Best decision I ever made!!

[brett559]

My tank has been up since July of last year. And I can honestly say one thing has made this so much easier than my previous tank. DEAD ROCK!

I would never ever ever ever ever use "live rock" again. My last tank it was a constant battle - aiptasia, mojanos, tiny starfish on the glass. It never ended. The fish I wanted would eat peppermint shrimp, but I needed pepps to kill aiptasia. Just a nightmare.

Why would anyone buy live rock? WHY? It costs more and is just loaded with junk. Aiptasia really is just the worst. Once you have it, it's almost impossible to completely get rid of.

I started this tank with dead rock from BRS. It is covered in coralline, and no pests!

It just seems like a scam, the whole "live rock" business. Any rock you buy becomes live. If you want pods, buy some pods for your fuge. My coralline propagated from a single snail that had some on it.

Anyway, I'm sort of rambling. But I listened on this tank. I listened to the BRS guys and Mr. Saltwater Tank, etc. and started with dry rock.

BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE! This hobby is challenging enough without the hassles that live rock brings.

Rambling over.

 

[JamesFWB]

I have live rock in my Tank, but I'm starting to feel the same way. I almost have pulled the plug to dry all my rock out in the sun and start over. At night is when all the critters come.

 

[CHSUB]

i "see" where you are coming from, however, i like all that stuff!!!

 

[brett559]

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

 

[brett559]

i "see" where you are coming from, however, i like all that stuff!!!

You've been at this a lot longer than me, so what particularly do you like? I'm not arguing, I'm just curious. The sponge? Phtyoplantkton and pods?

 

[MMacro]

I used live rock when I first started up my tank but recently had to break it down due to a move. I have since done acid/vinegar dips to kill anything on the rock. I am glad that I did this as I had THOUSANDS of vermetid snails that when I put my hand in the tank or when I was handling the rock would cut and stab my hands. They have since all fallen off and I will no longer (hopefully) have any pest creatures in my tank since I will be dipping/medicating EVERYTHING that comes into my tank.

 

[Jade5051]

I agree dry rock is the best. Sees it with only the critters you want. To many bad hitchhikers out there.

 

[CHSUB]

You've been at this a lot longer than me, so what particularly do you like? I'm not arguing, I'm just curious. The sponge? Phtyoplantkton and pods?

i agree, the pests can be a problem, and i have consider using "dead rock" in the past. it's just the whole package, some good some bad, but nothing is really that bad, imo. just last night, i saw a very large black serpent star, kind of neat, i think! the guys setting up the new Frost Museum reef tank are using "dead rock" for the exact reasons you listed.

 

[Bent]

I'll say the same thing I always say in these threads.

It's great you like the dry rock. It's been used and is still used to make great reefs. However, the same also apply to "live rock". People use it successfully and make great reefs. I've done it both ways and I prefer live for the following three reasons.

1: back when I started this in the late 80s and early 90s, live rock didn't exist and the hobby has grown leaps and bounds since then. Since setting up for years with lava rock and other nonsense, I've done my fair share of "sterile" tanks. Once live rock became available "hitchhikers" were cool and new. We didn't always know that hairy black clawed crabs were bad or aptasia would take your tank over and kill everything. It was all new and exciting, so in a way, setting up a tank I still somewhat chase that experience.

2: there are other benefits to ocean rock than just the stuff you can see and nitrifying bacteria. There are tons of other stuff like pods, and other things that come on them as well. I have like 25 porcelain crabs in my tank. The purple ones. If I bought those at 12 bucks a pop plus shipping, just do the math. I have pods swarming my tank that I never bought, bristle worms that I never bought, spaghetti worms I never bought and numerous other things that I probably don't even know about.

3: half the fun of setting up a tank, for me, is the discovery of stuff. Sitting in the dark with a flashlight and saying "dude somethings moving back there, what is that!?" Then finding some creepy crawly that you would have never otherwise laid eyes on. I mean think about it. For instance. Yes polyclad flatworms suck, they eat good things you pay good money for, but when would you have ever seen one up close if it didn't hitch in the tank from the live rock. Even Bobbits as horrifying as they are, it's pretty mind blowing that something can make its way to my living room that looks like that. I never would have even known of the existence of some of this stuff, let alone look at it up close, if it wasn't for live rock. For me that's more than enough of a trade off for late night crab hunting. I find much more beneficial things with my rock than I do the bad stuff. If I just had dry rock, then I would loose that experience of sitting and looking for stuff in my tank, and that takes away half the fun for me.

Again, either method works great and it all depends on what you like.

 

[StrangeDejavu]

You can go dry rock and still get bad stuff. I bought a Trochus snail 2 weeks ago that had an abandoned feather duster tube on its shell. When I broke that tube open with small scissors, I found almost 10 pyramid snails and an asterina star (the black kind that people report eat coral). I see where you're coming from, and yes the the risks are reduced. However, you could just as easily introduce aiptasia through a frag. I started my first tank with dry and my second with live and i'm really happy I did. To each their own.

 

[BrokenSpoke]

BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE! This hobby is challenging enough without the hassles that live rock brings.

Completely agree. Started a tank over for the exact same reason and this time went with Walt Smith 2.1 rock. Easiest thing I ever did and never had an algae outbreak, diatom bloom, no pests, etc. If I ever set up another tank I'll stay with the Walt Smith 2.1 rock but I'll never go back to live rock.

 

[K.C.]

You can go dry rock and still get bad stuff. I bought a Trochus snail 2 weeks ago that had an abandoned feather duster tube on its shell. When I broke that tube open with small scissors, I found almost 10 pyramid snails and an asterina star (the black kind that people report eat coral).

+1

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

 

[albano]

back when I started this in the late 80s and early 90s, live rock didn't exist and the hobby has grown leaps and bounds since then. Since setting up for years with lava rock and other nonsense, I've done my f.

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...

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

Absolutely...

 

[MJT82]

Specifically what kind of BRS rock did you use? Pukani? Walt Smith 2.1? How did you go about curing it? I'm considering doing the same thing with the build I am working on now!

I've been interested in the Walt Smith 2.1 since BRS is using it on their 160... Really considering going that route.

 

[MJT82]

Completely agree. Started a tank over for the exact same reason and this time went with Walt Smith 2.1 rock. Easiest thing I ever did and never had an algae outbreak, diatom bloom, no pests, etc. If I ever set up another tank I'll stay with the Walt Smith 2.1 rock but I'll never go back to live rock.

How is the 2.1 looking? How long have you had it going? Any pics??

 

[CStrickland]

I'm glad I started with dry rock. It was easy to aquascape, cheap, and introduced me slowly to hitchikers. I've had aiptasia, spaghetti worms, bristles, pods, hydroids, stomatella, spirorbids, sponges, some kind of bryozoan, and peanut worms; not to mention all kinds of algae - so far.

All came in on frags or snail shells, which meant that one day I noticed a single aiptasia on a plug, researched it for like a day, bought some lime, killed it with kalk paste, and never saw another. It would've been awfully stressful and much less fun for me to have to deal with an infestation right off the bat on my first tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

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.

 

[Grkgod36]

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

 

[MadCnty]

I went with dry rock my last build... I can control phosphates etc, with chemicals... I cannot get into all the nooks and crannies to kill Aiptasia... It is a matter of what you do want and do not want in your DT...

 

[MadCnty]

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

BTW even live rock leeches phosphates eventually... If it doesn't why are there so many threads where folks are getting GHA @ the 2 year mark??? It is all about H2O quality and after folks get dialed in they get complacent, & forgo testing... This is a hobby that you cannot do that...