Should I add live rock to a 4 month old tank?

[wantsummora acropora]

I'm considering adding live rock from my LFS to my 4 month old tank. Apart from pests what negative affects can I expect? What benefits? How much?

 

[hankhill31]

That’s really the only negative is not knowing wat u are putting in ur tank


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[silentdeath5]

Well, do you feel like you need more rock? And why not just go with dry rocks since your current rocks have already been in there for 4 months cycling and gaining bacteria. Not much to gain and more to lose. I personally like your rockscape as it is

 

[Tanster2]

A small cycle might occur, as there would probably be a small amount of die off on the rock as your transport it.

Benefits would be, possibly increasing biodiversity? But if your tank is 4 months old you already have decent bacteria growth in your rock.

I don't think it would be worth adding liverock from a LFS, that stuff is littered with pests in my experience. Go with dry rock so you know what you're adding. It would be awful to introduce pests into a fairly pristine system.

 

[sharis100]

Are you trying to change and add to your hard scape or are you just wanting more rock for filtration? If the later, just add media to your sump- there are plenty of different materials to accomplish that. If the former, you can take small pieces of dry rock and ‘cure’ them in your sump and place as desired later. Saves you the risk of mini-cycles, pests, contamination, excess nitrate or phosphate leaching if the rocks are from a dirty system, etc....

 

[wantsummora acropora]

A small cycle might occur, as there would probably be a small amount of die off on the rock as your transport it.

Benefits would be, possibly increasing biodiversity? But if your tank is 4 months old you already have decent bacteria growth in your rock.

I don't think it would be worth adding liverock from a LFS, that stuff is littered with pests in my experience. Go with dry rock so you know what you're adding. It would be awful to introduce pests into a fairly pristine system.

Great advice, thank you.

 

[wantsummora acropora]

Are you trying to change and add to your hard scape or are you just wanting more rock for filtration? If the later, just add media to your sump- there are plenty of different materials to accomplish that. If the former, you can take small pieces of dry rock and ‘cure’ them in your sump and place as desired later. Saves you the risk of mini-cycles, pests, contamination, excess nitrate or phosphate leaching if the rocks are from a dirty system, etc....

I was hoping to increase my biodiversity and isolate some corals on the sand when it's time to them. I will add a few pieces to my sump like you suggested.

 

[wantsummora acropora]

Well, do you feel like you need more rock? And why not just go with dry rocks since your current rocks have already been in there for 4 months cycling and gaining bacteria. Not much to gain and more to lose. I personally like your rockscape as it is

I just wanted to add some flat rock to the front of the sand bed with more biodiversity and places where I can isolate a few aggressive corals. Thanks for the compliment.