Keeping LIve Rock

[jrossjr79]

I am about to go get the 55G tank now, athough it is already to late for me to go get saltwater supplies, wont be able to do it tomorrow. How should I keep the live rock to keep it live, with out being ini salt water for a few hours?

[Flyride95]

Do you not have any saltwater at all? Because the best way to keep it alive is put it in a Rubbermaid/bucket submerged in saltwater and a pump moving it. If you can't do that then you can wrap it in wet (with saltwater) news papers and put it in a Rubbermaid/box with a lid. Or worst case scenario you do not have any saltwater at all then unfortunately you rock is drying off which is going to cause some die off. You can put the rock in a sealed box if it is wet and hope it stays moist but I feel you will still start the long cycle.

[CoryDude]

Can you store the rock in a couple of containers filled with saltwater? I've kept them in a container for days with a power head for circulation with very little die off. Or, if its only for a few hours just lay some newspaper sheets soaked in saltwater over the rocks. You'll have some die off with this method so be careful when you add it back to your tank.

[CoryDude]

Do you not have any saltwater at all? Because the best way to keep it alive is put it in a Rubbermaid/bucket submerged in saltwater and a pump moving it. If you can't do that then you can wrap it in wet (with saltwater) news papers and put it in a Rubbermaid/box with a lid. Or worst case scenario you do not have any saltwater at all then unfortunately you rock is drying off which is going to cause some die off. You can put the rock in a sealed box if it is wet and hope it stays moist but I feel you will still start the long cycle.

Whoops, didn't see this before posting. Didn't mean to duplicate you flyride.

[jrossjr79]

Ok, I just got back, and go the tank, stand and everything in here. Good news is there is enough salt water in the tank to cover the live rock, I also got enough instant ocean mix to last for a complete fill up and cycle, and one or two water changes.

So I should be ok, I got to get the powerheads hooked back up so there is circulation, just dont know if there is enough water in there for it just yet. So I have a question, and hopefully I can get an answer tonight on it.

I have water that I get delivered every two weeks from Sparkletts, does anyone know if I can use this water in my tank?

[Scutterborn]

Sparkletts is spring water, correct? If so, it's likely to have very high TDS. This could mean sediment from heavy metals and other things. It really depends on where it's taken from. You can take a sample to an LFS for a TDS reading. High TDS can mean nuisance algae popping up. It's usually nothing like filtered RO water.


-Ben-

[jrossjr79]

grrr, bad thing is, this tank already has a bad algae problem, red and green, and I need to get the water level high enough to start filtering it.Tank is about 25% full now, I am thinking I need to get it to either 50% or 75% full.

[Flyride95]

When I first started I used tap water filtered through brita. Needless to say I've paid for it for the last 7 months. IMO go to any fish store, petco, petsmart, or better yet an lfs if you can and just get some water from there at least it will be ro.

[Scutterborn]

If your only concerned with keeping the nitrifying bacteria populated on the rock, don't illuminate the tank. Algae will die off causing a slight ammonia spike thereby feeding the bacteria.


-Ben-

[jrossjr79]

Went ahead and looked into it, some people have had problems, hair algae growth like crazy. However some people love it. Guess its a split. Now I am not sure if I am getting distilled or spring. But on the red label that covers where the bottle gets inserted into the water machine says this:

"Crystal Fresh Purified Water.Purified by reverse osmosis and /or deionization, filtered and ozanated to ensure quality. Contains purified water with selected minerals (sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulfate) added for taste. Mineral amounts are not nutritionally significant."

I figure this is all good right? I mean I read in lots of places that good tank water has been purified, reverse osmosised, ozonated, etc. Just am not sure ahout the two selected minerals that have been added.

SORRY::: Added this post before I saw that others had commented already.