New LR

my seventy five gal tank has been set up for 18 months now, and i have about fifty lbs of LR in there. I was wondering if it is dangerous to add LR to an already established and cycled tank. I want to buy a few more large pieces and throw them in there. Also my substrate is black sand and pieces of crushed coral. It isn't as fine as what i see in most reef tanks (which is my ultimate goal). Is it a bad idea to throw some more live sand in there?

 

It is fine to add live rock to your tank as long as it is cured fully, as in it has been in an established tank for a while. Do not put rock in your tank that your LFS just shipped in. It will have a lot of die off and will polute your tank. If you are unsure if it is fully cured or you don't want to take any chances, you can always bake the rocks in the sun for a couple weeks and rinse rinse rinse. This will ensure all rotting animals are discarded.

You can add sand to your aquarium in small increments. Work in small sections adding 1/4'' or less to that section. Do one section every few days. Also, make sure you rinse the sand well before adding to your tank.

 

are you supposed to rinse live sand with fresh water? For the LR i was thinking about keeping it in my 10 gal tank for a week or two before transferring it into my big tank, just to make sure its fully cured. yay or nay? I dont want to kill the LR in the sun, not to mention id have every animal for miles around in my yard. I live in the middle of the woods

 

Rinsing the live sand with fresh water will likely kill whatever is alive in it (whether or not anything is still alive in that sealed plastic bag with no oxygen is up for debate). Yes placing the rock in a 10gal tank would be a great idea. Then you can test the water in the tank after a couple days to see if you have a parameter spike. If the rock does well then it is ready to be added. Also watch the rock while curing to make sure there aren't any bad hitchhikers.

 

I would let the rock sit in the 10gal for 6-8 weeks, no chance of introducing any parasites or other unwanteds.

 

thanks for the help guys.