Live rock in buckets for 6 days

[Jason boles]

Got a great deal on a 60 gal cube along with all accessories and inhabitants.

It included quite a bit of live rock. I put it in buckets with some of the aquarium water.

I won’t go into the why, but they are going to sit in the buckets of water for 6-7 days. My plan is to wash and scrub them all and rinse before placing back into the aquarium.

I’m lost on how to do the aquascape. Of whether to attempt it and glue, or just stack them. Leaning towards stacking.

I am going to get a few more pieces as well to add in that are dry.

So I don’t want or have room for 2 aquariums. I have a small black/white clown and only a few surviving corals from my 15 gal. I will be using some of my live rock, and all of the rubble in the back in the new setup.

Will the bacteria be enough to sustain the fish and corals after a day or two??

I have heard it’s really hard to kill all the bacteria, I’m sure some will die and need to come back, but with the light load I’m wondering if I can do the swap.

Is it better to dry the rocks than let them sit in stagnant water?

 

[mfinn]

You said buckets as in multiple?
I usually put rock in a container ( brute garbage can) with a heater and a powerhead.
If you have several buckets of rock, maybe go find a cheap 20 gallon container.
I've seen people used the cheap plastic storage containers you can get Lowes.
Whatever you use, it'll be better off with a powerhead and a heater.