storing live rock??

i am in the process of wanting to set up a 300gal or bigger tank and i ran across a guy who is getting out of the hobby and im going to buy 150lbs of LR from him and i dont have my tank set up yet so i was going to store it in a rubbermaid tub with saltwater and a big pump for circulation. will everything be ok for about six months.

 

I dont see a problem. As long as you do your weekly test and make sure everything is ok. U mite wanna put a air hose on the bottom of the rocks just to get some extra air in thier since your not pumping in a sump, as well as a heater Correct me if iam wroung guys.

 

i would use a heater too like tony said. your gonna want to point the pump at the surface for gas exchange.

also dont be surprise with all the detritus that falls of the rock as the bacteria uses nutrients stored in the rock. i would not put in window light to prevent algae

 

Hi Guys, will he also want to feed the bucket every so often, in case the bacteria he wants alive, starves?

Steve

 

he may if its long term but i figure the initial die off will provide quite a bit of ammonia there are also nutrients stored in the rock. sometimes i wonder if the act of bacteria starving to death wouldnt release ammonia itself and keep the colonies alive longer.

if he wishes to clean the rock so its fresh for his tank, which i would recommend since its already sitting in a vat. he can do a process called cooking, which like i said before forces the nutriets trapped in the rock to get used. just set up a powerhead for surface disturbance, a heater, and cover it to block out light. every two weeks rinse the the new detritus in saltwater and replace the water in the vat until it no longer produces detritus. it will remove any built up phosphates and nitrates in the rock also the rock will be even more porous then when it was imported to the US. just becareful as very porous rock is sharp so i would us gloves.

 

ok thanks alot that helps im going to get it tonight so thats what i will do.

 

awsome advise guys thanks this helps me to as i have a large bulk order of rock coming and i only have a 55 gal now and im not sure about going bigger in the near futurre.....this forem as well as its members rock lol no pun intended

 

Would a Mag7 (700gph) provide enough circulation in a 75-100gal tub?

It's starting to get warm in Virginia. Would it be a problem for the live rock if water temps got above 85 degrees?

When I finally get water in the tank, could I just move the rock from the vat to the new tank and be cycled and ready to go right away?

 

I keep my live rock in a 29galllon and my thermostat on my aquarium heater broke. Long story short, my water reached 96degrees. I was really worried at first because I had a lot of neat tube worms and sponges on the rock, but I let the tank cool down and about a week later everything emerged again. The water was only that hot for about a day until I noticed it, perhaps there would've been more die off if the temperature was sustained. Regardless, 96 degrees seems way more than you'd expect your live rock to face.

 

yea i have two 150gal tubs holding around 400lbs of LR with a heater and a bunch of pumps in there and there doing great. i even add a little purple up once a week and my coraline and taken off on the rock that wasent covered with it to begin with.