Question On Sustaining Live Rock Without Live Stock In A Tank.

[vonjankmon]

Currently in the process of setting up a 55G tank and I have ordered live rock for it. The issue becomes that I am taking a 10 day trip overseas in about 2 months so I decided that given it could take that long for the live rock to cure I wouldn't even bother trying to get any fish for it until I returned from my trip.

So two questions, first I'm assuming I could just add a bit of flake food to the tank daily (I have an automatic feeder) to add the needed ammonia for the bacteria to thrive but how much should I add and when should I start, when the live rock has completely finished curing? As said the tank is 55 gallons and I will have 50 pounds of mariculture live rock from Florida and 25 pounds of live rock from fiji in the tank.

Second question is would it be beneficial to add any kind of additives to the tank during this period to encourage coraline algae growth? I've seen a few products out there that claim to be good for that growth but I'm a bit hesitant to purchase any.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[rabbut]

Hesitance wit supplements is a good thing. You don't want to be adding anything you aren't testing for, as in most cases, overdosing is far worse than under dosing Also, you need to understand the effects of the supplements you are doing are likely to have on livestock and other stats Most coraline algae growth boosters are essentially Calcium and Magnesium supplements. They do work if dosed according to test readings (not what it says on the bottle!!), but there are far cheaper ways of doing it. However, unless you are going to pack the tank out with hard corals later, just using a good salt brand will keep the levels hight enough for you

When it comes to LR, if it's still curing when you leave, it will be fine just left until you get back. If it is cured before you go, set-up the auto-feeder well in advance, and have it add only enough food for 1-2 fish a day while you are gone. You have no CUC in at that point to break it down, so you will get a lot of detritus if you add too much more, and that will need sorting before you add stock in most likelihood Make sure you have ample time to check the auto-feeders working right, have have an awful habit of dumping their entire contents into the tank on the first few "doses" of food...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[kj23502]

I'd just make sure to not have it cured before you leave. Throw in a new chunk of uncured rock before you go. That'll keep the cycle going and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[Buddyboy67]

Try not to promote too much coralline algae in a reef set up as when your live rock is fully covered it loses it's porous ability and thus filtration can deteriorate..Addition of purple up, etc should be avoided in my opinion. I actually added urchins to my reef to keep coralline grazed back,thus keeping the live rock fully clear and as porous as possible......

 

[SkiFletch]

I'd just make sure to not have it cured before you leave. Throw in a new chunk of uncured rock before you go. That'll keep the cycle going and you won't have to worry about it.

+1, that's what I'd do.

Do you have someone to topup with freshwater to prevent salinity from getting out of control.

 

[vonjankmon]

Yeah I have two freshwater tanks and two cats that will require attention every other day so it shouldn't be a problem to have them top off the water from my RO supply. I may just have them toss in some flake food too while they are there, the auto feeder is alright but less chance of a problem with a person doing it.