Few Australian Live Rock Questions

[CincyReefer07]

Hey guys, have a few questions on curing and storing Australian Live rock. I know of a guy that’s suppose to be getting a large shipment of Australian live rock in at the end of this month, beginning of next month, downfall is, he’s much more expensive than Unique Corals. I was really wanting to buy from them but they said it will be a few months before they get more in. I was looking at buying 20-30lbs of it for my 310 gallon build(I already have 260lbs of dry marco/fiji/cornerstone branch rock)

So here is my question, if I bought 10lbs from the guy who wants $35/lb for it and stored it in a 29g tank I’ll have setup as a holding/curing tank with hob filter, heater, small cheap powerhead, and kept it in that tank until I’m ready to get water in my 310 gallon build and begin cycling it, which won’t be until probably july, will that live rock be fine? Won’t lose any of its “biodiversity” which is a big reason for buying it in the first place? Will I need to do anything special for it/with it to keep everything “live” besides just regular water changes? Dosing anything? Lighting?

And last question is, if Unique Corals gets a shipment of Australian in, in say June or July, and I purchase another 15-20lbs from them, will I be okay to just drop it into that same 29g “holding” tank I will have been storing my initial purchase of Australian live rock from without causing any negative effects on the live rock I’ve had in that tank waiting to go into my 310g for once it’s ready? Or should I put the next shipment into a different tub/tank to “cure” since that other rock will have already been in that tank for a couple months?

Apologize for the long and newbie kind of questions but just trying to figure this out now, since I plan on ordering it once it comes in, as it seems hard to tell when and how often this Australian live rock becomes available and I want it to be ready to use in my 310gallon build once I’m ready to fill it with water and ocean direct live sand.

I appreciate all your guys help and advice. Attached will be a pic of the 29 gallon tank I planned to use to cure/hold the live rock in and the 310 gallon it will be going into

 

[lapin]

I think that by storing it you will lose some life. Its coming from the ocean which has all the elements to support life. You will need to try to replicate this as much as you can. Water changes, feeding ect...

 

[Tamberav]

You would need lighting to keep anything photosynthetic going…

bacteria should be fine.

you may lose any bigger hitchhikers if the tank isn’t kept proper for inverts with food and such.

 

[CincyReefer07]

I think that by storing it you will lose some life. Its coming from the ocean which has all the elements to support life. You will need to try to replicate this as much as you can. Water changes, feeding ect...

I’ll definitely be doing at least small weekly water changes, and changing out the filters in the hob filter every 2-3 weeks on the 29g holding tank. What do you guys think about feeding? Should I drop a small pinch of pellet food in nightly? Dose a little bit of phytoplankton every couple nights? I could go farther and put a 1” sand bed of ocean direct into that tank as well. Wasn’t really planning on doing that though as i was considering it only a holding tank until the 310 gallon was ready for cycling. Which would have ocean direct sand in it. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated

 

[CincyReefer07]

You would need lighting to keep anything photosynthetic going…

bacteria should be fine.

you may lose any bigger hitchhikers if the tank isn’t kept proper for inverts with food and such.

I have an old dual t5 aquatic life lamp I could put a pair of T5’s into for lighting for 8-10 hours a day. As far as food, what might you think? A small pinch of pellet food nightly? Dose a little bit of phytoplankton every couple nights? And if I were to do all of that as well, think I should consider adding a skimmer to that tank as well?

 

[Jedi Knghit]

I added live rock I ordered from KP Aquatics to an existing tank, so I quarantined it for 72 days before adding it and seemed to have decent results. Just make sure to stay on top of water changes, adding lighing for photosynthetics as perviously suggested, and feed lightly. I'd judge feeding by nutrient test results and how dirty the tanks gets over time with feedings.

 

[CincyReefer07]

I added live rock I ordered from KP Aquatics to an existing tank, so I quarantined it for 72 days before adding it and seemed to have decent results. Just make sure to stay on top of water changes, adding lighing for photosynthetics as perviously suggested, and feed lightly. I'd judge feeding by nutrient test results and how dirty the tanks gets over time with feedings.

Thanks! I appreciate the input! Did you run a skimmer in your quarantine tank or just a hob filter or did you have a sump? I was also considering buying 5-10lbs from KP as well just for more diversity, Florida coast mixed with Australian reef diversity, I figure the more the better

 

[Tamberav]

I would just do water changes instead of a skimmer.

 

[Jedi Knghit]

Oh yeah, sorry. Just a standard ten gallon with an appropriately sized heater and HOB filter. I also had a couple of Kessil H80s laying around that I used for lighting. I wish I had gone with a bigger tank so I could spread the rock out a bit more to make it easier to spot any bad hitchhikers.

