my quarantined fish in quicker with live rock, but appears I will stick to my initial thoughts and get the reef cleaners rock and slow cycle.

Everything will mature better and more quickly with real live rock.

I don't know if it will allow you to move any more quickly with your fish, however.

Using dead rock will slow things down even more and make problems with algae more likely.

 

[braappn]

No.

After at least a few weeks (or months) then you can switch on the lights and add some corals and another small batch of cuc.

Etc.

This. I believe I could have avoided a major algae period by going a couple months curing the rock in the display with no lights. I was all worried about lighting the small amount of coralline on my live rock. Well it died anyway and got choked out with green hair. Unless your rock is top 1% premium it seems that a couple months in the dark will make your life easier.