Storing Live Rock

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

If you're looking at years before restarting, I would also recommend selling off your live rock and buying again when you restart. Otherwise you waste so much electricity keeping a pump and heater on for all those years without knowing if you'll actually use them again. Lots of cured LR for sale usually on canreef from others shutting down so you can restock from other reefers' tanks later.

[StirCrazy]

if you like the rock.. cleen it dry it and save it. if you don't like it sell it and buy what you want.

I will not start up a tank with all live rock again. it is my way of making sure I won't get any undesriable hitch hikers and helps to recycle rock instead of destroying another reef for it.

what I will do is build my reef from dead rock and then put in one carefully chosin sead rock. lots of coraline but nothing else.

for me waiting for the rock to cycle befor I put fish in is not a big deal.

Steve

[hummer]

Excellent points. Thanks for all the replies. I do have a few pieces that I really like. So I might just hang on to those pieces.

Speaking of hitchhikers, I remember my rocks came with a few crabs. Tiny like 1/2 inch. They weren't hairy. But yesterday as I was pulling rock out I found one of them and it grew to at least 2". Too bad it was dead. But I haven't seen them grow that big before.

[Myka]

Why is everyone so afraid of hitchhikers? I've had my fair share of hitchhikers, and they were definitely a pain in the rear. By no means were those hitchhikers the worst thing that ever happened to my tanks, nor the biggest pain in the rear either!

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Myka

Why is everyone so afraid of hitchhikers? I've had my fair share of hitchhikers, and they were definitely a pain in the rear. By no means were those hitchhikers the worst thing that ever happened to my tanks, nor the biggest pain in the rear either!

I am talking about algae and seaweed type hitchickers for types I don't want in my tank. bugs, mantis, ect are fine, but a good culerpa (sp) or halmidia break out is not an easy thing to get rid of. it took me 4 months of pulling picking ect to rid my tank of an infestation of grape culrupa (sp) that almost smothered my tank. somthing I would never want to go through again. short of that I would not use used or fresh liver rock with out at the very least cooking it for about 4 to 6 months to make sure the kind of stuff I don't want is gone. if you have the time and the facilities for this cooking is about the best method, then you can just sead it with scrapings of coraline algae from some one elses tank.

Steve

[Aquattro]

I personally wouldn't use anything but fresh rock. I've got 1 or 2 really nice pieces in my frag tank that I'm going to dry out and store, but the rest is getting sold. If/when I go to a bigger tank, I'll order fresh uncured rock and use that with existing rock. For me, the hitchhikers are the best part of rock

[megs_clark]

Its the aptaisia, majano, flatworms and such that I hate getting. Deffinitly not the end of the world but still a pain in the butt.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I personally wouldn't use anything but fresh rock. I've got 1 or 2 really nice pieces in my frag tank that I'm going to dry out and store, but the rest is getting sold. If/when I go to a bigger tank, I'll order fresh uncured rock and use that with existing rock. For me, the hitchhikers are the best part of rock

same here i like all the hitch hikers after all its a part of the ocean and what were trying to recreate. when buying liverock i just scope out the pieces i want for anything i dont want.ive gotten some cool surprises from uncured liverock that had just came in alot more than i have pests that i couldnt get rid of