Transferring live rock

[Jon Mooney]

Hey everyone. Rookie reefer here. I’m looking to upgrade from my first tank, a 35 gal bio cube (which I bought fully mature), to a brand new 75 gal tank. I bought 50lbs of Reef Saver rock from BRS and I’ve got around 30 lbs of mature live rock in my bio cube that I hope to use as well. Now as a new reefer my husbandry skills probably aren’t quite what they should be. And since my bio cube is fully mature, I haven’t had to do much to keep it running smoothly. All that stops now LOL I’m efforting to learn as much as possible before starting my new tank. My question is, is there a way to transfer my existing live rock to my new tank and avoid (or at least limit) the pests and hitchhikers that might come with them? Can I dip the rock? Is there a process for doing this type of thing? Also, there’s a leather coral attached to the largest, most attractive rock. Can I remove it safely? Will it survive whatever decontamination process (if any exists) that I might put it thru? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and happy reefing.

 

[Malifry97]

I would say if the biocube that the rock is in now doesn't have any pests that you know of, and it is fully mature, I don't see how pests would appear during transferring. If you know of the pests, what are they?

 

[Jon Mooney]

There are several bristle worms and aiptasia populating the rocks.

 

[Ebslinger]

Question: Can you have both up at the same time, or is the new 75 going in the bio-cubes space?

Also, what fish do you have? Now might be a great time to get rid of the Aptasia via nudi's before transfering the old rock to the new tank.

 

[Malifry97]

There are several bristle worms and aiptasia populating the rocks.

Bristle worms may be sightly unsightly but are a GREAT clean up crew. Aptasia, is bad, use aptasia x

 

[flsalty]

There are several bristle worms and aiptasia populating the rocks.

Bristleworms aren't pests and aiptasia will survive any dipping you might do. Dipping will kill good organisms though. Personally, I would just examine every rock, separating out the ones with aiptasia to be treated with whatever product you decide on.

 

[Jon Mooney]

Question: Can you have both up at the same time, or is the new 75 going in the bio-cubes space?

Also, what fish do you have? Now might be a great time to get rid of the Aptasia via nudi's before transfering the old rock to the new tank.

It’s not going in the same space. The bio cube will be up until the new tank is ready to transfer. Currently I’ve only got a cow fish, a cardinal, an upside down fish and a diamond gobi. Plus a typical CUC.

 

[ihavecrabs]

How long to you plan to cycle that new dead rock for, before transferring everything together?

Just a heads up, it’ll definitely cause some swings in parameters unless monitored closely as well as go through all the normal unsightly phases. Don’t get discouraged! We all started with ugly tanks in the beginning

 

[Jon Mooney]

How long to you plan to cycle that new dead rock for, before transferring everything together?

Just a heads up, it’ll definitely cause some swings in parameters unless monitored closely as well as go through all the normal unsightly phases. Don’t get discouraged! We all started with ugly tanks in the beginning

I got the reef saver rock a week ago and immediately started curing it in a brute. Since I’m DIYing the stand and 40 gal breeder sump I expect to be able to let it cure for at least a month. Once I get everything built and started up, I’m thinking about 3 or 4 weeks of cycling with Dr Tim’s.