Question about cutting live rock

[masssnapz]

So I am going to downsize my 90 display to a very shallow 48x24x10 and want to cut some of my live rock into slices for better placement and to actually fit the 10" depth. My question is regarding the bacteria that lives deep within LR. Is it different than the bacteria closer to the surface of the LR in the outer layer ? If so will bringing it closer to the outside of the lr by slicing the rock up cause a massive dieoff, nuke my tank ?

 

[brandon429]

It's ok to cut any amnt. I break mine wrapped in a towel smack w hammer

It's a great time to cross section your rocks to make sure insides are good / smell normal look normal and I bet they are. General flow and porosity assessments about the last few years underwater can be eyeballed in a nice set of cross section exposures

Please post pics and I'll link to our skip cycle thread where we make predictions on the microbiology of the aquarium...the bacteria that denitrify aren't poisoned by some oxygen anyway. they prefer deeper living quarters and will migrate to the preferred zone when disturbed. They are often impossible to measure in live rock anyway or we wouldn't have so many people and products concerning over nitrate.