Best decision I ever made!!

[anbosu]

I guess it depends on where you get the live rock from - if you get it from the gulf, it won't have aiptasia. If you get it from your LFS, it could have just about anything on it. Personally, I really enjoy the live rock experience, although for my 360 build I used a mix of live and dry rock just to keep the costs a bit more reasonable.

 

[CStrickland]

What about these rocks leaching phosphates for ever and ever and causing massive algae issues

I bought my last batch from reefcleaners.org, they claim to soak the rock to cure the phos out of it. I let it sit in saltwater for a week and none came out. I think marcorocks does something similar. Idk about other sellers.

 

[Bent]

IMO, the reef tank 'craze' started in the mid 80s when wet/dry filters were the 'news' in all the aquarium magazines. And I don't think there was a single article that didn't mention live rock...not sure how you missed it, it was advertised and available... A 50-80lb styro box full of Florida live rock covered with ricordeas cost less than the air freight to NY...




Absolutely...

I dunno, the internets didn't exist back then, so maybe I was reading old books, but I didn't hear about live ocean cultured rock until the late 90s early 2ks

 

[d2mini]

Not me.
One of my most favoritist things is going to the airport to pick up that shipment of fresh LR and other goodies from Tampa Bay Saltwater.
And every single tank I've set up with "The Package" has been very successful.
Will be doing it again soon! :celeb1: :beer:

 

[Ou8me2]

I bought my last batch from reefcleaners.org, they claim to soak the rock to cure the phos out of it. I let it sit in saltwater for a week and none came out. I think marcorocks does something similar. Idk about other sellers.

reefcleaners.org states this on their dry rock:

This rock contains No pests, and it is professionally cleaned so no need to cycle/cure - it is devoid of organic compounds, and has been treated to prevent phosphate leaching. Rinsing rock dust from the rocks is a good idea though. You can use fresh water for this task.

I'm personally going dry rock my next build I'm working on right now. Now for me personally, there is no fun in curing and cycling live rock. Also, if people are worried about introducing nuisance pest through corals. Wouldn't this make a good case for a Coral QT tank?

One thing I have learned in this hobby over many years is it takes a ton of patience and to be slow and steady. Too many folks want to throw everything in and pray it works out okay. You can see plenty of threads on this site every day of people who just throw a bunch of fish and corals in right after they believe the tank is cycled.

If you're skipping doing coral and fish QT tanks, then you are basically rolling the dice and probably will pay for it later down the road at some point eventually.

 

[MadCnty]

Not me.
One of my most favoritist things is going to the airport to pick up that shipment of fresh LR and other goodies from Tampa Bay Saltwater.
And every single tank I've set up with "The Package" has been very successful.
Will be doing it again soon! :celeb1: :beer:

Was you paid for that endorsement??? JS Again I have nothing against TBSW... I think they are doing the best they can... Is it the best for me IJDK...

 

[joshky]

Had dry rock, but dinos took over my tank and my SPS suffered; to combat the dinos I wanted to introduce biodiversity so I gave TBS 2.1 rock a try, it's been working out excellently. I love this new walt smith 2.1 rock, so even if you decide to use dry rock I highly suggest trying to get some of it. It comes in some really cool shapes and it's easy to aquascape with, I'm a a big fan. I'll probably use TBS rock from now on, it's a lot of fun unpacking it and I'm still finding new things to look at.

Here's some recent photo comparisons, only 9 days in between. This is only a few weeks after putting the rock in my tank.

I should be uploading more comparison photos tomorrow for my thread if I manage to find time.

 

[karimwassef]

I make my own concrete rock but I seed it with as much live rock as possible.

Biodiversity is key to long term success of a captive reef imho. Unless you have another source of safer biodiversity, live rock is king!

If you're worried about critters, then exercise patience. Don't add coral, inverts or fish until you've cycled it with LaCl for phosphates for a couple of months.

If you still get hair algae, use that as an opportunity to set up an ATS.

