Transporting and storing Live Rock

[RyanRay]

I've been unable to find much information about the transport and setup of live rock, despite a bunch of research I've been doing.

Basically, I'm living in an area that doesn't have a lot of good suppliers and the ones that I do have in my area charge a fortune. I'm taking vacation in Florida in a couple of weeks, which will provide me with an endless supply of stores and rock (hopefully for cheap.) The problem is, I don't yet have my tank setup. I'm planning on a 65 gl, but can't yet afford to get the full lighting system, filters, etc. etc.

I've read the best way to transport is by wet newspaper in a cooler, but I'm not sure about storage after that. Do I need to immediately have the rock setup in my tank with lights, filtering, etc.? Is there any period that I store the rock prior to setting up the tank, or will doing that make "dead rock?"

Thanks much,

RR

 

[Anonymous]

Throw it it a rubbermad bin w/ some powerheads. Without light some of the hickhikers may not make it, but the benificial bacteria that make live rock "live" will be in fine shape.

 

[Anonymous]

Since it will most likely be uncured live rock you are getting you will need to do Browns suggestion and get a large rubbermaid tub, fill with salt water and a powerhead or 2 and do frequent water changes. Look up curing live rock for more suggestions but carrying in a cooler with wet newspaper for a day or 2 should be ok.

 

[RyanRay]

Thanks for your input on this. Haven't come across much information at all regarding this. Any suggestions on the light source and cycle? I haven't yet purchased the full blown light system, and would want to setup a cheaper temp solution.

Thanks!

RyanRay

 

[ChrisRD]

If you're buying cured rock I would prefer to transport it wet to minimize die-off. 5 gallon pails with sealable lids have always worked well for me. If you're buying uncured rock, the cooler and newspaper thing mentioned above would be good...

 

[ChrisRD]

As for the lighting, what are the tank dimensions?

 

[RyanRay]

Tank's a 65 gallon, but I'm probably going to follow the suggestions of using a rubbermaid with some poweheads. I'll probably have 50 - 60 pounds of rock, but not really sure. Not sure of what the best, cheapest approach would be for temporary lighting.

 

[ChrisRD]

Lighting the rock while curing is optional, and in fact, some prefer NOT to light it during curing (to avoid nuisance algae blooms while nutrient levels are high during the curing process). If you have a lot of photosynthetic hitchikers that you're trying to preserve you can just get a cheap fluorescent shoplight and throw some decent lamps in it for temporary illumination.

 

[Anonymous]

Chris, don't you think that Ryan could just cure the rock in his display? There's really no reason, at this point, to go threw the hassel of curing seperately. That way, he can cure and cycle at the same time. Or am I missing something in this discussion. :wink:

 

[RyanRay]

Sally,

I've got an opportunity to get some live rock prior to setting up my display tank, which will probably be at least a few weeks after I get the rock. Ultimately, I'd like to have everything setup first, but I'm not going that small with my first tank so need to get the mula together.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Ryan

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, now I understand.

Hope you get some nice rock

 

[Mihai]

Rubbermaid + salt water + topoff daily + powerhead + lights (say about 1-2W of fluorescent (normal output, power compact, etc) light per gallon of rubbermaid). Then water changes when ammonia gets high.

Have fun, post some pics.
M.

 

[RyanRay]

Awesome! Thanks all.

Hopefully I can find some good quality rock. Either way, things seem to be a lot less expensive in the States.