Caribsea Arag-Alive and LifeRock Bacteria Question

[bspirou]

Hey Reefers,

I'm setting up a new 200g DT using AragAlive Fiji Pink sand and CaribSea LifeRock. Because it is a brand new tank, my plan is to place the rock and sand, fill the tank and system with RODI water, get the system running, and then slowly add salt to bring the water to the proper salinity. Is exposure to RODI water harmful to the bacteria that CaribSea inoculated into the sand and rock?

Thanks!

 

[Coral reefer]

Yes. It will kill off bacteria rather quickly.

 

[Flagg37]

Just fill the tank about 2/3-3/4 full and up to temperature then put the rocks and sand in. It will be cloudy for several hours but that’s better then losing all the bacteria that you paid for.

 

[Coral reefer]

What are you going to use to mix water for water changes? I would make batches of saltwater that way to fill the tank

 

[RandyC]

Yes. It will kill off bacteria rather quickly.

I’d mix the saltwater first then put it in the tank. That being said, you may or may not kill the bacteria in the live sand and rock if you put in RODI first. It would depend on what type of bacteria and bacteria spores that they have been seeded with. If you look at something like API Quick Start or Brightwell's MicroBacter7 they can be used in both salt & fresh water because of the bacteria they choose to use.

If you're curious, the bacteria in API Quick Start are
- nitrosomonas eutropha
- nitrobacter winogradski

Bio Spira has the following genera - they don't list the specific species, but they have saltwater specific species in their mix (Dr. Tim's One & Only Saltwater and Brightwell MicroBacter StartXLM are similar as well)
- nitrococcus (saltwater only)
- nitrosomonas (freshwater & saltwater)
- nitrosospira (freshwater & saltwater)
- nitrospira (saltwater)

 

[Flagg37]

Just to be clear, I was talking about filling the tank up with saltwater.