3 days too early to introduce live rock?

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 07:12 AM

I've had my tank filled with Live sand and water for 3 days now. I have an order of 33 pounds of coral grade live rock coming in from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Its going to be teeming with life and coral. Is this way too early to have anything on there survive when I put it in?

geckofrog · 06/19/2006, 07:18 AM

A little rushed IMO

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 07:20 AM

I got the stuff ordered already. Would everything die off right away or would I just have to do more frequent water changes?

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 07:23 AM

Reason i'm concered about live rock is i'm ordering it form Tampa Bay Saltwater and their rock is completely covered in hard and soft corals. So its basically like buying 40 pounds of coral at the LFS.

geckofrog · 06/19/2006, 07:33 AM

3 days is not nearly enough time for your tank to be cycled, your corals will die off of the rock since your ammonia levels will be peaking shortly, saltwater tanks aren't "instant" setups like freshwater tanks, the biggest thing with this hobby is: patience (besides money, lol)

But it *might* survive, but I wouldn't add it to the tank this soon, can you call the company and put the order off? If not your stuck and you might want to hope and pray. I let my tank cycle with sand and base rock (read: cheap rock) for 8 weeks before I did anything.

The rock you ordered sounds pricey, a little too pricey for this early in the game. Just my opinion.

deansreef · 06/19/2006, 07:41 AM

aquapod,

cancel the order..if you cannot cancel the order find someone with an established tank and have them babysit the live rock until you are ready (about six weeks).

dj synystr · 06/19/2006, 07:42 AM

i set up a 12 gallon nano with 5 pounds of lr and half new water and half old water from an established tank and i only had a 3 day cycle. if the rock is cured , whihc it wont be after shipping, you should be ok.

Hammbone · 06/19/2006, 08:00 AM

O.K. now I'm confused.
I've been reading and learning on these forums. I'm setting up my first reef tank right now. I thought the idea was to cycle with live rock. Now people are saying you have to cycle before you get live rock??????????
I'm lost here.

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 08:01 AM

see the deal with tampa bay saltwater is there is almost no die off on the rock becuase of it is removed from the ocean, put in water, then transported to their warehosue underwater and tehn shipped in water directly to your house the same day overnight to the airport for pickup. Thats why i feel a bit more ocnfident i shouldnt have a problem. let me know what you think. Check them out at www.tbsaltwater.com i've heard good things about them on the net searches.

Fusch13 · 06/19/2006, 08:05 AM

Hammbone,

It is fine to cycle with live rock, the liverock aquapod is purchasing is full of coral and other growth. It is the coral thats the main worry here, not the live rock. The live rock will do fine!....Just wanted to settle the confusion on that

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hammbone
O.K. now I'm confused.
I've been reading and learning on these forums. I'm setting up my first reef tank right now. I thought the idea was to cycle with live rock. Now people are saying you have to cycle before you get live rock??????????
I'm lost here.

you do cycle with live rock but my rock since its ordered from this particular company is supposed to actually have a lot of coral on it. The typical fiji live rock you see in stores is devoid of any corals. Its just the skeletons of corals that have died millions of years ago.

eckrynock · 06/19/2006, 08:07 AM

I was wondering how TBS did that. To me, LR coming to my house in water overnight from the ocean should be ok.

Hammbone,
Normal LR is shipped damp/moist at best, not in water. When the rock arrives, most of the life on the rock dies off and causes an ammonia spike. However, with nothing else in the tank, it's a great way to quickly cycle your tank and cure the rock. But aquapods rock is supposed to have corals on it already since it's cultured in the ocean by this TBS company. If the rock "teeming" with life and corals has any die off when introduced to his tank, the corals will not survive.

Hammbone · 06/19/2006, 08:13 AM

I'm familiar with the TBS rock.
It basically won't go thru a cycle because you hopefully will not have the die-off. The TBS rock is basically "ready to go" although I understand you may still get a short cycle.

What I don't understand is why you would want to cycle before adding TBS rock. I thought you would put water and TBS rock in a new tank and go from there.

Jim

RichConley · 06/19/2006, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by deansreef
aquapod,

cancel the order..if you cannot cancel the order find someone with an established tank and have them babysit the live rock until you are ready (about six weeks).

You people are crazy. its LIVE ROCK.

