Live rock seeding and coralline algae

[mskvarenina]

My BRS reef saver rock is arriving shortly and I'm starting to think about how to start up my new tank. I'm putting in about 80 lbs of reef saver and was thinking of visiting my LFS for 10 lbs of live rock with coralline algae.

Is this a good approach? And while I'm cycling the tank, do I need to keep a light on for the algae? Some folks have said to keep the light off during the cycling.

 

[yesjenks]

IMO if you're going to add some live rock to seed, don't buy it from a LFS. When buying from a store, you/they don't really know what sort of hitch hiker's you're going to get.

Find a local hobbyist you trust to purchase some live rock from.

Just my .02.

Good luck with your build!!

 

[Ponyboy]

I have some live rock I'm near TZ bridge

 

[mskvarenina]

IMO if you're going to add some live rock to seed, don't buy it from a LFS.

Actually I see you're from Clifton. I was planning on getting my cured rock from Aquatropics/Absolutely Fish. I always thought they did things right?

 

[hijinks]

If you get it from a fish store sped 15 minutes and look at all the rock they have for sale. If you see a single apstsia on any rock don't get rock there

 

[yesjenks]

My comment wasn't meant to sound like they (the stores) are intentionally doing something wrong. They handle so much rock it's easier for something to hitchhike into their LR tank than a local hobbyist's tank. Make sense?

 

[mskvarenina]

No, I got you. I was just saying that some stores may be doing it right and I was asking your opinions about Absolutely Fish since you live cloe to them and are probably familiar with their offerings.

 

[mskvarenina]

I guess my direct question is, if you were looking for some seeding LR and you didn't have a friend who could give you some, would you buy from/trust Absolutely Fish?

 

[mskvarenina]

Any by second question was, do I need to light the tank during the cycle phase to I don't kill the Coralline algae?

 

[yesjenks]

I don't like AF because they're very overpriced! That being said, they have the best/healthiest selection in this area. If you are going to purchase rock from them, inspect the entire tank and the rocks that you choose thoroughly!

If you keep your light's on, you'll probably get a diatom/other algae bloom. Lights off you may still have a slight bloom but not as bad.

When are you receiving your BRS rock and when are you setting your tank up?

 

[hijinks]

Coralline needs lights to grow.. in your cycle phase I wouldn't worry about growing it yet..

it can come in on part of your CUC and spread that way. With good tank parameters it will spread very fast. Worry about getting your cycle first and keeping good tank parameters

 

[mskvarenina]

The BRS rock is coming Friday, I'm picking up the sump today so I'll probably plumb the whole system this weekend, aquascape and add the water by Monday. Then I'll be looking for a little LR to seed the tank and get the cycle started.

 

[bizzarro]

To avoid any hitch hikers I'd get the smallest pieces they have and then scrape it off and let it be blown around by the powerhead. I bought rocks from a member and after one year saw a worm at least 10" crawling through the crevices.

That freaked me out that I threw that rock away. I normally don't use gloves while handling the tank even though I have a pair because the precision is lacking while wearing them.

 

[mskvarenina]

Picked up the sump today. Looks like it's maybe 40-50 gallons or so. Has a very interesting design with a nice long 26" x 6" refugium section.

 

[hijinks]

Toss out the bio balls, they are more of a headache then a help

 

[edd]

Toss out the bio balls, they are more of a headache then a help

+1 on the bio balls. if you want i can give you a couple of cups of sand to seed your tank.

 

[mskvarenina]

I searched long and hard for the pros and cons fo bioballs, maybe I just didn't look in the right places but what are the pros and cons.

This will be a FOWLR tank so the majority of the biological filtration will be in the LR.

And this sump allows for a very nice 29 x 6 refugium

 

[mskvarenina]

Looks like the BRS reef saver rock as been delayed until Monday due to "extreme weather conditions" per UPS.....so much for the weekend.

But here's a question for the group. If I get all the water in, sump and skimmer going this weekend, then add 20lbs of live rock from my LFS, does anything really need to cycle or could I through in a couple of blue damsels? The way I see it, the LFS live rock is already cycled and all that will really happen as when I add the dead rock next week and increase the load a bit with 2 fish, the bacteria should just start spreading to the rest of the rock.

 

[tomn]

You will still get a cycle. People who have an established tank and use all of their cured rocks in a new tank still usually get a small cycle. Take your time with livestock.. Always better to be patient

 

[NYreefNoob]

your going to go through a cycle no matter what you try. personally i never believed in the getting a rock from someone else or sand from someone else. i always stated out with dead rock and dead sand. let the tank create it's own bacteria field, seems like your trying to rush the process. cycling tank is the boring part, but correct cycling of a tank is the smart start. just add the sand and brs rock stick a small piece of table shrimp and do alot of reading for the next 4-6 weeks while tank is cycling