Lr Question

[mattbeau]

just thinking and planning for next year, doing research and what not

I want to start a 50 gallon tank, but at 1 lbs per gallon, things will get pricy fast

can I add the live rock a little at a time, keeping stocking levels low and adding more LR as needed?

or do I need to add all that is needed for the 50 gallons at once

for instnce if I started off with a pair of a smaller species of clowns only, could I start off with only around 10 lbs of LR and as I decide to increase the stocking level add LR as needed

I would feal more comfortable building things up slowly

thanks

 

[Navarre]

this is possible but be sure that wherever you get your liverock from has exceptional quality. If you continually add more liverock that is not fully matured then your tank could go through a minor cycle when you add fresh rocks and thus put the fish already present under stress.

But in answer to your question then yes it canbe done this way.

 

[JJ1234567]

I agree that building things up slowly is a great way to do it. You know..buying one thing here as its on sale, one thing off of ebay there. BUT LR is one of those things its better to do in one big chunk. That way it can all cure together and so forth. you gave yourself a year, so save your money slowly so that you can purchase all your LR in one order.

suggestions for doing this? you said you wanted to wait a year so here is what you do. Never spend your pocket change. At the end of the day take your pocket change and throw it into a jar. In a year you should have a few hundred dollars there. Its truly amazing how fast it adds up. I paid for my new tank with my quarters from the last two months alone. try it.

 

[mattbeau]

ok let me get this straight.

say I have 2 percula clowns and 25 lbs of live rock cycled and all good at one point,

I wait a few months and decide on adding an additional 25 lbs

the new LR cycling process would throw things out of wack?

if I added new LR later I wouldnt be adding any new fish untill after the new LR had actually cycled

I'm thinking of it as adding a larger filter to an already filtered system.

or is it a matter of disturbing the system after things are already set up IE moving things around

i think tommarow I may have to go to barnes and noble and pick up a book

 

[JJ1234567]

Id say yes to both, both are possible. LR is one of those things that the majority of people would agree that its better to just do it all at once.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...I agree with above. You can add LR in stages HOWEVER, inquire with the lfs you are buying from. Ask them how long the rock has been there and how long it is cycling. If you get a rock from them that arrived the day before, you may have a rock with incomplete cycling and have an ammonia spike.

Let me caution you about one other thing. If you add the LR all at once, which is optimal, your tank will be on a level path to maturation. If you add pieces at separate stages, you will be adding both good and bad at different stages and probably increase your workload. Eg....you could be aiptasia free and then add it into your tank, or have them, eradicate them, then add more.

My advice....save up your money until you have the funds and start out on the best foot. SH

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

O yeah thats totally fine, and it IS expensive! Ive decided that in building my reef, im going to slowly add cool shapes of rocks over a long period of time, then put corals in little random places all in it so I dont have to worry about them stinging eachother and letting them just "battle it out" which i think is stupid. A different look than most people have, which is usually when they have corals lined up next to eachother and i just dont know how they do it! o well at least i wont end up losing a 70 dollar acropora or something cuz sum1 kiled it! but in the mean time, im enjoying some smaller ones just living on my sandbed.

 

[tomstanks]

It can be done....I refuse to do it that way because of the potential risk. You can take a whole tank out if things go bad. Good luck....LR is pricey isn't it.

 

[J-Money]

the best thing i can think of, if you really wanna add LR in stages, is get a big rubbermaid container (use it only for saltwater ish, don't want to accidentally get something in there hazardous to your tank) and a cheap heater and maybe a couple of small powerheads and cure the LR yourself in the container. once you know it's fully cured you can put it in the tank with no worries. good luck