 

[CincyReefer07]

Oh yeah, sorry. Just a standard ten gallon with an appropriately sized heater and HOB filter. I also had a couple of Kessil H80s laying around that I used for lighting. I wish I had gone with a bigger tank so I could spread the rock out a bit more to make it easier to spot any bad hitchhikers.

That’s another reason why I wanted to and didn’t feel as bad keeping it in my 29g tank for awhile, if there was a bad hitchhiker, I want to have plenty of time to possibly find them and either sump them, give them away or get rid of it. As long as storing it in the tank for a longer period of time doesn’t sacrifice the biodiversity of it, which besides the uniqueness of the rock, is the point of having it

 

[reeftwincities]

I'm doing this right now in two different tanks--a 20g long with about 20-25 lbs of KP rock (set up maybe 6-7 months ago?), and I set up another 10g with 10lb of "Australian" live rock from unique corals about a month or two ago.

I just use a HOB filter, heater, and whatever light I have hanging around. I rarely, if ever, feed. (Maybe 2-6x in about 6 months in the 20g long), and not yet in the 10g.

There are zillions of pods in both tanks. The KP tank has dozens of crabs I need to figure out how to catch, and a large brittle star. I also hear popping almost every night from either a mantis or pistol shrimp--take your pick. The KP tank went through the uglies associated with curing live rock, but has been relatively algae free for several months now. I usually notice cyno after I feed hence why I rarely do. I have done, maybe 1-2, water changes during that time. But minimal maintenance has been necessary and there's coralline algae taking hold of everything.

I am noticing bright green hair algae on the australian live rock, but might just let itself work it out on its own rather than big water changes, etc. As that has started coming in, I've seen an explosion of tiny snails which might be trochus growing into several now pencil eraser sized which has been really neat. The australian liverock has really cool coralline algae too--pink, purple, shades of dark red.

I will be moving in August and then will combine the two tanks with another established tank that is growing out some fish and coral. Frankly, I am more entertained by the liverock tanks and the amazing diversity of life that continues to show itself months after purchasing it. Good luck, I wouldn't overthink it!

 

[reeftwincities]

Here’s a couple photos — my philosophy is to let it go a bit wild and I’ll worry about anything major when I combine tanks. I keep mostly soft and lps corals so im less concerned about invasive algaes, etc. than others. I think feeding would be okay and probably help increase the bacteria and nitrate reducing capabilities but I don’t think it’s totally necessary and you’ll get algae blooms, etc. It’ll sort of “eat itself” especially any die off. Right now, I think I could pretty much keep all the major inverts alive with just top off water for the foreseeable future.

 

[Jedi Knghit]

I'm doing this right now in two different tanks--a 20g long with about 20-25 lbs of KP rock (set up maybe 6-7 months ago?), and I set up another 10g with 10lb of "Australian" live rock from unique corals about a month or two ago.

I just use a HOB filter, heater, and whatever light I have hanging around. I rarely, if ever, feed. (Maybe 2-6x in about 6 months in the 20g long), and not yet in the 10g.

There are zillions of pods in both tanks. The KP tank has dozens of crabs I need to figure out how to catch, and a large brittle star. I also hear popping almost every night from either a mantis or pistol shrimp--take your pick. The KP tank went through the uglies associated with curing live rock, but has been relatively algae free for several months now. I usually notice cyno after I feed hence why I rarely do. I have done, maybe 1-2, water changes during that time. But minimal maintenance has been necessary and there's coralline algae taking hold of everything.

I am noticing bright green hair algae on the australian live rock, but might just let itself work it out on its own rather than big water changes, etc. As that has started coming in, I've seen an explosion of tiny snails which might be trochus growing into several now pencil eraser sized which has been really neat. The australian liverock has really cool coralline algae too--pink, purple, shades of dark red.

I will be moving in August and then will combine the two tanks with another established tank that is growing out some fish and coral. Frankly, I am more entertained by the liverock tanks and the amazing diversity of life that continues to show itself months after purchasing it. Good luck, I wouldn't overthink it!

I agree, finding new things on the live rock has been the most entertaining part of my tank so far. I tried talking my daughter into converting her 20 gallon freshwater tank to saltwater just so I had an excuse to order more live rock.

 

[CincyReefer07]

I'm doing this right now in two different tanks--a 20g long with about 20-25 lbs of KP rock (set up maybe 6-7 months ago?), and I set up another 10g with 10lb of "Australian" live rock from unique corals about a month or two ago.

