life rock

Question
QUESTION: hi bill! i have a 28 gallon cf quad aquarium with crushed coral and 7 lbs rock. my ? was do i need live cured rock or live uncured rock? i really don't want to have to add and take water ever other day and have to keep checking the ammonia. would it be okay to add it to my existing tank? (the cf quad)thanks!

ANSWER: Hello nick,

Is your tank currently established and you want to add more rock??

most rock you get is cured... this basically means that whomever you got it from flushed the rock and have the rock in bins with lots of water and some filtrations and protein skimmer on it...

If it is ordered thru the internet, you need to ask...

the beneift of cured rock, is basically an extra effort is given to try to clean the rock of bad/invasive species from being impoorted and or put into your tank, or the tanks in the whoelsalers or fish stores..

After this 'cleaning' of the rock, it is important to rinse/flush the rock of anything that might have died in or on the rock...  it is the dead stuff that would recquire you to do more frequent water changes...

but again this is usually done by the collectors prior to importing into the US.  new import rules place heavy fines on businesses that import 'undeclared' species, (hitchhikers)

so that is why the extra effort to cure the rock prior to shipping into the US..

So, to answer your question, you want cured rock, or at least know that the rock was established in local tanks prior to placing into your tank.

good luck

and please let me know how things work out for you


bill



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: nothing is living in it right now, biologically. so if i buy live cured rock from by whole sale store, (life oceanic) then i can but it in my tank no hassle? thanks!

Answer
I am not familiar with LIFE OCEANIC, but, if they say it is cured, then there would be zero problems.

If it isnt cured, you might get SOME die off, or ammonia, BUT, that will help your new tank cycle...

You need some ammonia/nutrient to feed the biological organisms... when they get new food, they will think it is like an all you can eat buffet... they will be happy and gorge and then multiply.. this is what you want... you want to increase the biolgical organism population to handle the new fish and critters you are going to put into your tank..

You dont want too much or too little, but since it is impossible to know, you just keep an eye on the NITRITE until they hit zero.. then you add fish and critters SLOWLY so, the biological organsms have time to adapt to the REGULAR food source.  (regular food source = the amount of fish and critters you have, and the amount they POOP)

If you added too many fish for the amount of 'organism' you have, then you would have too much food stuff, (POOP), and not enough organisms to process it...  

It is a balance.. the balance is constantly shifting/swinging.. that is why they call it a cycle... it goes up and down, back and forth...  this is why we test... we test until we are confident that everything is in synch, and then test just monthly after that...

anyways, I hope this helps...

Please post more questions at www.thelittleocean.com  We would love to help you more and to watch your tank develope...


thanks again


bill