Live Rock

I just ordered 45 pounds of Fiji live rock and have a couple of questions.

1. They say their rock needs curing when I get it because even though it has been cured in Fiji, the trip over is what requires it to be cured in my tank again. This is not to be done in my tank if it has occupants, i.e. fish or corals.

2. They suggest to cure it in my tank. I currently have 1 bag of Carib LS & 1 bag of Carib DS, I also have it full of crystal clear RO/DI water with SG 1.022. Will "curing" this rock in my tank cause me to have to replace 1/4 or 1/2 of the water later when I want to add fish or will my protein skimmer and powerfilter keep it clean during this curing process of 2-4 weeks? Will my synthetic Carib LS be affected in any way?

Thanks

 

If you don't have fish yet, I say throw it in. Let it simmer for 2-4 weeks, check the levels and see if you can go from there. if you need to do a water change, do it and check it again down the road. I would probably do a small change regardless a week or so before getting fish anyway.

Your sand should benefit from the addition of live rock.

later!

wahoo!!!!!

 

Is it necesarry to have my protein skimmer on while cycling the tank with just sand & LR? Or will my emperor do? I read somewhere on the net that the skimmer should be off. JUST WANNA BE SURE. CAll me paranoid oh_no, but I wanna get it right the first time!

 

you can cycle the lr w/o the skimmer i did this myself and had the emporer 400 running with no problems. also to help maintain your first alge bloom cycle the tank whith the rock and turn the lights out. it wont hurt the critters on the rock since most of them come out at night anyway. also i thing i did was add some cheap flake food to the tank i cant tell if it really helped but i have tons of critters now the food may have helped them get a good start.

 

Hey I got the 45 lbs of Fiji LR, and love it, but I think it looks just a little sparse, my LFS has Tonga LR and I was wondering how this might look with my Fiji.  I was thinking of buying 20 lbs. of Tonga to add to my 45 Fiji.  Should I just stick to Fiji instead?
Here's a couple of pics of my tank so far with the 45 lbs. oh_yeah

 

Hey everybody, below are some pictures of my tank with the additional 20 lbs of Tonga LR. I now have a total of 65 lbs Fiji/Tonga LR.

Please remember that I'm a beginner! How does my setup look so far? I wanna be sure that I'm on the right track :thumbsup2:

Is it allright to leave my cheapy lights on (2X15W) for 12 hours a day while the the rock is curing & the tank is cycling?





Thanks ;D

 

I'd say you are on the right track for sure. Personally I would add even more rock so you can stack it higher. Otherwise those corals are going to have to stretch a lot to reach the lights!  :razz:

Plus you will be able to hide the power heads better.
Otherwise you will need strong light to penetrate that deep.

 

What's your opinion on keeping my lights (2X15W) on 12 hours a day during this cycling/curing process?? I've had them like this for about 4 days without any noticeable algae problems at all.

 

That should be fine. Especially with that weak of a light output. If you end up getting halides, you will want to turn that down though.

 

I'm inclined to get the Helios 4X55W with legs fixture.

or maybe a 4X96W retrofit kit ;D