I am interested in methods/opinions on curing Live Rock-actual fresh "live" rock from the Ocean. Is a fresh water dip advised, or will this kill off the biodiversity which I want to achieve, by using Live Rock in the first place.
Thanks.
Thanks.
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This ^^^^I’ve had two shipments of live rock from kp aquatics and cured them in a 20g tank. I did a full water change everyday for the first few days and then let it be for 3-5 weeks. I didn’t have any undesirable hitchhikers except one large bristle worm and I pulled part of it out with forceps. If you get rock shipped in water then you won’t have hardly any die off and little to no ammonia. Mine being shipped in wet newspaper did have a bit of die off but I expected that.
I caught a bunch of marine life out of the rocks by dunking the rocks aggressively into 5 gallon buckets: scallop, mantis shrimp, crabs, pistol shrimps, ribbon worm, bristle worms. I kept them all.Would a fresh water bath/soaking be advisable to remove pests? I have seen this advice and disagree strongly, as this-IMO-would decimate the biodiversity that the live rock was purchased for in the first place.
One person was recommending a crest water/hydrogen peroxide soaking for a few days. This seems crazy to me!Your going to get a bunch of different opinions as there are alot of different sources for ocean liverock that can range from a few months soak all the way up to 20 years growth or more like for example the premium rock from gulf live rock.
Doesn't matter where you get it from or how you "cycle" it id expect some die off during shipping and re acclimation. How long you have to "cycle" it will depend on how it was shipped, how long it sat out of water etc.
Having said that im not sure how much of an impact a 5-10 second rodi dip to 20 yr old live rock is really going to have? Other than maybe get some of those pesty shrimps and crabs mad enough to show themselves to remove them. I probably wouldn't dip the 3 month old soaked ocean water if that makes sense?
During "cycle" your going to want to watch for die off, scrub and remove any dead and decaying matter and perform water changes to keep ammonia down until it done "cycling".
"Curing" is a whole different ball game. Your going to want to watch your parameters. Keep Ph, Alk and nutrients maintained. Yes Ph and Alk especially if you get live rock covered with coraline, clams, oysters, corals, bivalves etc.
Hope this helps. Heres my gulf rock after about a yr "cure" in my system
One person was recommending a fresh water/hydrogen peroxide soaking for a few days. This seems crazy to me.Your going to get a bunch of different opinions as there are alot of different sources for ocean liverock that can range from a few months soak all the way up to 20 years growth or more like for example the premium rock from gulf live rock.
Doesn't matter where you get it from or how you "cycle" it id expect some die off during shipping and re acclimation. How long you have to "cycle" it will depend on how it was shipped, how long it sat out of water etc.
Having said that im not sure how much of an impact a 5-10 second rodi dip to 20 yr old live rock is really going to have? Other than maybe get some of those pesty shrimps and crabs mad enough to show themselves to remove them. I probably wouldn't dip the 3 month old soaked ocean water if that makes sense?
During "cycle" your going to want to watch for die off, scrub and remove any dead and decaying matter and perform water changes to keep ammonia down until it done "cycling".
"Curing" is a whole different ball game. Your going to want to watch your parameters. Keep Ph, Alk and nutrients maintained. Yes Ph and Alk especially if you get live rock covered with coraline, clams, oysters, corals, bivalves etc.
Hope this helps. Heres my gulf rock after about a yr "cure" in my system
For rock plucked directly out ocean?One person was recommending a crest water/hydrogen peroxide soaking for a few days. This seems crazy to me!
I am interested in methods/opinions on curing Live Rock-actual fresh "live" rock from the Ocean. Is a fresh water dip advised, or will this kill off the biodiversity which I want to achieve, by using Live Rock in the first place.
Thanks.
Doesn't this just kill the cycled rock w/ the h2o2One person was recommending a fresh water/hydrogen peroxide soaking for a few days. This seems crazy to me.
IMO, the fresh water alone would kill live rock.Doesn't this just kill the cycled rock w/ the h2o2
Few day soak yea probably. Defeats the purpose of buying live ocean rock lolIMO, the fresh water alone would kill live rock.
Again if your only dipping for 5-10 seconds theres no possible way that can kill the entire 20 yr old population of bacteria or critters on or in the liverock. The picture of rock i posted earlier was taken out, regularly scrubbed, blasted with tapwater using high pressure shower nozzle(at system temp) for 5-15 seconds and put back in my system.IMO, the fresh water alone would kill live rock.
Any new pics of the mantis (if you still have him)?I caught a bunch of marine life out of the rocks by dunking the rocks aggressively into 5 gallon buckets: scallop, mantis shrimp, crabs, pistol shrimps, ribbon worm, bristle worms. I kept them all.
I read somewhere( I think KP aquatics website) that you can remove pests by submerging rocks in higher salinity water. I didn’t do this.
I think a FW dip would kill too much bacteria diversity on the rocks. That bacteria film prevents nuisance algae from growing and can add corals sooner.
Mantis is doing well. I put thawed mysis shrimp on the tip of a wooden skewer and he will strike it with quite a bit of force.Any new pics of the mantis (if you still have him)?