Live rock risks in the sump

[Eclyps19]

Hi all - I’ve had my 525XL set up for about a year and a half now. Started with about 80lbs of Caribsea Life Rock and Fiji Pink sand. For almost the entire year and a half, I’ve been battling small cell amphidinium dinoflagellates. One thing that I haven’t tried yet is adding very mature live rock from another system, which I’ve read can sometimes help provide additional biodiversity to compete with the dinos. I have yet to try it, though, because I don’t fully trust the live rock from my LFS. They keep their live rock tank fish less so I’m less concerned about fish disease, but I don’t know what else could be hitching a ride and don’t want to expose my tank to anything too terrible.

I was thinking that I could just buy a bunch and keep it in the sump. Is that going to be safer than putting it directly in the DT? Do I lose any of the benefits of having it if it’s just in the sump? Am I making this a bigger deal than it needs to be? The dinos have been such a heartache, if I somehow added something else terrible to my tank while I’m still dealing with dinos I very well may just lose my mind.

 

[lapin]

Its not an easy question to answer.
I dont think your LFS live rock would have as much diversity as live rock from the ocean. Maybe safer as far as pests go. If the rock is in the system, then so is prob most life on the rock.

 

[jda]

If you are going to do it, get some from KP, TBS or a supplier that has cultured rock from the Pacific. You might need a small tank with some bottle traps, but the reward is worth the effort.

I would not trust any rock from a bin at your LFS - who knows where it has been and what has been done to it.

 

[jda]

You can also check out Indo Pacific Sea Farms (ipsf.com, maybe?) and see if they have any diversity pack that might interest you more.

 

[Timfish]

WHat they said. Maricultured live rock is the best source for the cryptic sponges so crucial to a healthy reef system. I would quaritine it just like anything else that goes into your DT. Putting it into the sump should be fine.

 

[jda]

You cannot keep real live rock in the sump for long or else you can lose some of the stuff that needs lighting. Week, or so, is probably fine. Live rock in the sump forever is Ok for bacterial filtration, but some sponges and other things need the light too.