adding rock

i have had my tank up and running for about 2 months now. I did a little re-arranging of my rock this weekend and now the tank looks barren as my rock only comes up half way.
Is it possible to add some more rock. I know this will play with my chemistry so i was wondering if i added 1 -2 pieces at a time would this be harmful to the tank.

 

just add base rock and you can add all you want, (dry base rock)

 

what is the difference between base rock and live rock??

 

Dry base rock is going to be kinda white, dry, and not "live".

There are pros and cons to it. Not too big of an issue though.

You could just add rock slowly....Also, there is a chance the in the future, some of the corals you will want might come on big rocks.....

Think about it....

 

BTW, welcome to 3reef!

 

base rock does not have any life or bacteria on it so you will not have any die off, there for no mini cycle....

 

I think the main difference in adding base rock instead of live rock is that adding live rock can cause your tank to cycle again, causing detrimental effects to any life you have in your tank right now. Base rock does not have organisms on it to cause ammonia spikes etc.



Edit: Oops, Hydrojeff beat me to it!!

 

Base rock is the dead rock you see that has no coraline algea or any life. It's cheaper than live rock, But if you do add live rock it will boost your nitrates a lil. And if you add to much you'll pay dearly trying to get them back down. Plus I space my live rock out as much as I can so it makes great swimming holes and leaves it so water can stop dead spots.

 

It all depends on how much rock you add at a time. We add 10 # small pieces and the tank seems to accomidate them well and the tiny cycle we had was 3 day tops when we added a larger amount of rock. (We also had 125# already in tank with a lot of biological stuff just waiting) and I added seachem stability for the 7 days to help out if needed when we added the large pieces 25# or so to the tank.

 

Although this statement and event are true, they are true for his/her tank and the 120 gal. volume and maybe more depending on if there is a sump and/or fuge. Remember, we have all probably added a nice size coral that came on a 2-5 lb piece of rock and many never looked at it as if we were adding live rock to their tank and nothing (mini cycle) happened. A tank may be able to handle a 5 lb piece and a week or so later another. I have added "pretty" rock to my 55 gal. that way with no incidence. i always like to add live bacteria when adding most anything to the tank.