Adding additional rock to my DT, live or dry?

[Admonition]

I recently upgraded my tank from a Nuvo16 to a Fusion 30L. Subsequently, I need to add more rock. My question is, which type is easier to add without hurting my display tank, dry or live?

 

I keep hearing that if I add dry rock to the tank that my tank parameters will all spike (more specifically phosphates) and kill off my critters. But the problem with cured live rock is that there is always the possibility that I'll grab a piece with bad critters already in the rock and introduce them to my tank. Personally I don't care if the rock I buy has any 'life' on it, I simply want to add new rock without damaging my tank.

 

Sooooo, what is the best way to add the additional rock I need with as little risk to the stable health of my current tank? Please and thank you.

[NYR]

This debate is why i specifically chose the BRS Reef saver rock to start my first tank. It isn't mined from the ocean and is said to be phosphate/hitchhiker free. It's BRS's other dry rocks that leech phosphates (pukani tonga fiji)

[Admonition]

Hm, interesting. How did you like the rock? Did you cure it? And if you did/didn't, did you notice any significant changes in your water chemistry after adding it to your tank?

[NYR]

It should ship out today, didn't start my first tank yet. But if you run a google search there is a solid amount of reviews on it. Some people cure it, some rinse it, some just pop it in the tank. I think ill take a power washer to it.

 

After all the posts i read daily about "plz id my hitchhiker" and "sorry you have aiptasia" i felt this rock was for me. Not saying i won't ever have the nuisance algae, but my chances are minimized.

[Admonition]

Which is -exactly- why I'm seriously leaning toward my LFS's dry rock. Having had my tank up for 2 years, the last thing I wanna deal with is a bad hitchhiker when I don't need to open myself to that. Especially if all I need to do for the dry rock is cure it for a few weeks.

[Steve973]

You don't need to "cure" BRS dry rock. You need to make sure it goes through a cycle to establish bacterial colonies on its surface. Curing is when you have die-off until that stops happening. Since it's clean, there's nothing to rot away.

[Halo_003]

I don't mean to hijack here but I have the same question, I want to get some marco rocks prime cuts to add to my tank, should I cycle them separately and then add them, or should I just add them one by one to the DT? And what prep do they need to be safe to use if any?

[Admonition]

Makes sense, thank you. I ended up purchasing the BRS reef saver rock (cause my LFS rock had stuff growing on it -.-). I plan to soak/rinse the rock and check to make sure nothing's leaching out before I add. I'll comment about it when I get it

[Steve973]

I don't mean to hijack here but I have the same question, I want to get some marco rocks prime cuts to add to my tank, should I cycle them separately and then add them, or should I just add them one by one to the DT? And what prep do they need to be safe to use if any?

It depends. Are you getting these things shipped to you? If it spends more than 5 minutes out of water, there will be die-off that you should "cure".

[Halo_003]

It depends. Are you getting these things shipped to you? If it spends more than 5 minutes out of water, there will be die-off that you should "cure".

Sorry, these are dry rocks, not live.

[Steve973]

Just inspect them and verify that there's nothing dead left on them. You will probably want to rinse them as well as you can in purified water to remove any dust that has settled on them. You could also leave them soak for a few days and test the water to see if any phosphates, etc, leaches from the rocks.