Should I quarantine new live rock

FishRN

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I just placed an order for some live rock that will be arriving next week. This rock will be going into a new tank that I set up, the tank is still cycling with dry sand and rock as well as a small piece of live rock from my other tank. With this new rock should I quarantine it or just add it straight to the new and hope that the small amount of ammonia in the cycling tank takes out any unwanted critters i.e.; gorilla grabs, mantis shrimp, and aptasia. I had a really bad experience with mantis shrimp and gorilla crabs when I used to "make" my own live rock of my peir in Florida hence why I'm trying to be proactive.
 

HuduVudu

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I just placed an order for some live rock that will be arriving next week. This rock will be going into a new tank that I set up, the tank is still cycling with dry sand and rock as well as a small piece of live rock from my other tank. With this new rock should I quarantine it or just add it straight to the new and hope that the small amount of ammonia in the cycling tank takes out any unwanted critters i.e.; gorilla grabs, mantis shrimp, and aptasia. I had a really bad experience with mantis shrimp and gorilla crabs when I used to "make" my own live rock of my peir in Florida hence why I'm trying to be proactive.
Gorilla crabs and mantis shrimp are hungry. Lure them out easily knowing this.

Since you have no fish I would just put the rock in and carefully observe. At night with a flashlight is the best way to see problems. Not mention the fun of all the crazy things that come out when it is dark.

My 2 cents.
 

\m/reefsnmetal\m/

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If you really wanted to you could qt it. If you put it in a fallow qt tank that you don't put food in I'm sure the pests you're worried about will show themselves. Could throw in a peppermint shrimp to eat any aptasia. I wouldn't treat the qt with anything though.
 

livinlifeinBKK

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If you have the patience it's always best to QT but it's usually because people are worried about parasites...I doubt the ammonia would be a problem but you can probably tell by smelling the rock to detect decay...I don't have the patience personally so I would just put it in and maybe add a little Prime...if you are too excited about adding it to QT you can go ahead and add it...btw, in the future if you don't QT something whether it be live rock, a fish, or an invert and something happens don't be embarrassed to tell the truth because that'll only make it harder for people to diagnose what's going on... you're only human
 

Reefing102

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While I don’t think the ammonia will do what you’re thinking, a dip in a high salinity bucket usually weeds out a large chunk of the hitchhikers. Can’t find the link for this (I know there was one with instructions)
 
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FishRN

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While I don’t think the ammonia will do what you’re thinking, a dip in a high salinity bucket usually weeds out a large chunk of the hitchhikers. Can’t find the link for this (I know there was one with instructions)
That might be the route I go, I’ll have to dig around and see how I need to make the salinity to be effective.
 

Reefing102

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Found it - https://www.kpaquatics.com/product/aquacultured-live-rock/
After the arrival of the live rock rinse the live rock in a 5 gallon buck with freshly mixed saltwater to remove any debris or died of organic matter.

(Optional Step) Undesired critters (we really don’t like the word unwanted pests as every creature has a purpose in life) can be removed by submerging the live rock into a saltmix of 1.035 to 1.040 (Specific gravity) for one minute. You can leave it a little longer but it should do the trick for mantis shrimp, crabs and worms to vacate the rock. Please turn the live rock in the bucket for the salty saltwater to penetrate everywhere in the live rock. Afterwards you can evaluate which crabs to keep and which ones to permanently remove. You can repeat this step 2 to 3 times during the curing process (before, during and after). It will help with keeping the unwanted critters under control obviously it doesn’t guarantee 100% success but it should get very close to it.
 
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FishRN

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If you have the patience it's always best to QT but it's usually because people are worried about parasites...I doubt the ammonia would be a problem but you can probably tell by smelling the rock to detect decay...I don't have the patience personally so I would just put it in and maybe add a little Prime...if you are too excited about adding it to QT you can go ahead and add it...btw, in the future if you don't QT something whether it be live rock, a fish, or an invert and something happens don't be embarrassed to tell the truth because that'll only make it harder for people to diagnose what's going on... you're only human
I got no shame with messing up in this hobby I do it regularly! I’m just not wanting to get another mantis shrimp spear through my hand when I go to move a coral one day
 

MySonWantedAHamster

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I think it depends on whether you’re willing to pull out the rock/aquascape you already setup if I would decide to put the live rock in an observation tank or not. I just went through a similar process and it took some work identifying/isolating things in the an observation tank; I imagine that becomes more difficult once they’ve dispersed through the aquascape in your DT.