I just use a HOB filter, heater, and whatever light I have hanging around. I rarely, if ever, feed. (Maybe 2-6x in about 6 months in the 20g long), and not yet in the 10g.

There are zillions of pods in both tanks. The KP tank has dozens of crabs I need to figure out how to catch, and a large brittle star. I also hear popping almost every night from either a mantis or pistol shrimp--take your pick. The KP tank went through the uglies associated with curing live rock, but has been relatively algae free for several months now. I usually notice cyno after I feed hence why I rarely do. I have done, maybe 1-2, water changes during that time. But minimal maintenance has been necessary and there's coralline algae taking hold of everything.

I am noticing bright green hair algae on the australian live rock, but might just let itself work it out on its own rather than big water changes, etc. As that has started coming in, I've seen an explosion of tiny snails which might be trochus growing into several now pencil eraser sized which has been really neat. The australian liverock has really cool coralline algae too--pink, purple, shades of dark red.

I will be moving in August and then will combine the two tanks with another established tank that is growing out some fish and coral. Frankly, I am more entertained by the liverock tanks and the amazing diversity of life that continues to show itself months after purchasing it. Good luck, I wouldn't overthink it!

That’s excellent info, glad to hear from someone that’s currently doing something similar to what I’m planning, I’m hoping mine isn’t in my holding tank for 6 months tho, haha, I’m ready to get my 310 going once I’m ready. Hopefully just another 3 maybe 4 months at most. Do you have any powerheads running in your tank? Or just the heater and hob filter? Have you only done 1-2 water changes on your KP rock? Or did you do more frequent changes when you first initially got it?

 

[reeftwincities]

That’s excellent info, glad to hear from someone that’s currently doing something similar to what I’m planning, I’m hoping mine isn’t in my holding tank for 6 months tho, haha, I’m ready to get my 310 going once I’m ready. Hopefully just another 3 maybe 4 months at most. Do you have any powerheads running in your tank? Or just the heater and hob filter? Have you only done 1-2 water changes on your KP rock? Or did you do more frequent changes when you first initially got it?

I do have a small powerhead running and a HOB filter rated for a 40g tank (it's a 20g long tank) so I guess there is a decent amount of water flow. I really didn't do too many water changes when I received the KP rocks; however, I did have a really gnarly algae bloom or two (both were weird species of microalgae I hadn't really seen before so was kind of curious to see them run their course). Eventually, I did get concerned I was going to "ruin" the rock so siphoned most of it out a few months ago and it never came back. Water changes were intermittent at best....more like, if I had any extra water, I'd scoop out a gallon or two in the liverock tank and replace, but never a dedicated schedule or anything. I wasn't concerned, even with the algae blooms, as it corresponded with huge blooms in pods, worms, etc. which is what I was after with the rock. Like I said, I think you'll actually really enjoy the simplicity of a live rock tank for awhile...I am starting to think what the heck I am going to do with all the hitchhikers when I move and want to use the rock in a more traditional tank but that seems like a summer problem. Good luck!

 

[akau]

I can confirm that after even just 3 hours, that live rock straight from the reef that put into large tubs of fresh seawater, but no flow will become a death chamber for all your crabs and shrimp. Squat lobsters go first, then your star fish die a little after that.

It def needs good water flow, and if you want all the nice algae, you will need light.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I would add as much dead rock as you can fit into the live rock holding tank. This will start the seeding process sooner and help your new tank to stabilize faster.

You might throw in some ceramic media also if there is room. This can be moved to the sump later,

 

[CincyReefer07]

I can confirm that after even just 3 hours, that live rock straight from the reef that put into large tubs of fresh seawater, but no flow will become a death chamber for all your crabs and shrimp. Squat lobsters go first, then your star fish die a little after that.

It def needs good water flow, and if you want all the nice algae, you will need light.

I had planned on using just a Sicce voyager powerhead (one that’s around 600-800gph) plus a marineland emperor 400 hob mechanical filter and then I have a 3 foot dual t5 aquaticlife fixture that I would put a pair of T5’s into. Maybe a (2) blue+ or (1) blue+ and (1) coral+ t5 lamp and set it on a timer for 7-8 hours a day.

 

[ShawnM24]

This is filled with uc Australian rock I just got I have about 800 gallons an hour plus circulating in the 20 gallon tank. I am running carbon to help with the smell and I have macro Algae tumbling on the top to help with ammonia. It’s day 3 I take the rock out and rinse it in a bucket and drain the tank and replace water every day so fair. The higher you let that ammonia level rise it’s gonna start killing life off.