If LR place in chlorinated fresh water will die?

[Reds]

Just wondering if LR are placed in chlorinated water will the organism die? just b4 we pour in the salt to mix....

[williammuk]

I never wash/dip/soak my liverocks in fresh water because I believe doing so will kill off some beneficial organisms.

However, some other reefers may disagree.

[diabolus]

tried once and all the hitchikers like the bristleworms all died.

i suppose soaking in chlorinated water for a long period of time will eventually kill off the living organism. then wats the purpose of getting a LR?

might as well get DR.

[williammuk]

Well, somehow there are folks who believe in dipping/washing their liverocks in fresh water.

And then there are also folks trying to sell their dried rocks as "liverocks"! Sigh ...

[Achilles Tang]

Your liverock will end up being deadrocks if you place them in freshwater.

[typrobin]

Well, somehow there are folks who believe in dipping/washing their liverocks in fresh water.

And then there are also folks trying to sell their dried rocks as "liverocks"! Sigh ...

i never hor...i already said DEAD RoCKS...hahahaa...

IMHO, both are the same lah..since no matter wat, we have to cycle the tank when we set up, wat's the diff between LR and DR?? unless u are in a hurry to set up and wanna shorten the cycling period loh..

but of cos, dead rocks doesn't come with coraline algae..but most LRs tat we buy from LFS, those $8-16/kg doesn't really have much coraline algae also wat...

i started my old tank with 50% dead rocks, cycled for 1mth...added corals (no fishes) for 4-5mths without skimmer..only when i started stocking up fishes then i use a skimmer...dun see any problem also...

i like to use dead rocks, reasons being they will not have any funny hitchhikers(worms, mantis shrimps etc etc) and they are definitely cheaper than LRs, at least 50% cheaper...u won't belive how much i bought all my old DRs for...50kg for less than $100...which means they are only about $2/kg..and this is the result..

anyone care to share??

[Reds]

then how abt putting the LR in de-chlorinated water to wash b4 putting in tank? or washing must be done in salt water as well to prevent die off?

[williammuk]

Please read this to get a better understanding of liverocks.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filtersel.../a/aa111901.htm

Please feel free to ask again if there are anything else that is not addressed by the above article and remains unclear.

Hope this helps.

[typrobin]

Please read this to get a better understanding of liverocks.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filtersel.../a/aa111901.htm

Please feel free to ask again if there are anything else that is not addressed by the above article and remains unclear.

Hope this helps.

power!!

[williammuk]

i never hor...i already said DEAD RoCKS...hahahaa...

IMHO, both are the same lah..since no matter wat, we have to cycle the tank when we set up, wat's the diff between LR and DR?? unless u are in a hurry to set up and wanna shorten the cycling period loh..

but of cos, dead rocks doesn't come with coraline algae..but most LRs tat we buy from LFS, those $8-16/kg doesn't really have much coraline algae also wat...

i started my old tank with 50% dead rocks, cycled for 1mth...added corals (no fishes) for 4-5mths without skimmer..only when i started stocking up fishes then i use a skimmer...dun see any problem also...

i like to use dead rocks, reasons being they will not have any funny hitchhikers(worms, mantis shrimps etc etc) and they are definitely cheaper than LRs, at least 50% cheaper...u won't belive how much i bought all my old DRs for...50kg for less than $100...which means they are only about $2/kg..and this is the result..

anyone care to share??

Thanks for sharing. You've done a good job getting coralline algae to grow on your base rocks.

In my experience, and I firmly believe this, getting good quality LR is an important part of building a reef. By "good quality", I mean rocks that still has plenty of living (not dead) organisms including worms, pods, macroalgae, coralline algae, snails, stars, tunicates, etc. And for these organisms to remain alive, the LR should not be out of the water for too long and certainly should not be allowed to dry out.

We are fortunate that most of our LRs come from close-by countries. And if the shipment has not been delayed, the LRs will usually arrive fairly fresh, alive and happy. Smell it -- you'd know it's fresh because it smells fresh -- like the sea.

When buying LRs, I always turn it around and sniff all over the LR. I will not buy a piece that smells of rotting, decaying or decomposing stuff. And then when bringing it home, I will try to ensure that the rock remains moist eg. covering it with moist paper or wrapping it with plastic bags so that it will not dry out.

At home, I will rinse the rock with tank (salt) water and also search/remove craps from crevices and holes before placing the LR it into the tank. Craps are the only critters that I remove because I really hate it when they push over corals that I had painstakingly arranged.

Under no circumstances will I soak/dip the LRs in fresh water.

By carefully choosing LRs and ensuring minimal die-offs, I believe that it is a better way to build a reef tank. So this is how I started my 2-feet tank two years ago and also how I recently started my 4-feet tank barely 2 months ago.

As for cycling, I just let the system run by itself. I don't like to use the "market prawn" method because I think the prawn is better in the frying pan instead of for cycling tank.

Anyone care to comment on the above?

Thanks for reading.