Live Rox

[Chucky]

Now that my 10 gal has been running for a few days, I'd say it's ready for da live rock...(I seeded it with a bag o' water from my LFS)...think I could dump in a small red hermit 36 hrs later? Or am I asking for the lil crittur to die?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

are you going to put fully cured LR in the tank? normally, when LR is placed in the tank the cycle will take place over the course of a few weeks to two months depending on how cured the rock was. no critters should be put into the tank until the cycle is complete. just because you used some of the LFS water doesn't mean a thing. you need to cycle with LR in the tank.

 

[Juck]

Before you do anything, make sure 100% that the water you got from the LFS does not contain any kind of medication such as copper (some LFS' run copper in all their fish-only tanks) if it does you could effectively ruin the sand and LR permanently.

If the LR is already fully cured then place it in the tank and see what kind of 'cycle' you get (sometimes, with fully cured LR, there may not be a noticeable cycle at all).

Measure the A,N,N levels over the first week or two, just as you would with a FW tank cycle.

Do not put any animal in there until you have created a safe environment for it to live. Remember, Ammonia and Nitrite are much more dangerous in Saltwater because the PH is so much higher than FW.

This should be your mantra:

Nothing good happens quickly in a Reef Tank.

 

[Chucky]

Thanx for the advice, y'all. The LFS where I work uses their live rock in the sump below all the display tanks, and believe me, no copper in there at all.

Fully cured - will test every day then.

Patience = 2 weeks; okee dokee