Live rock, rinse w/rodi or no need?

[BryanM]

The live rock and sand order happened a lot faster than I thought, and will be here tomorrow morning.

Air shipped to greatly reduce time in transit and die off.

Should I rinse the rock (and sand?) with RODI before it goes in the tank?

 

[Fish Fan]

The live rock and sand order happened a lot faster than I thought, and will be here tomorrow morning.

Air shipped to greatly reduce time in transit and die off.

Should I rinse the rock (and sand?) with RODI before it goes in the tank?

Absolutely not! Doing so will kill much of the micro life you spent a bunch of money to buy ;-)

What rock did you get? Tampa Bay Saltwater? Did the seller send you any instructions on how to acclimate your rock? In my opinion, this kind of live rock needs to be acclimated much like it's a fish or coral because the life on it can be delicate, and you want to minimize die off and any subsequent ammonia spikes.

 

[BryanM]

Absolutely not! Doing so will kill much of the micro life you spent a bunch of money to buy ;-)

What rock did you get? Tampa Bay Saltwater? Did the seller send you any instructions on how to acclimate your rock? In my opinion, this kind of live rock needs to be acclimated much like it's a fish or coral because the life on it can be delicate, and you want to minimize die off and any subsequent ammonia spikes.

no acclimation instructions.

this was purchased from GulfLiveRock.

 

[BryanM]

Though I did just go back, and they have a "what do you do with it", and for a new tank, they straight up say just throw it in the tank. If you were adding it to a tank with fish, then they have different instructions.

So, unless something is obviously dead, I'm just going to the airport, picking it up, coming home, and getting it the tank.

 

[Fish Fan]

GLR has a pretty good reputation for being a quality vendor, but I'm surprised they didn't include any acclimation instructions. They likely have some in the box when you get it tomorrow, and I'd follow their advice. Certainly other members here will chime in with their own thoughts and suggestions for acclmating live rock like this.

Here's at least a little from the GLR website:

https://gulfliverock.com/liverock-care-and-faqs

If nothing else, here is some information from Tampa Bay Saltwater, which has a very similar live rock and sand product:

https://tbsaltwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/New_tanks_guide.pdf

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Though I did just go back, and they have a "what do you do with it", and for a new tank, they straight up say just throw it in the tank. If you were adding it to a tank with fish, then they have different instructions.

So, unless something is obviously dead, I'm just going to the airport, picking it up, coming home, and getting it the tank.

This is my recommendation as well.

(And if anything, rinse it in new saltwater, not rodi...)

 

[Fish Fan]

Though I did just go back, and they have a "what do you do with it", and for a new tank, they straight up say just throw it in the tank. If you were adding it to a tank with fish, then they have different instructions.

So, unless something is obviously dead, I'm just going to the airport, picking it up, coming home, and getting it the tank.

Yeah, look it over really good for obvioulsly dead or decaying life, and pick it off. Don't rinse in freshwater, but if needed give it a swish in saltwater and then in the tank.

But in my opinion, and in an ideal world, I would do the introduction into the tank a bit more slowly, much like acclimating a fish or coral. I used Tampa Bay Saltwater rock and sand to start a couple of tanks last year, and I basically just put the rock in my tank as instructed, and I did see a little ammonia spike. I wish I had taken it a bit more slowly.

 

[BryanM]

This is my recommendation as well.

(And if anything, rinse it in new saltwater, not rodi...)

Fair, and I'm obviously going to need to remove a fair amount of salt water tomorrow when placing rock and making room for more rock ... and sand.