[Drummer]

Now that my new 75 gal. tank has cycled and I have tossed in a half dozen hermits, what can I do to promote the live rock that really looks kinda dead now to start looking alive again? The water parameters all look good. Do I increase the amount of light.....any additives...etc..??

The rock consists of 35 pounds of uncured kaelini that I bought from kevinpo at Aquatic Dreams and 60 pounds of dry base rock. I also added a pound of live sand from Kevin to my southdown sand bottom. I haven't turned on the hood lights yet due to reading in here about staying semi-dark while the tank cycles due to algae blooms? I do have a dual 250w mh and dual 48" 40watt actinic hood. How much of the lighting should I be using at this time?
I haven't added any snails yet.....maybe add a few this weekend?

I understand the the rock itself isn't alive. I guess I should have said I wanted to promote the coraline algae and organisms that live within the rock to grow.

I've read about folks dropping in a shrimp from the grocery store to feed the tank. Is that somehting I should consider?

I want to do this right so I'm going slow and trying to be patient.


Thanks






Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated !

[cubalz]

The best thing to do is set up your lights on a timer to run at least 8 hours a day- this will encourage coralline algae growth. Light and time will do wonders to bring you rock "alive" Be patient and you will be rewarded. It took about a couple of months for my rock to show true signs of life that you can tell with the naked eye.

John

Originally Posted by Drummer

Now that my new 75 gal. tank has cycled and I have tossed in a half dozen hermits, what can I do to promote the live rock that really looks kinda dead now to start looking alive again? The water parameters all look good. Do I increase the amount of light.....any additives...etc..??

The rock consists of 35 pounds of uncured kaelini that I bought from kevinpo at Aquatic Dreams and 60 pounds of dry base rock. I also added a pound of live sand from Kevin to my southdown sand bottom. I haven't turned on the hood lights yet due to reading in here about staying semi-dark while the tank cycles due to algae blooms? I do have a dual 250w mh and dual 48" 40watt actinic hood. How much of the lighting should I be using at this time?
I haven't added any snails yet.....maybe add a few this weekend?

I understand the the rock itself isn't alive. I guess I should have said I wanted to promote the coraline algae and organisms that live within the rock to grow.

I've read about folks dropping in a shrimp from the grocery store to feed the tank. Is that somehting I should consider?

I want to do this right so I'm going slow and trying to be patient.


Thanks






Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated !

[Reefland]

Drummer,

As for additives, you should make sure that your calcium and alkalinity are up to snuff to help promote the coralline.

How long has the tank been cycled? If the ammonia and nitrite are 0 and have been for a couple of weeks, you might consider going ahead and adding a fish to the tank (the hardiest of your list) to help to continue to grow the bacteria populations.

Scott Z.