Throw the rock in the tank. Dont worry about it.

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 08:53 AM

live rock with a ton of coral attached to it. Most of the live rock you see at stores is just that ROCK

RichConley · 06/19/2006, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aquapod
live rock with a ton of coral attached to it. Most of the live rock you see at stores is just that ROCK

And TBS is packed in water, so theres almost no dieoff. It'll be fine. Most of the stuff that comes on it is cup corals, etc. Its all very hardy stuff. Just put it in the tank.

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 09:02 AM

cool that sound good. I was going to go with the package deal but i'd rather get more coral encursted live rock since i already got the sand and the live rock around my area is slim picking.

Hey Rich Conley have you ordered from here before and actually seen the rock that comes in?

RichConley · 06/19/2006, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aquapod
Hey Rich Conley have you ordered from here before

No.

Quote:

actually seen the rock that comes in?

Yeah, I've got some second hand TBS rock, and I've seen it come in before helping other people set up their tanks.Its great stuff, but is very dense, so its even more expensive than it seems. I'd say get like 20% of the LR you need in TBS, and then order some dry stuff from reeferrocks, or something.

As far as live sand, dont waste your cash. Buy some sand, and get a couple of lbs. Theres no sense in filling your tank with 50+ lbs of livesand at $4 a lb.

facewedgie · 06/19/2006, 09:51 AM

aquapod, you almost sound like your afilliated with tbs.
and rich...$4 a lb.?!?that would make a 20 lb bag of ls $80!!! bit of an exageration, dont you think?

liverock · 06/19/2006, 09:59 AM

I think maybe you need to listen to the folks who actually have our rock....

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...&highlight=tbs

TBS

RichConley · 06/19/2006, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by facewedgie
aquapod, you almost sound like your afilliated with tbs.
and rich...$4 a lb.?!?that would make a 20 lb bag of ls $80!!! bit of an exageration, dont you think?

TBS live sand is $2 a lb, plus shipping, so yeah, its up over $3.00 a lb.

Like I said, buy 3-4lbs of LS, and just use soutdown for the rest.

aquapod · 06/19/2006, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by facewedgie
aquapod, you almost sound like your afilliated with tbs.
and rich...$4 a lb.?!?that would make a 20 lb bag of ls $80!!! bit of an exageration, dont you think?

I'm not affiliated with them in any way. I'm paying 200 bucks for 32 or so pounds of live rock. If thats too expensive let me know but if the rocks have as much coral as they advertise I dont see that as too expensive. Plus they seem to throw in some crabs etc so it comes out as a good deal. I just hope I dont get any mantis shrimp...I had nightmares last night of them coming in and chopping off all my fingers when I went in the bag. I dont have too much money left in my budget to spend on stuff so i'm being careful so that I dont spend all the money on rock hoping for some good corals and just have them die off. I'll update this post once the rock comes in and i'll review it on the Tampa Bay Saltwater group on here. If its anything like the rest of the reviews I read about it i'm pretty excited to get it. Only problem I forsee is since the rock is supposed to be pretty dense I might not have enough rock to make the aquascaping look full with the amount of rock I ordered.

06/19/2006, 07:12 AM	#1
aquapod Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 111	3 days too early to introduce live rock? I've had my tank filled with Live sand and water for 3 days now. I have an order of 33 pounds of coral grade live rock coming in from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Its going to be teeming with life and coral. Is this way too early to have anything on there survive when I put it in?

06/19/2006, 07:18 AM	#2
geckofrog Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 505	A little rushed IMO __________________ Ryan Current Tank Info: 75G,

06/19/2006, 07:33 AM	#5
geckofrog Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 505	3 days is not nearly enough time for your tank to be cycled, your corals will die off of the rock since your ammonia levels will be peaking shortly, saltwater tanks aren't "instant" setups like freshwater tanks, the biggest thing with this hobby is: patience (besides money, lol) But it might survive, but I wouldn't add it to the tank this soon, can you call the company and put the order off? If not your stuck and you might want to hope and pray. I let my tank cycle with sand and base rock (read: cheap rock) for 8 weeks before I did anything. The rock you ordered sounds pricey, a little too pricey for this early in the game. Just my opinion. __________________ Ryan Current Tank Info: 75G,

