Adding live rock just after my cycle

[Jonas Bergkvist]

My tank (150 gallon with sump) will soon be done with its fishless cycle and my LFS just got a new batch of live rock from Indonesia. Can i add live rock to a tank before it has been cycled? Or must i do it after it is completed?

There is still some ammonia in my system (right now i don't know the exact amount) and i suppose the ammonia would kill any hitchhiker?

Maybe i should just wait untill the Ammonia and Nitrite is down to zero, then do a waterchange and after that go get a couple of KG live rock. It would be really cool if i got some hitchhikers with it.

Any input on this?

 

[Doctorgori]

I’d do it...opinions may vary but IME this is the right time, esp if the rock has something on it you don’t want.

When I get rock like that I put it in a styrofoam cooler w/o water; often crabs and worms will relocate to the water that drips off.
OR
If the rock still has a network of sponges underneath, I try to keep it wet
Watch out for pest algae and aptaisia for the next month or so, but IME the risk is worth the diversity

 

[Super Fly]

I'd put them in ASAP after removing hitchhikers or else will have die offs on the rocks, which is what I did when I bought live rocks from Tampa Bay Saltwater... in case u r interested, here is his instruction how to add live rocks from the ocean to ur tank.

Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock - The Package Setup

 

[BlennyTime]

Yeah, add them ASAP. The sooner you get them into the tank, the sooner you will be ready for fish. Have fun!

 

[SMSREEF]

I would add ASAP also. You will likely have die-off when adding the live rock anyway if it is being shipped to you. You can handle any high ammonia levels with water changes, or with using Prime to detoxify the ammonia.

With this said, If my ammonia was high, I would just go to LFS and pick up some Bio Spira or Fritz turbostart 900 and add it to the tank while you wait for the live rock to arrive.

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

I'd put them in ASAP after removing hitchhikers or else will have die offs on the rocks, which is what I did when I bought live rocks from Tampa Bay Saltwater... in case u r interested, here is his instruction how to add live rocks from the ocean to ur tank.

Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock - The Package Setup

Thank you, i will read the article

 

[Doctorgori]

It would be really cool if i got some hitchhikers with it.

Any input on this?

might be obvious but if the aquascape allows, try to keep the rock in its original orientation. Reason being, no telling what’s settled on the rock that you can’t easily see; and moreover its not out of the question to find retracted brains and porites et. I’d Face those skeletons up, sometimes they make it
Not. hard rule but I usually face sponges down and bivalves up (dead or alive)