If you get a mantis shrimp, use a glass jar trap.

If you get aiptasia, get a small army of peppermints and don't feed.

 

[boshk]

I had to use Live Rock because there's no Dry Rock in Hong Kong, otherwise I would have gone down the Pukani rock road with Dr Tim's solution.

So far, during curing in Brute can, I know there is 1 small crab and 1 red crab in the rock.
Found 1 urchin, 2 mussels-like morsels.

Tried the high salinity dip, didn't flush them out.

 

[d2mini]

Was you paid for that endorsement??? JS Again I have nothing against TBSW... I think they are doing the best they can... Is it the best for me IJDK...

LOL, I wish. I could really use some free rock!
I just love having an instant reef with no long cycle. It's much more akin to doing a tank move vs setting up a new tank. And after setting up several tanks and having each running for several years with no issues (related to the rock), there is no reason for me to do it any differently. Starting with dry rock reminds me of my freshwater days.... borrrrring.

 

[MiddletoM]

Of all the changes in this hobby over the last 15 years, the one that has been one of the worst is the availability of high quality live rock.

Most of today's live rock at the lfs looks like chunks of concrete from local road work and I think that is why many have issues with it including the cost of it.

My lfs had some of the pest free live rock with a pretty display poster harping on it but they plumbed that bin to all the others.

The "Live rock" in my LFS here in the UK costs £12....thats over $16.50! and it looks exactly as you described with no visable life on it.

Ive opted for dry rock for my tank but i know i would have loved looking at all the life that comes with live rock.

 

[Tweaked]

Matter of preference I guess, just like BB or Sand. I went dry rock on all my builds and more recently went Walt Smith 2.1. I will never buy anything but that moving forward, fast cycle no leaching, etc.

 

[MJT82]

Matter of preference I guess, just like BB or Sand. I went dry rock on all my builds and more recently went Walt Smith 2.1. I will never buy anything but that moving forward, fast cycle no leaching, etc.

BRS recommends curing the 2.1 rock... Did you cure yours? If so, how did you go about doing so?

 

[sde1500]

I used LFS cured live rock to start my nano, and live sand. Transferred it to my 65 to seed the dry rock I used. Honestly not sure what I liked better. The pictures coming from TBS rock looks amazing. I do have some aiptasia, but going to get a predator to eat them, so not too worried. The big difference for me with was the cost. The dry rock I got was just so much cheaper. Luckily had the rock from my small tank to add some bio-diversity.

 

[d2mini]

BRS recommends curing the 2.1 rock... Did you cure yours? If so, how did you go about doing so?

Only cure the dry.
The live 2.1 from TBS goes straight into your tank.

 

[MJT82]

Only cure the dry.

The live 2.1 from TBS goes straight into your tank.

Oh that's nice!

 

[JohnnyHildo]

i went with dry rock and substrate and am happy i did so.
- i get to watch it grow into something instead of having the finished product from the start.
- while i may eventually get unwanted pests from coral the chance of it is certainly better from using another persons rock.
- while i don't know if this is necessarily true or not i feel like if a pest or bloom problem does arise it will be easier to identify as opposed to dealing with many other variables i'd have to take into consideration.

 

[dvgnyh]

White clean rock goes in. Six months later, clean purple rock. It's the best!

 

[solidcore]

back in the old days we used lava rock. I agree, Aptasia just never runs its course.

 

[brett559]

+1

Starting with a sterile environment lasts until you add an invertebrate or a frag.

But you'd have to agree that the odds are MUCH greater when adding say 100 pounds of live rocks vs. a few frags. Of course, nothing is guaranteed. My point was that dry rock reduces the risk in a big way.

People are reluctant to admit another way is better than the way they've chosen to do it. Human nature, I guess. I'm saying that I've done it both ways, and I would NEVER do the pest thing again. I've added dozens of snails and frags to my system, always looking for aiptasias, and none so far.