piece by piece

motorslave · 03-10-2004, 05:01 PM

Will it make big differance if I add LR all at once or a couple of pieces at a time?

Phishnoob · 03-10-2004, 05:33 PM

Do it all at once if it is a new tank. Everything you do cycles it.

I started out with Damsels (don't do that), then one LR, then added LR in quantity and the tank cycled and it takes forever. Now it is time for more LR so it looks like time for a big rubbermaid tub in the laundry room.

Phishnoob

sls · 03-10-2004, 06:10 PM

if you buy some liverock like say half, then add piece by piece after that, your biological filtration should be steady enough to handle it without any parameter changes, but if yoiu add too much at one time like a 10lb uncured rock or something then you may get into some trouble.the more rock thats in there already, the more rock you can add at one time without any problems.

motorslave · 03-10-2004, 06:36 PM

I know this is a dumb question but whats the differance between addining uncured as oposed to cured?

tims · 03-10-2004, 06:50 PM

well in a nut shell.....
uncured rock is coming out of the oceanand if fiull of all sorts of life. it is boxed and shipped to you.during this time there will be die off. the rock is going to smell REALLY.......bad.
semi cured or cured is usally coming from a holding tank or right out of a reef tank. you will have some die off from each ( not as much from fully cured) each has it's pro's and cons..if you are using incured rock i would not have anything other then the rock in the tank..and doing all at once is better then one piece at a time. you will have cycles each trime you add another piece..

Geoff · 03-10-2004, 09:20 PM

if cost is an issue, which for most of us it is. then get base rock. it is usually about half of what LR is. it is the exact same stuff as LR but was mined from land instead of from the ocean. as long as you get a little true LR then the base rock will quickly become colonized and become LR.

you can actually do the entire tank in baserock, but it will take a long time to cycle since there will not be any kind of a bio-load to help fuel the increasinng population of bacteria.

G~

Johnny · 03-10-2004, 09:25 PM

I have to add that no matter what you read on the net you cannot recieve fully cured live rock next day air. There will be some die off even if it was fully cured when they put it in the box.

Just my .02

Clownfishman · 03-10-2004, 10:24 PM

Johnny what about picking up the rock from the LFS and bringing it home, no die off their huh...

Johnny · 03-11-2004, 09:15 AM

There may be some die off even then if there are any sponges on the rock it can die from even one second in contact with the air. There should not be any large amount of die off that way though. If you have 4 pounds of rock in a 55 gallon I would not buy 60 lbs of rock of any kind and put it in the tank if I didnt want to see some degree of cycle.

motorslave · 03-11-2004, 09:37 AM

All I can say is thank you for all the info! Whith the response to my threads and what Ive learned by reading other threads, If I read a dozen or so books and grow a few tanks Ill have this down in just a few short decades!! The help I have recieved on this site has been great, Im glad I found all of you. The more I listen and learn the more I start to itch toget going.Thanks to all of you!

All