Live Rock Question

[Northstar24]

So, I'm going to need to pull all kinds of kenya weed and teal palys out of my tank. I didnt know that they would reach plague proportions when I added them to my tank. My plan is to take out each and every rock in my 180 (I know, craziness)

My question is this, I'm planning on saving water from my water change today, but I dont think I'll be able to keep every rock in water. I have something like 200 pounds of rock in my tank and this effort is going to take me several hours (how can it not)

How long can established live rock be out of water before I have to worry about losing the bacteria and/or kicking off a mini cycle when it goes back in to the tank?

Is there anything else I'm not considering for this tank 'tear down'?

 

[dannyboy]

Rinse and fill the bath tub?

 

[bjohanson1234]

LR can start drying out fast. I would be very concerned about kicking off a cycle by removing all your rock at once.

Would it be possible to just take out a few pieces a week until you get all the Kenya tree out?

 

[ErinCahir]

+1 BJ. I'd do it slowly to minimize the time the rock is out of the water.

 

[yote]

Put as much as possible in the tubs with your live rock. Then cover whats not in the water with wet newspaper. Then every few minutes, pour water over the paper to keep it wet.
Yeah, it's a pain. But it's effective.

 

[Northstar24]

I actually just moved stuff around in the tank. Pulled a lot of Kenya tree. I have some palythoas that need to come out, but when I touch them they turn into a gooey mess. Anyone have this issue? If so, how do you remove them?