Anybody have experience with Marco Rocks?

Isaacs55

Isaacs55

New member
I just bought 50 lbs of Marco Rocks for my 40 breeder and I have been reading a lot of post about it leeching a ton of phosphates into the tank and it results in hair algea. I know Hair Algea comes with every new tank and mostly cant be avoided,but I want to try and avoid it as much as possible. So with that being said, am I going to regret buying dry Marco Rock? I am going to cure it for at least 2 months because my tank is still in its build process, so I can't even add it to my tank if i wanted to lol Also what are your guy's experience with Marco Rocks? Any cool Aquascapes? Pictures? I would appreciate it because I haven't seen any videos on YouTube of marco rock for some ideas...thanks.

Oh and I was wondering if someone had a picture of what 50lbs of marco rock would look like...thanks

Oh and if you would like to follow my build on YouTube. I am going to be uploading some more videos as I progress in my tank build. Videos of my tank, tank updates and unboxing. Here's a link to one of my videos , check out my other videos if you'd like.

https://youtu.be/HY2plOZeN1U
 
Here's 50# of Marco Rocks. Tank is 34" long x 19" deep and 20" tall.

i-c9KzJ2v-XL.jpg
 
I had originally planned to build my scape dry, then cycle the rock in a brute while waiting for my custom tank to be built. This pic was taken about 10 minutes after I opened the shipping box from MarcoRocks. After playing with them for a bit, I decided just to cycle the rock, then build the scape right in the tank once everything's ready.

So, that's where everything sits. The rocks have been in a brute can for a few weeks with water, pump and heater. I added a bottle of bacteria, and feed the whole shebang some Mysis or Brine every few days.

I just brought the new tank home last night, but won't have the stand until tomorrow, so still waiting.
 
I used Marco Rocks on my Reef build in 2013. I would not hesitate to use them again. The delivery was fast and the pieces were nice sized.
I didn't 'cure' them, just put them in the tank with live rock from the LFS and waited. They leached PO4 and I had hair algae. But they look great and a 18 months into it my fish are happy, my corals have survived my newbie mistakes and I love looking at my tank every evening.
 
Don't want to hijack the thread but when "curing" the rock does it have to be ro/di or can it be tap? Just confirming. I'm in the same position and ready tomourchase some Marco rock. Thanks and sorry for the hijack.
 
oldbones said:
I had originally planned to build my scape dry, then cycle the rock in a brute while waiting for my custom tank to be built. This pic was taken about 10 minutes after I opened the shipping box from MarcoRocks. After playing with them for a bit, I decided just to cycle the rock, then build the scape right in the tank once everything's ready.

So, that's where everything sits. The rocks have been in a brute can for a few weeks with water, pump and heater. I added a bottle of bacteria, and feed the whole shebang some Mysis or Brine every few days.

I just brought the new tank home last night, but won't have the stand until tomorrow, so still waiting.
Click to expand...

Nice man! Looking forward to see some pictures of it in your tank!
 
kmbyrnes said:
They leached PO4 and I had hair algae. But they look great and a 18 months into it my fish are happy, my corals have survived my newbie mistakes and I love looking at my tank every evening.
Click to expand...

Haha at least you stuck through the algea bloom and your tank matured...that's great!! I'm more of the proactive type and try to avoid the algea bloom lol
 
micielo719 said:
Don't want to hijack the thread but when "curing" the rock does it have to be ro/di or can it be tap? Just confirming. I'm in the same position and ready tomourchase some Marco rock. Thanks and sorry for the hijack.
Click to expand...

Hey micielo l!
I'm pretty new to saltwater hobby but have done a ton of research...still learning every day as you can tell by this post...anyhow, I would not recommend curing the rock with tap water because you'll be adding all sorts of unwanted nutrients to the curing process, when in general the curing is to take out all the bad nutrients. So putting more in would be a no no...curing is specifically for taking out po4s from the rock and possibly other unwanted nutrients. Hope this helps...I'm excited to get my rock in and start my curing process.
If you want to check out my youtube channel I'll probably be doing a video on the curing process. Subscribe to my channel if you want to follow my build.
Thanks
 
My friends have a lot of those rocks and I also help doing Aquascape for a 180 gallons with those rocks before. In my opinion, those aren't good rocks at all. first, they are very heavy. Second, they have too much holes which will be a nightmare later one when all the debris and uneaten foods settle into it. Your tank isn't big so you can pretty much buy any rocks that you like for it. Go with Tonga Branches, Fiji rocks from Bulkreefsupply. The best option would be buying from the fellow hobbyist. There are plenty of reefers in CA. Just buy a bunch of them and select the best pieces that you like and resell the rest back to other people that need it.
 
I used 130 lbs of Marco. No need to cure imo. My po4 is undetectable after 6mths. Took GFO reactor offline 5 or 6 weeks ago.
 
i've got about 175lbs in my 225g. no measurable po4 leaching but i did soak all of mine in a vinegar bath for about 2 days and then a RODI soak for another few days. probably wasn't necessary but based on past comments about leaching i didnt want to chance it. Love the rock itself though!
 
I order 50lbs for my 45 gallon tank. Its nice rock, lot of little built in caves and isn't to hard to break up if you need some smaller pieces. Also had free shipping so that cant be beat. I cycled all my water, rocks and sand in a 50 gallon barrel before I decided on what tank I was going with and it all worked out good.
 
My experience was the same also, leaches lots of phosphates, and the deep grooves easily trap lots of detritus as GSMClowns stated
 
My last order of dry rock was through them. Every rock was individually bubble wrapped to keep them from breaking during shipping. Prices, customer service, and shipping times are all good. I'll be ordering from them again when I set up a macroalgae tank.
 
Just received mine today, well half the order... Something got screwed up on their end. I'll be calling tomorrow
 
I too am not a fan. Aquascaped half my 350 with it, and the side with the marco rocks took about a year longer to purple up and I had lots of trouble with nuisance algae including vallonia.
 
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