Adding dry rock to an already established tank

[new2reefin]

I've had my Lagoon 25 up and running for about 3 1/2 months now. I initially set the tank up with reef cleaners rock. If I want to add a few more small pieces of this dry reef cleaners rock will it affect anything? Is there any danger of a small cycle. The rock is totally dry and clean.

[Oldsalt01]

Should be fine. U could add some bottled bacteria to seed it but it's probably not necessary. A small amount of rock probably won't make a difference.

[Clown79]

It may cause a spike. It's best to put it in a bucket of sw with heater and water movement and test it for a week before adding. 

 

Caribsea life rock won't, it's the safest choice.

[Mad28gnc@]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

It may cause a spike. It's best to put it in a bucket of sw with heater and water movement and test it for a week before adding. 

 

Caribsea life rock won't, it's the safest choice.

This^

[Red_Blenny]

If you don't have any livestock in the tank, it'll be fine. But if you have livestock, it'll probably safer to do what Clown79 said.

[new2reefin]

Thanks for the input guys.  I'll throw it in a bucket of saltwater. Do i really need to heat the water though?

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

You should cure all rock, live or dry before using it in an established tank unless its actually Cured rock from an already established system. I would do this at least a couple weeks if not more for dry rock. Even before then, soak and rinse a few times in ro water to get as much calcium carbonate/debris out as you can. You'd be surprised how dusty and dirty dry rock can be. I would heat the water, though it all depends on your ambient temperature too. Id say anything above 70 is fine.

[xiaoxiy]

I've had the opposite experience compared to everyone else who has commented in this thread.

 

If the rock is clean dry rock, you can literally just rinse the rock off with fresh water (preferably RODI) and put it into your established reef. I've done it a number of times, most recently with TLF Stax Rock. Others have done it without issue as well.

 

As you can see below, I added 25lbs of clean, dry rock to my established reef and it colored up and matured relatively quickly after the addition.

 

Here's Harry adding new rock to his established tank this week without issue as well.

[new2reefin]

Thanks guys, I did a 3 gallon water change on Sunday and kept the water I took out of the tank in a bucket. I threw a heater and a pump in the bucket with the used filter floss I took out as well. Added the rock and I figure I'll let it sit for a week.

[hayreddin]

On 1/31/2018 at 6:45 PM, new2reefin said:

Thanks guys, I did a 3 gallon water change on Sunday and kept the water I took out of the tank in a bucket. I threw a heater and a pump in the bucket with the used filter floss I took out as well. Added the rock and I figure I'll let it sit for a week.

I know this was forever ago but did you have any issues when you added your rock? How long did you leave it in the bucket before adding to the display? Thinking about doing something similar. 

[jeffmr4]

As long as the rock isn't leaching anything, it shouldn't affect anything.  If anything it will provide more surface area for bacteria to grow.