Adding more live rock to a current setup, is it okay?

[ZentraediG35]

I was wondering if it's okay to add cured live rock to an established setup? I just got my baby(4 weeks old) last weekend and I already have 40lbs of Live Sand and 25lbs of Live Rock. It just seems like he might need some more crevaces and wholes to explore/hide in.

My question is will adding maybe 5-10lbs more live rock hurt anything? Will it disturb the baby octo in any way? What are the consequences?
Thanks,
Derek

 

[brett]

shouldnt be too bad just make sure there is not a ton of die-off on the rock before you put it in and run some activated carbon in your set-up too if youre not already.

 

[Nancy]

I've added small amounts of cured liverock, but I was very careful to make sure that the live rock (the water it was in) tested out perfectly and that it was brought home in water, a twenty-minute trip. But then, I didn't do this with a very young octopus.

How large is your tank? Maybe your octo would like a bit of PVC pipe or some shells to hide in. Or a little castle!

Nancy

 

[cthulhu77]

Yeah, you are right...no matter what you do, get ready for an ammonia spike as soon as you put it in, and we all know how picky cephs can be!!! Perhaps the plastic fantastic might be more suitable? ( i was going to work this into some sort of pamela anderson bit, but my wife just walked in...)
greg

 

[ZentraediG35]

my tank is a 40 gallon. yeah, you guys are right, i think i'll go with some pvc. i've just been trying to keep the tank looking like the natural ocean floor but oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[rcl]

Zent,

An alternative (relatively low cost/bother) would be to bring rock home and cure it yourself. If you do this method, you could theoretically add as much LR as you wanted without causing any biological stress...

You could put the PVC in now, and then purchase a rubbermaid bin large enough for your rock to fit in, and add a small powerhead to this to get your water moving around. Then just let it run for a couple weeks until your water reads out at 0, and replace the PVC. This could get much cheaper if you have a rubbermaid container laying around, which I bet you may...

Keep this in mind, it could always be an upgrade you could do to go 'all natural'. I understand your situation, as I am loathe to put pvc in any of my tanks any more (and do not).

Robert

 

[ZentraediG35]

rcl,

thanks for the info, that sounds like a very good alternative and i might give it a try.

 

[Nancy]

You really shouldn't add too much live rock, maybe 1 lb per gallon of salt water. As your octo grows, he'll need room to move around. I started with that proportion, then added more, and finally had to remove some.

Also, you might do a bit of research on live rock - I keep hearing that Florida live rock harbors things you don't want, like mantis shrimp, that Fiji is the best.

Nancy

 

[Teen_philosopher84]

Nancy, as you know I don't know much about octopuses but as far as mantis shrimp go, I've found the odd one even in our Figi rock shipments. the other thing is that if you can get some live rock from a well established tank that already has fish in it and as long as its packed properly there should be nil to no die off. Try looking for a store that has live rock in with either their corals or their fish (make sure everything is very healthy obviously) and see if they will sell it. Again obviously that only works if its properly packed, limited transport time and no extreme temperatures.

Clayton Northey