06/19/2006, 07:41 AM	#6
deansreef Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: north carolina Posts: 3,234	aquapod, cancel the order..if you cannot cancel the order find someone with an established tank and have them babysit the live rock until you are ready (about six weeks). __________________ the only dumb question, is the one not asked... Current Tank Info: 225 gallon peninsula

06/19/2006, 07:42 AM	#7
dj synystr Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PA Posts: 843	i set up a 12 gallon nano with 5 pounds of lr and half new water and half old water from an established tank and i only had a 3 day cycle. if the rock is cured , whihc it wont be after shipping, you should be ok. __________________ Dj Synystr Battlefield/WLVR/AOL Mixtape Radio Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Room Divider Mixed Reef

06/19/2006, 07:20 AM	#3
aquapod Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 111	I got the stuff ordered already. Would everything die off right away or would I just have to do more frequent water changes?

06/19/2006, 07:23 AM	#4
aquapod Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 111	Reason i'm concered about live rock is i'm ordering it form Tampa Bay Saltwater and their rock is completely covered in hard and soft corals. So its basically like buying 40 pounds of coral at the LFS.

06/19/2006, 08:00 AM	#8
Hammbone Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Fort Collins, CO Posts: 244	O.K. now I'm confused. I've been reading and learning on these forums. I'm setting up my first reef tank right now. I thought the idea was to cycle with live rock. Now people are saying you have to cycle before you get live rock?????????? I'm lost here.

06/19/2006, 08:01 AM	#9
aquapod Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 111	see the deal with tampa bay saltwater is there is almost no die off on the rock becuase of it is removed from the ocean, put in water, then transported to their warehosue underwater and tehn shipped in water directly to your house the same day overnight to the airport for pickup. Thats why i feel a bit more ocnfident i shouldnt have a problem. let me know what you think. Check them out at www.tbsaltwater.com i've heard good things about them on the net searches.

06/19/2006, 08:05 AM	#10
Fusch13 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Centerville ohio Posts: 7,606	Hammbone, It is fine to cycle with live rock, the liverock aquapod is purchasing is full of coral and other growth. It is the coral thats the main worry here, not the live rock. The live rock will do fine!....Just wanted to settle the confusion on that __________________ Gas....Coral......Gas....Coral...ahhh who needs to go anywhere...CORAL!!! Current Tank Info: JBJ rl nano 20, aq ax360z. Still building.....

06/19/2006, 08:07 AM	#12
eckrynock Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 733	I was wondering how TBS did that. To me, LR coming to my house in water overnight from the ocean should be ok. Hammbone, Normal LR is shipped damp/moist at best, not in water. When the rock arrives, most of the life on the rock dies off and causes an ammonia spike. However, with nothing else in the tank, it's a great way to quickly cycle your tank and cure the rock. But aquapods rock is supposed to have corals on it already since it's cultured in the ocean by this TBS company. If the rock "teeming" with life and corals has any die off when introduced to his tank, the corals will not survive. __________________ Ed Genesis 1:21 Current Tank Info: 90 gal

06/19/2006, 08:13 AM	#13
Hammbone Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Fort Collins, CO Posts: 244	I'm familiar with the TBS rock. It basically won't go thru a cycle because you hopefully will not have the die-off. The TBS rock is basically "ready to go" although I understand you may still get a short cycle. What I don't understand is why you would want to cycle before adding TBS rock. I thought you would put water and TBS rock in a new tank and go from there. Jim

06/19/2006, 08:53 AM	#15
aquapod Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 111	live rock with a ton of coral attached to it. Most of the live rock you see at stores is just that ROCK

06/19/2006, 09:02 AM	#17
aquapod Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 111	cool that sound good. I was going to go with the package deal but i'd rather get more coral encursted live rock since i already got the sand and the live rock around my area is slim picking. Hey Rich Conley have you ordered from here before and actually seen the rock that comes in?

06/19/2006, 09:51 AM	#19
facewedgie Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 227	aquapod, you almost sound like your afilliated with tbs. and rich...$4 a lb.?!?that would make a 20 lb bag of ls $80!!! bit of an exageration, dont you think?

06/19/2006, 09:59 AM	#20
liverock RC Sponsor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Tampa Posts: 3,836	?? I think maybe you need to listen to the folks who actually have our rock.... http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...&highlight=tbs TBS