Live Rock

[stb06]

I am in my last weeks of cycling and I just got a hold of some more live rock. The live rock came from a friends tank who sold me my tank. So I made some switches in my tank. So I have a couple of questions.

How should I store extra live rock?

Now that I changed the live rock, does the cycle start all over?

An off topic question, I have a light fixture that is not working in the hood of my 12g aquapod. Does anybody know what are common problems with them? Ballast? Wires?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[dustin_P74]

the live rock you just put in there will now be dead so the live curing part will start over so yeah your cycle will probably start over. and to store the extra rock get a rubbermaid container and fill it with saltwater and a heater and a pump

 

[Melonbob]

Was his tank up and running? or was his rock just stored in totes? If it came from a tank that was up and running, you are not going to have a problem with another cycle. I'd give it an extra week and keep testing in case of a little hiccup, but I doubt it

 

[dustin_P74]

Was his tank up and running? or was his rock just stored in totes? If it came from a tank that was up and running, you are not going to have a problem with another cycle. I'd give it an extra week and keep testing in case of a little hiccup, but I doubt it

but if the tank is mid cycle the ammonia and rites will kill all the good bacteria on the rock

 

[Melonbob]

Good point, never thought of that.

 

[stb06]

Yes the tank was running. I also put some of the rock that was already in there that had brown algae (diatoms) on it. So I should expect about another 4 weeks?

 

[RyanG]

Eh just keep testing your levels. The ammonia and nitrites wont kill the bacteria, it will feed it. There are two types of aerobic bacteria in our systems. One eats ammonia and craps nitrites the on the other eats nitrites and craps nitrates. Then there is anaerobic bacteria that eats nitrates they live deep inside live rock or at the bottom of a deep sand bed.

 

[ccCapt]

I agree with Ryan. If anything, adding the cured rock will help speed up the process.

 

[Alexander]

Just test and have patients. I know your probably excited but it never hurts to wait a little extra time to make sure your ok. Not sure what to tell you on the lighting fixture but if you store any of the liverock and wish to keep it alive you need to fill your container and make sure there is decent water movment in there.

 

[stb06]

So what would happen if I were not to store the live rock in water? Does the rock "go bad"? Can it not be used again?

 

[RyanG]

Then all the live stuff would die and you would have "base rock" worth about 1/5th what the live rock is.

 

[Bifferwine]

If you don't store the live rock in saltwater that's at the correct pH and temperature, it just dries out and becomes dead rock. To compare, you can sell live rock for upwards of $5 a pound, but dry rock is basically worthless, probably less than a dollar a pound. You want to keep it wet, so you can keep it live.

 

[stb06]

Ok... so this may be a newbie question.

How do they get rock to become "live" rock?
Or how is it that "dead" rock becomes "live" rock?

 

[yote]

The main reason its called live rock,is because its already loaded with all the good bacteria.But you also get a lot hitch hiking critters.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yote is right. Live rock has been colonized by bacteria and other critters. You turn dead rock into live rock by putting it in the same tank as live rock. The critters will spread onto that piece of rock, making it "live".

 

[stb06]

Oh I see. The reason I ask is because I have extra rock left over but I just started the hobby and do not have an extra aquarium or container to keep the live rock alive. So is it ok if I keep the live rock dry and if I need to use the rock I can put it in a tank where I already have live rock or when I decide to go bigger, to put it with live rock that I bought from the LFS?

Thanks.

 

[yote]

The only problem I see with that.Is there will be a lot of dead stuff inside the rock,which could make for one hell of an ammonia spike.
You might think about returning the extra to the LFS for some store credit.