LuvaBetta

I'm ready to set up my sw tank. Got a 24g Aqua Pod, sand, live rock, and some deionized and RO water. Opened the box, the Pod is shattered. The rock is wrapped up well to keep it alive. It wasn't my intention for it to last two days wrapped up like that, but of course it's Saturday evening and the lfs won't be open 'til Monday!

Will the rock stay alive if I dump the rock into a bucket with some of the water? Are their precautions I can take?

Or

Is my rock a goner?

Wolfgang8810

get a large cooler and fill it with saltwater then make sure the sg and ph are right then store it in there untill you get your new pod. Sure mixing up salt water costs money but losing that much live rock is way more expensive. I just got a 24 gallon aqua pod also my first saltwater tank its so much fun! just make sure to go slow.

LuvaBetta

AARGH! I know! And it's about 15 lbs! Stupid newbie question: what is sg?

LuvaBetta

Ah I got it. specific gravity?

sgould

Yep, you got it.

LuvaBetta

Ok, it's in the cooler, rinsed first with the salt water. (Hydrometer says ) Are there any temperature needs? No flow going on of course, should I shake the heck out of it periodically? (Only half kidding!)

It's scary that with such an expensive hobby, you still have to start out as green as grass!

Wolfgang8810

if you have a powerhead you can put it in there ither wise you can stire with a wooden spoon avery once and a while temperature soent matter as much aslong as its stable. also you may want yo get more live rock a little later you should have about 25 lbs of live rock

LuvaBetta

I thought I would, as you suggested, start out a bit slow. I'd planned to get about 10 more pounds or so. Same page!
Thanks so much for your help! At least I have a chance of getting this off the ground...

Wolfgang8810

yup with live rock it may only take a week to fully cycle but dont jump into adding fish get half your cleaning crew teh wait another week to 10 days the get the rest of it. then i would wait a month or so because you'll probably be going through the diatom stage where everything goes brown. its an unavoidable part of starting a reef tank. Another thing you may want to look into is removing your bio balls int he back aea they in the long term aren't reef safe and before they get colonized with good bacteria its better to nix them too. One more thing would be a protein skimmer and a powerhead for added circulation.

tcoop

I am starting a saltwater tank. I have several live rock & live sand that was given to me. The rock & sand has been out of the water in ziploc bags for about a year in storage before it was given to me. Are they going to come back to life eventually or am I out lof luck? If it will come back to life, how long will it take?
The tank is cycling now. The amonia, nitrites, and the nitrates were in the danger zone. We put in some TurboStart that was recommended by our local aquatic store to jumpstart the cycle. The numbers are starting to come down. Unfortunately, the fish are dying off. So, I'll have to start over...I am sure.

sgould

The rock will come back in the sense that nitrifying bacteria will eventually recolonize it and function as a bio-filter again. It will not come back in the sense that any "critters" that may have originally hitchiked from the ocean on the rock (feather dusters, etc) will be long since dead now. You can overcome that given enough time if you buy some additional "new" rock to put in with the old.