Seeding live rock!

[um_fan5]

Hello everyone!

Quick noobie question!
Started with dry rock and live sand!
Went to my LFS and picked a piece of live rock to “seed” my tank!

What’s the best and safe way to add it to my!

Right now I have it in a small bucket with tank water!

Thank you and my apologies if I posted in the wrong place.

 

[PacoPetty]

I would just put it in and let it go to work.

 

[HuduVudu]

Hello everyone!

Quick noobie question!
Started with dry rock and live sand!
Went to my LFS and picked a piece of live rock to “seed” my tank!

What’s the best and safe way to add it to my!

Right now I have it in a small bucket with tank water!

Thank you and my apologies if I posted in the wrong place.

Unless your LFS is the exception I doubt that you have legit live rock.
Go to some place like Live Rock and Reef to get good live rock.

It is really sad it used to be you could get good Walt Smith live rock but since they have gone out it nigh impossible to find it locally.

Real live rock needs to be cured so that the die off doesn't pollute your tank. It is best if this is done under low light conditions to keep the algaes down. Also make sure you watch your amonia and nitrite. Also keep an eye on the alk and don't let it get low, the biological filter will consume alk like mad. It is best to use Kalkwasser during this time because just adding sodium bicarbonate is problematic. Once you see the amonium/nitrite drop do some water changes and you are on your way.

Live rock usually brings pests watch for those. Usually aptasia or mantis shrimp.

 

[um_fan5]

Here’s the rock they sold...
Looks pretty clean!

 

[Thaxxx]

If your LFS had that rock in a tank that's been there for awhile it is cured.
Put it in your tank. If it's going to be a while til you put it in your tank you need to airate that bucket

 

[um_fan5]

Tank is cycling (day 9) just looking to “seed” coralline in the tank but don’t want to introduce other unwanted things!
So looking for a safe practice...it’s a small piece of rock!

 

[HuduVudu]

Here’s the rock they sold...
Looks pretty clean!

Ummmm yah, that is not live rock. That is dead LPS from the LFS that the LFS threw in a tub. I doubt he/she even seeded it.

I highly recommend that you look at Live Rock and Reef (there are others of course but this is where I get mine). Look at the pictures you will see.

Many LFSs don't sell real live rock, just dead rock that is seeded (or more often just thrown into tub). They are either ignorant or greedy and sell absolute crap, especially to new hobbyists. You are more likely to get unwanted crap on the type of rock that unscrupulous LFSs sell than honest to gawd live rock from the ocean. I have a good LFS that I go to and I really like him, but I would never buy even his live rock, it's not legit.

The cost of real live rock is a bit high because of shipping, but in the long run you will have much more success that just the bottles of bacteria.

 

[um_fan5]

Ummmm yah, that is not live rock. That is dead LPS from the LFS that the LFS threw in a tub. I doubt he/she even seeded it.

I highly recommend that you look at Live Rock and Reef (there are others of course but this is where I get mine). Look at the pictures you will see.

Many LFSs don't sell real live rock, just dead rock that is seeded (or more often just thrown into tub). They are either ignorant or greedy and sell absolute crap, especially to new hobbyists. You are more likely to get unwanted crap on the type of rock that unscrupulous LFSs sell than honest to gawd live rock from the ocean. I have a good LFS that I go to and I really like him, but I would never buy even his live rock, it's not legit.

The cost of real live rock is a bit high because of shipping, but in the long run you will have much more success that just the bottles of bacteria.

Thanks for for the explanation!
So guess how do I had safely add this piece of seed rock To my tank?

Or do I scrape the rock to get some of the Coraline in the tank?

 

[ectoaesthetics]

so I respectfully have a different opinion on the subject. I feel that that will certainly help seed your tank. You also did the RIGHT thing by putting it in a bucket of salt water first!!!

look for pests on the skeleton chunk and the bucket. In particular look for flat worm, vermatids and aptasia. These often end up in noobies tanks and are just a horrible pain to deal with!!! As long as you don’t see any after a few days of inspecting add it to ANYWHERE in your tank. What you are looking for in this rock is NOT just denitrifiers it is the whole bacterial plaque and the bacterial/fungal community that supports each other and builds a robust microbial community. You don’t need some crazy old rock. If that chunk has been in their sump for a year+ you are golden. It will help a ton.

 

[um_fan5]

So have it in a buck and guess what I found!!!

Reason why I was asking what could I add to kill off unwanted pest!

 

[Thaxxx]

That's a brittle star. Not a pest.