I left the 30lbs that I ordered sit in an observation tank for about a month; fed it phyto and occasionally some frozen food for the crabs, brittle stars, mantis, etc. Awesome watching all the life that comes out of that little bit of rock...
 

areefer01

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It is going to come down to what is acceptable to you and what risk management options you have available. Has a recent hobbyist who purchased 25 lbs of KP Aquatic live rock I just put it in my display of 4 years old. My process was pretty simple:

Open box
Smell fresh ocean and dream a bit
Glove up (thick rubber gloves I use when working in my display, shoulder length)
Cough (I'm teasing!) - I mean grab my diving light
Take 1 rock out of box / bag of water and examine over bucket
Place in 2nd bucket
Repeat until box/bag is empty
Examine bag/wager, slowly drain
1 decorate crab (refugium)
2 gorilla crabs (overflow box - I have a lot of rubble in there for pods)
4 red mitrax crabs (just like emeralds but red/pink) - display

In my case there was only one crab that I missed and I'm not sure what type it is or was. Looked like a decorator but maybe a smaller gorilla. I caught it a few days later using a small tupperware container with a piece of shimp in it. That lad ended up in the fuge and is doing ok.

First thing for me to clear up. I wanted my rock in the display as soon as possible because I paid for live rock. I knew stuff may get by me and I also knew the risks. To me why pay a premium if all I'm going to do is kill off the diversity by QT or some other process.

TL;DR - what is your acceptable risk level. Are you comfortable spending a few days setting up traps. If so then in the display it goes. If not, you have some unknowns, or concerns, or not able to, isolate to the best of your ability with quality water and treat it like a display. Then set up traps to capture and move as you deep it safe.
 

Angel_V_the_reefer

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It is going to come down to what is acceptable to you and what risk management options you have available. Has a recent hobbyist who purchased 25 lbs of KP Aquatic live rock I just put it in my display of 4 years old. My process was pretty simple:

Open box
Smell fresh ocean and dream a bit
Glove up (thick rubber gloves I use when working in my display, shoulder length)
Cough (I'm teasing!) - I mean grab my diving light
Take 1 rock out of box / bag of water and examine over bucket
Place in 2nd bucket
Repeat until box/bag is empty
Examine bag/wager, slowly drain
1 decorate crab (refugium)
2 gorilla crabs (overflow box - I have a lot of rubble in there for pods)
4 red mitrax crabs (just like emeralds but red/pink) - display

In my case there was only one crab that I missed and I'm not sure what type it is or was. Looked like a decorator but maybe a smaller gorilla. I caught it a few days later using a small tupperware container with a piece of shimp in it. That lad ended up in the fuge and is doing ok.

First thing for me to clear up. I wanted my rock in the display as soon as possible because I paid for live rock. I knew stuff may get by me and I also knew the risks. To me why pay a premium if all I'm going to do is kill off the diversity by QT or some other process.

TL;DR - what is your acceptable risk level. Are you comfortable spending a few days setting up traps. If so then in the display it goes. If not, you have some unknowns, or concerns, or not able to, isolate to the best of your ability with quality water and treat it like a display. Then set up traps to capture and move as you deep it safe.

awesome advice. I’m going to purchase LR soon as well, in a BB luckily. Never thought about it like that, brining those little guys with some food lol
 

areefer01

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awesome advice. I’m going to purchase LR soon as well, in a BB luckily. Never thought about it like that, brining those little guys with some food lol

There is another option that I have heard about but not tried is rinsing rocks in higher salinity. I can't remember where I heard that but I believe it was Phillip at KP aquatics giving this tip. Oh - do a search on Reef Bum's youtube channel I think he had him on as a guest talking about rock.

More or less similar to above but you get a 5 gallon bucket ready to do a quick dip. In any case best of luck. Live rock is great stuff.
 

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