When can I add live rock

Guys, I filled the tank with tap water as it would have been impossible to get that much ro water, i got salt levels right and added aquasafe to the water yesterday. How long untill I can add live rock? Thanks

 

Is your rock pre scrubbed or are you planning to add really nice live rock to your tank?
If it will need to be brushed off and rinsed you will need to have the water prepared extra for that, nice salt water for rinsing off rock after you have brushed off any dead stuff but you wont want to kill any more of the live stuff on the rocks.

Realy depends on condition of the rocks on when you put em into your system.
If your tank has water in it that is the best you can do on quality salinity and temperature its done its part and its up to your rocks now.
Once the bacteria on your rocks are recovered from its trip to your tank and they take up residence in your tank etc... You are on your way

 

There's no need to wait to add LR if you're ready to cycle. If the water is in the tank at least 24 hours, then chloramines shouldn't be an issue, although with tap water I'd be concerned about nitrates and phosphates. You might consider getting test kits for each. If there are detectable levels from day one, you'd be better off in the long run aborting, and refilling with RO/DI--even if that means getting it home 20 gallons at a time from the LFS. I know it's not what you want to hear after setting up nice and new, but if you have nitrates and phoshphates already, you're certainly setting yourself up for failure. Good luck.

Moved thread to General forum.

 

church!! yea unless u live like in the back foothills and have amazingly pure tap water i would just stick w/ ro water i had to fill mine 10 gallons at a time, giant pita. But it will be less painful than dealing w/ cyano outbreak in a cpl weeks. just my .02

 

I tested for nitrates and phosphates and all seem fine

 

What about other impurities like copper? Copper, even in small mount, is killer to inverts and corals. Heck, even most fish don't like it.

I would add the rock now if you don't plan on changing the water.

 

alright well i will agree with everyone else R/O water is the best solution to filling the tank to start off with many tap water supplies are dosed with chemicals from the processing centers to be sent to homes for drinking and what not. little do many people know that our drinking water is soooo dirty that your better off drinking bottled water. if tested you would find high levels of chlorine, flouride and other chemicals as well as waste products such as urine and what not from the ground from farms and wild animals. so even later on if not now you will have issues. but adding live rock can be done at anytime after the fill. if fully cycled i would still give it some time to make sure levels dont spike like mine did. i lost 3 of 4 fish from it.

 

If you WWTP is running then you should not find any waste in it. However it will be high in chemicals that are used to kill bad bacteria and microbes, such as chlorides and florides. With the water running in your lines that is usually where other problems can come from such as copper and other metals.

 

Too late now but you also could have bought distilled water. I definitely at least wouldn't use tap from now on, and if you do at least put the conditioner in it (not that that helps with copper etc but it at least won't quickly kill off your fish...).

 

Nothing good happens fast, except algae growth from tap water LOL. What size tank is it?