Questions about adding new live or dry rock to an established tank.

[EpisodeMnH]

So I have a 32.5 gallon tank that’s been running for 2 years, I want to add a new rock to one of the empty corners, solely for more real estate to add coral on, as I want to add Montipora Digitata and don’t want to risk stinging once it grows and branches out. So due to the size of the corner and tank size as a whole, I’m talking about adding only a single 1-2 pound rock in this corner, nothing major. So a couple questions:

If I go with live rock, what is the best way to thoroughly clean it and eliminate all types of hitchhikers and pests? I’m finally at a point where I’ve eliminated all flatworms, aiptasia, Asterinas, etc. and hate the idea of potentially reinviting any of them. I’ve heard that baking or boiling it can be potentially risky if there’s any internal Zoas.

I’m not at all opposed to dead dry rock, but if I go this route, is there any type of curing process I would have to to do or any nutrient spikes to look out for? As I said, it would only be a pound or 2, so we’re not talking a very big amount of real estate at all. I know a RODI rinse prior to adding it to the tank is the bare minimum, anything else? I almost prefer this route because while it would stick out like a sore thumb for a while due to being purely white/tan, it would be guaranteed pest free.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

So I have a 32.5 gallon tank that’s been running for 2 years, I want to add a new rock to one of the empty corners, solely for more real estate to add coral on, as I want to add Montipora Digitata and don’t want to risk stinging once it grows and branches out. So due to the size of the corner and tank size as a whole, I’m talking about adding only a single 1-2 pound rock in this corner, nothing major. So a couple questions:

If I go with live rock, what is the best way to thoroughly clean it and eliminate all types of hitchhikers and pests? I’m finally at a point where I’ve eliminated all flatworms, aiptasia, Asterinas, etc. and hate the idea of potentially reinviting any of them. I’ve heard that baking or boiling it can be potentially risky if there’s any internal Zoas.

I’m not at all opposed to dead dry rock, but if I go this route, is there any type of curing process I would have to to do or any nutrient spikes to look out for? As I said, it would only be a pound or 2, so we’re not talking a very big amount of real estate at all. I know a RODI rinse prior to adding it to the tank is the bare minimum, anything else? I almost prefer this route because while it would stick out like a sore thumb for a while due to being purely white/tan, it would be guaranteed pest free.

If you're just going to sterilize any piece of live rock you get, you might as well save your $ and grab a piece of dry. Does your LFS sell single pieces of something like Marco rock?

 

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

Agree with Erin. If it is just a small amount of rock, go dry rock and just rinse it real good to get all the dust off. It will likely stand out like a sore thumb for awhile but it's safer for your tank.