New rock

emilypres · 12/27/2012, 07:08 AM

My wife purchased 50lbs of Fiji from BRS for Xmas. I am soaking it in a 54 gallon bow front I was using for mixing up saltwater. Do u think I should remove my old rock - some of my old rock looks hairy and fuzzy - had been in systems that were 5 years old. Or should I take out my old rock and re-aqua scape my tank with the new rock?

Fizz71 · 12/27/2012, 01:34 PM

Hairy and fuzy is a sign of poor water quality, not poor live rock.

Odds are your new rock will get hairy and fuzy too whether you removed it or not.

I personally would remove the old rock, scrape off what algae you can and put it in an unlit sump so you still get the benefit of the filter, but the remaining algae will die.

Then you need to get your phosphate and/or water circulation issue under control.

Do you have anything living in the tank now? If you do you need to test the water in the bow front to make sure your new live rock isn't cycling from death that occurred in transit. Make sure ammonia is 0 in there before you start adding it to an established system.

12/27/2012, 07:08 AM	#1
emilypres Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Macon, GA Posts: 101	New rock My wife purchased 50lbs of Fiji from BRS for Xmas. I am soaking it in a 54 gallon bow front I was using for mixing up saltwater. Do u think I should remove my old rock - some of my old rock looks hairy and fuzzy - had been in systems that were 5 years old. Or should I take out my old rock and re-aqua scape my tank with the new rock?

12/27/2012, 01:34 PM	#2
Fizz71 FragSwapper Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Lawn, PA Posts: 5,800	Hairy and fuzy is a sign of poor water quality, not poor live rock. Odds are your new rock will get hairy and fuzy too whether you removed it or not. I personally would remove the old rock, scrape off what algae you can and put it in an unlit sump so you still get the benefit of the filter, but the remaining algae will die. Then you need to get your phosphate and/or water circulation issue under control. Do you have anything living in the tank now? If you do you need to test the water in the bow front to make sure your new live rock isn't cycling from death that occurred in transit. Make sure ammonia is 0 in there before you start adding it to an established system. __________________ --Fizz Current Tank Info: Current system is 8x2x2 240g peninsula setup with a single "chamber" 100g sump in the basement with an RDSB. All corals are 100% home grown from frags of fellow reefers (low natural reef impact).