breaking up live rock

[polarbear]

So i have a good sized piece of live rock that I had bought for my biocube. Most of the rock fit except for a piece thats about 12 inches by 6 inches. I want to put it in my 90 gallon tanks refugium but it wont fit there either as a whole piece. If I break it up with a hammer will I cause anything to happen to it as far as hurting the tank? I dont want it to cause an issue with my parameters.

[Europhyllia]

you know you should take it OUT of the tank before hammering it!

Just kidding. I knew you meant will stuff die off if I take the rock out to chip it apart.

Is it fully cycled rock now?
I'd use a chisel rather than just hammer it. More control over where you want it to break

[rrasco]

Shouldn't. I make my own rubble all the time. This stuff doesn't break as easy as you would think for being so porous, though.

[Europhyllia]

I think it really depends on the rock. I LOVE pukani rock. So nice. Drill it, chip it, crack it, etc.
Then there's that solid heavy LR stuff. I don't buy it because it's just too dense.

[polarbear]

I know to take it out. Hahahaha. It's fully cured and all I want is to break it up enough so it fits in the refugium.

[SinisterLou]

Break it up. I too do this all the time. I sometimes use some heavy duty garden shears to break in specific parts.

[polarbear]

Cool. I'll do it.

[CoryDude]

Definitely use a chisel or something with a flat edge if your shaping the rock. Now if you just want to pulverize the rock and make some rubble, then just use the hammer and start smashing away.

Word of caution, you may want to use protective eye wear when doing this.A little fleck of lr in your eye could be a real problem, especially with the risk of infection.