Amount of pest found in LRs are crazy...

LOL I am just getting back into the hobby and see NOTHING has changed with the humans trying to create mini oceans in their home. Ask 5 reef addicts or 5 LFS the same question get 10 different answers. Sometimes in the same location. I have been reading a ton to learn what I have been missing in the last 5 years or so. Mostly LED information. I also don't understand why kill the LR after spending double or more over base rock.

I am glad the OP is enjoying the hobby and feeling successful with his plan. That is what the hobby is about. Its not who is the smartest or can find a quote somewhere to match their viewpoint. With every variable there is to this hobby, who can say it has to be this way or everything dies?

I am going big once I am back, I am in the planning stage now, At least 210 again. I have been reading all the build threads and mostly everyone gets the Dinos, HA or Cyno on start up no matter what the Curing/Cooking process has been and along with that they mostly end up with pests and unresolved deaths.

SO, what I am saying is right or wrong if it works for you CONGRATS!

Oh and I forgot to use the word Actually as that seems to be a great buzzword around here
 
Wow, so much arguing over bristleworms and starfish, lets not get bogged down with that...

You killed bobbit worms! Yikes! I sure think you did the right thing! No way I would want those in my system - I mean it's cool if someone likes them and want one, but nope nope nope! Several of them were around 7 inches! It's one of those things that might have given you trouble for years and you would have never known it was there.

I have started tanks with live rock, dry rock and my favorite - dry ceramic rock. Our goals in the hobby can all be different, someone likes a DSB and loves having all sorts of inverts? Rock on! Enjoy it, that's as awesome as the biggest SPS tank because it's yours and you like it!

However there are plenty of nice tanks that start with dry rock. It's not like it's going to hold you back from having a great tank. 15 bobbit worms might hold you back from your goals though unless you want a bobbit worm tank! I will attach a pic of my tank and it has only ceramic rock. I don't think the company is around anymore vidarock, but it was by far my fav "rock". Funny to think the tank below has no "rock" in it at least no calcium based rock!

3r_zpsevllzq8e.jpg

2r_zpsxlyemhee.jpg
 
totally agree with what you said. the type of rock used will not affect how your tank looks in the years to come. so many other things will. I will argee it doesn't make sense to me to buy live rock from places like tampa bay live rock, to then nuke it, but its the op money he can do with it what he wants.

one finally thought, you have one hell of a tank. i personally would listen to any advice you gave about keeping a reef tank.

i think on here we should be able to see your tanks before we listen to what you have to say. no one wants to take dieting advice from a fat trainer
 
Wow, so much arguing over bristleworms and starfish, lets not get bogged down with that...

You killed bobbit worms! Yikes! I sure think you did the right thing! No way I would want those in my system - I mean it's cool if someone likes them and want one, but nope nope nope! Several of them were around 7 inches! It's one of those things that might have given you trouble for years and you would have never known it was there.

I have started tanks with live rock, dry rock and my favorite - dry ceramic rock. Our goals in the hobby can all be different, someone likes a DSB and loves having all sorts of inverts? Rock on! Enjoy it, that's as awesome as the biggest SPS tank because it's yours and you like it!

However there are plenty of nice tanks that start with dry rock. It's not like it's going to hold you back from having a great tank. 15 bobbit worms might hold you back from your goals though unless you want a bobbit worm tank! I will attach a pic of my tank and it has only ceramic rock. I don't think the company is around anymore vidarock, but it was by far my fav "rock". Funny to think the tank below has no "rock" in it at least no calcium based rock!

3r_zpsevllzq8e.jpg

2r_zpsxlyemhee.jpg

Very nice -
 
absolutely agree with Hart24601, i also started my current 50g with pure dead rocks that were bleached, soak in vinegar and started dry. i didn't have any of those critters i found in my batch of Live rocks, and im sure i didn't want them in my new scape too.



 
i think on here we should be able to see your tanks before we listen to what you have to say. no one wants to take dieting advice from a fat trainer

similarly, don't get advise from shop teacher with missing finger.

I'm sure anyone who has been hit with a tank crash due to misc unknown critters in the tank start over with dry rock and controls things that go in to the tank. just as people who drive like crazy has never been in a bad accident or get an expensive ticket.
 
Granted, I could have missed it, but I don't recall anyone trying to debate "the best rock" rather (at least for myself) I am confused as to why someone would pay a premium price for live rock, then kill everything on it. The extra money you pay, is for those critters found on the rock. You can buy dry, dead, critter free rock, for less than two dollars a pound, where as live rock will cost as much as 10.00 a pound, sometimes more depending on the type and what's on it.
Because believe it or not, people do pay money for brittle stars, fire worms (ick) and even bobbit worms (you could not pay me to take one). Just as they pay upwards of 100 bucks for a mantis shrimp. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 
Crayola,

The OP mentioned that in Singapore he has limited options. So everyone in the hobby there buys live rock and then cures it. I presume if he is correct this means that the sellers don't care what is in the rock because they expect the buyer to take care of it.
 
Yup! In my country the LR are probably the cheapest rocks you can get your hands on. Dead dry rocks are almost impossible to find, unless a particular shop had a batch left out to try and collect rain water which thry would still sell the same price as live rocks. (probably full of phosphate too).

Retailers have recently started bringing in fake rocks (some were resin made some were calcium carbonate like Walt Smith reef rock) and the price were insanely crazy! For a box of 20kg worth, they would typically cost 3-4 times as much as actual live rocks. That's why I decided to get LR and cure them my selves.
 
Final updates to those who are still interested, the rocks are fully cured by now, 3 weeks from the day i start curing them. ammonia was 0 for the past 1 week with No3 increasing (feeding liquid rotifers), cycling was short probably because i was dosing AF Pro Bio S and the rocks were not entirely dead. Also saw some pods activity in the tank!

Some coralline are still surviving despite having 0 lights (the pail were covered 24/7), and pest algaes were no longer visible with the naked eye.

Yesterday i added another 5kg of semi-dead LRs (cured LR from a reefer but left outside for a day or 2), soaked them in the pail together with the rest and no3 shot up to 25ppm (from 5!) p04 shot up from 0.1 to 0.5ppm.

should be up for the actual rescape 2 weeks from now!

a rough scape.
 
i would have put the bristle worms back... bobbits would have gone down the toilet

Somehow this seems like the bad plot for a B rated movie. LOL


OP: I see now. So yeah, I guess if you can get live rock cheaper than dead, then go for it, however you want to dress the rock out. But like I said, there are people (especially here in the states) that pay extra $$$ for all the icky things a lot of people deem as pests. Granted, I would not pay for bristle worms, I don't like them, but I do know they serve a purpose so I only population control them in my heavily fed tank. I think I pulled out 20 six inches last week and tossed them in the garbage.
 
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