setting up first large reef tank!

BLEEZY · 07-14-2006, 01:27 PM

im setting up my first large reef tank ive set up a 15 gallon and in the past three years about five freshwater community and cichlid tanks. ive got a 125gallon tank and a 60 gallon sump.im curing 300lbs of fiji rock that i got from a wholesaler and i dont know what to take off and what not to. i have it all in my 60 gallon sump and i had to make a ghetto fix to cure it(pics later). i got all of my equipment at once because i got it with a cousin from a wholesaler. this is my first big reef tank and i find that no amount of information equals experience. i need some experienced reefers to give me some advice on the project.

? should i scrub off the brown sponges on the rock ive heard they cant live because they cant expel air from their tissues once exposed to air but i got them into water fairly quickly and it came straight from the wholsaler.

reefBoyDc · 07-14-2006, 02:22 PM

Congratulations and welcome!

You'll need to cure that rock for a good 4-8 weeks. Scrub it once a week in a separate SW container to clean it well. Most of the stuff you see on the rock will not survive and decay over time.

stang5_o2002 · 07-14-2006, 07:23 PM

Good luck with the new tank! I agree, cure the rock really good before you put it in. Dont 4get a good skimmer too.

Geoff · 07-14-2006, 07:59 PM

do you want to cure the rock or "cook" the rock. i would suggest cooking the rock instead of curing it. the difference is the amount of light that you allow the rock to have during the process. cooking allows the bacteria to remove phosphates from the LR. this will help keep algae under control later on.

do not worry about the sponges. if they live great! if not, no big deal the "cooking" process should be long enough to remove all dead material from the LR.

G~

VWD · 07-14-2006, 09:26 PM

I agree with Geoff here on Cooking the rock, I did some really nasty rock that was full of hair algae and just bad, Thats how I got it the people did not want it it was so bad. I cooked it for a few months did weekly water changes during that time and had good water flow. the rock is great now, nothing growning on it but coralline and some tube worms. It was in total darkness during this time. another thing to do is go to the BB forum and read up on cooking your rock. Great thread.

Here is the link to the cooking Thread. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=66551