Adding Live Rock to Established Aquarium

[Rebeldog]

What is the procedure to adding live rock to an established aquarium?
The rock will be purchased from a local fish store and is cured.
I have a 90 Gallon tank with 80 lbs of existing rock and I want to add another 30 lbs. there is a 3 inch sand bed.

I will need to dig out some of the existing rock and reposition it.

Do I need to take my existing fish out before I dig in the bed?

Fisk load
1 hippo tank
1 long nose hawk
1 clown
3 shrimp
1 statr fish

[jxb647]

just add it to the tank. I"d probably take the fish out if you are taking everythign out anyways, if you were leaving the rocks in the sand i'd say leave them in... its going to be a sandstorm for a few days however. As well, be careful in disturbing your sand bed too much as it is three inches... this could cause you some problems or algal blooms down the road (jsut an FYI)

[Lamprongulos]

Yeah the LFS always says it's CURED ROCK just be ready for your tank to go through a "mini-cycle'

[ReefCavernRob]

Pull you fish out to be safe. Also, if possible I like to give the rock a good rinse with waste water from a water change before it goes into my tank. Also, its best not to add to much at a time. Adding 100lbs of rock to an established system is certainly going to have an impact. You will have to weigh the risks of each option but I would at least pull your fish for a few hours until the dust settles.

[ReefYeti]

If the rock is actually cured, you should be ok adding it in. Be really careful digging up that sandbed tho.... I added 20-30 lbs of cured rock to my setups (92 & 100 gallons) on a few occasions, just put it right in. Didnt dig it in initially, just sort of placed it in the tank, and some of it in the sump, waited a couple weeks, then i rearranged stuff and dug in some of the new rocks etc. Before you put it in, you might want to take the chance and examine it for aiptasia and the like. And if your sump is big enough, you might just want to toss it all in there for a few weeks. Best of luck! Lol, whenever I move any big rocks in the sand, I usually see some GIANT bristleworms......ever see that movie DUNE?