Live Rock Question

[Seanybaggs123]

Hey all,

I bought a used setup, that had live fish with it... so as you can imagine, aquascaping was not the first priority.


However, I have since traded the live fish in order to get sky high nitrates from this guy's setup down and to adjust a few other things to my liking. I went to get new fish, and made the mistake of skipping quarantine. I now plan to quarantine them for at least two months.

In the process of trying to fix the scape I removed half of the live rock and put it in 5 gallon buckets downstairs (he had wayyy too much in the tank).

I would like to scrub it with a toothbrush, and then replace half the scape in the first month (to let it seed), and the other half the second month....

My question is... now that the live rock has been out of the tank for a couple of weeks.... does it need to be cured? Or can I just clean it well?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

In my experience you will be just fine unless the water has fouled by something dieing on the rock like sponges. You can test the water for ammonia or nitrite to see if you had die off.

 

[Dempsey941]

You can do either. The dead/dying orangics on the live rock will kick start your cycle, this option may allow pests to continue in your set up. Curing the rock removes the bad stuff that might be on the rocks and lets you be somewhat pest free.

 

[Seanybaggs123]

In my experience you will be just fine unless the water has fouled by something dieing on the rock like sponges. You can test the water for ammonia or nitrate to see if you had die off.

Thank you!

 

[Seanybaggs123]

You can do either. The dead/dying orangics on the live rock will kick start your cycle, this option may allow pests to continue in your set up. Curing the rock removes the bad stuff that might be on the rocks and lets you be somewhat pest free.

I should add that the tank is already cycled, has rock that will remain in the fuge, and I'll be leaving a sizeable amount of seeded rock in for the first month.

 

[Dempsey941]

I should add that the tank is already cycled, has rock that will remain in the fuge, and I'll be leaving a sizeable amount of seeded rock in for the first month.

Oh I see then you should be fine just putting the new rock in, not half at a time maybe 1/4. You may still see diatoms and hair algae on the new rock, but those will go away with time/cuc.