Live rock and water changes

I recently added more LR to my tank which brought it up to a few inches under the water line. When I do water changes will I have to worry about die off from the live rock that is exposed to air for a while?
It will only be out of the water for 15-20 minutes max but I dont want to cause a massive amonia spike when I do a water change.
I know anyone with a real reef tank has the same issue but I am looking for tips on how to handle it or is it not an issue.

 

No you should not have a problem with that. I've done big WCs in my reef tank and have had LR exposed a good 15 minutes with no ill effect to my tank.

 

You should be fine depending on what you will have glued to the top of those rocks. Most things will close and as long as they stay wet should be fine for 10 to fifteen minutes. If you were worried about it you could do your change from your sump, but I am guessing you don't have an overflow and sump or this wouldn't be on your mind. With my Hex my water was only about 4 inches from the tops of my rocks so I would just do a 2 inch change and do a 2 inch change after that. Remember that water-changes are more for adding the trace elements and whatnot back so this should do a good job at that and you would never have to expose rocks unless you wanted too. Just my thoughts.
Heidi

 

I have a sump but its about 30 gallons and I do 50 to 60 gallon change at a clip and i have the tank set up to do the changes from the tank itself instead of the sump. I could modify it to change from the sump but i would have to do twice as many changes.
And no coral will be exposed to any air. Everything is glued lower than the level that I drain from. I was just worried about die off from the rock itself.

 

Am I reading that right, how big is your tank?

 

I too am curious. I only do 25 gallons every 2 weeks. My tank and sump are 180 gallons all together. Why such large water changes bro?
Heidi

 

My tank is 150 and sump is 30. I have a 50 gallon container set up to mix my salt in and have it all set up so all i have to do is drain the tank to a certain spot then throw a switch and it fills back up. I know I could get away with doing less but this way is working and its easy.

 

This was a good thread for newbies. I was wondering myself about exposing rock to air during a water change. The bigger question was corals! Corals near the very top would almost have to be exposed to air during a water change. I guess the key is using care. I planning a 70 cube with a sump for about 20gal. I'm thinking the safest bet is to change out of the sump, considering my inexperience.

 

The rock will be fine, so will the corals. Happens in the ocean all the time LOL.