A lot of good posts for ya! I'm curious as to what you'll end up doing. Good luck!
Dry rock vs Live rock
- Thread starter Gyaradoite
- Start date
You can go live rock and save money just have to be smart. I wouldn't buy it from the lfs. Rather go onto Craigslist or a local reef forum and look for some. Almost all the time people are tearing down or selling tanks and you can get the live rock for very cheap probably cheaper than dry rock.
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CStrickland
New member
I would be very cautious buying rock from a tank tear down. Did they quit the hobby because they have a baby on the way and need space and money, but the tank was rocking? Great. Did they epically fail, and the tank is overrun with aiptasia, whelks, aefw, ich, algae, dinoflagellates, and the rock is marinated in phosphate? Not great.
Reefcleaners.org sells dry rock for $2 a pound, free shipping, and it's cured of phosphate. My batch didn't leach any phos, and the owner was super-accommodating of my requests for shapes and sizes. I've had a bit of algae from the lack of encrustation, but nothing that got out of hand. I got about 3/4 of a pound per gallon (including sump) and have never had an issue with filtration (nitrates). That might also be due to using biospira and stocking slowly.
For new reefers, a local club is a fantastic connect to make. They will be a lifesaver if you have an emergency, and it's fun to make friends and see healthy tanks in person. Most are eager to help noobs get off on the right foot, including by donating some chunks of mature live rock to seed the tank. That way you can check for pests easily and it will be much "live-er" than anything an lfs will sell you.
Grimreaperz
New member
I bought live rock from LFS. When I didn't know what I was looking for. It came with a lot good. But almost everything bad as well. I am now having to manage. Vertimid Snails, digitate and colonial hydroids. Bubble algae, Byropsis. If I do another tank. I will be going majority dry and a couple good live pieces.
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mountainraised
New member
How does this base rock compare in density compared to pukani rock?
Well this can be true of all live rock since we don't know what is on it. Just because it's from the ocean doesn't it make any more clean than live rock from a local reefer. To have better judgement you can always join a local reef club and buy from people there that are selling directly from their tank. Either way as long as you cure and meticulously inspect the rock you should be fine. If you can get live rock that has been well established for 2.00/lb vs dry rock for the same price I would take live rock any day of the week!
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liverock
RC Sponsor
I picked up 160 lbs. of live rock from a local hobbyist who was converting his tank to freshwater to put his turtles in come winter time. He was selling it for $1 per lb. It was cheaper than dry 'live' rock.
Since I only lived 20 min. away, the rock was hardly out of the water at all.
I was able to check out the rock before the tank was broken down, and it was gorgeous. If you can check it ahead of time for algae, apistea, mojano's etc. and it looks good, it seems like a fantastic way to go.
I had already ordered 40lbs of life rock from an Amazon vendor.
That rock arrived in damp newspapers. It had a few bad algae hitchhikers on the rock, but otherwise has been full of beneficial life.
I know there are people way more experienced with reef tanks than I am, but so far I've been very happy going the tons of live rock route, and even though my tank is very new, there have hardly been any algae problems at all.
Since I only lived 20 min. away, the rock was hardly out of the water at all.
I was able to check out the rock before the tank was broken down, and it was gorgeous. If you can check it ahead of time for algae, apistea, mojano's etc. and it looks good, it seems like a fantastic way to go.
I had already ordered 40lbs of life rock from an Amazon vendor.
That rock arrived in damp newspapers. It had a few bad algae hitchhikers on the rock, but otherwise has been full of beneficial life.
I know there are people way more experienced with reef tanks than I am, but so far I've been very happy going the tons of live rock route, and even though my tank is very new, there have hardly been any algae problems at all.
CStrickland
New member
It's denser. It's the type of rock that is mined from the ground in a part of Florida that was a reef a long time ago. I don't think anything but Pukani is comparable to Pukani density.
liverock
RC Sponsor
Pukani is the lightest rock available, and reason being it is not rock, but coral skeletons...I have it under production on the live rock lease. Harvested a few hundred pounds yesterday.
Pukani is neat as it also comes in larger sizes than any other traditional rock/coral, and is great for larger tanks, as small rock just does not look right in large tanks.
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com
I would never think of setting up a system without a good quality wild or maricultured live rock. The cryptic sponges and other "stuff" you get are critical for establishing a healthy, mature reef ecosystem. You do not need to get an outrageous amount though, I typically use about a 1/4 lb per gallon mixed with local honeycomb limestone. See my posts in this thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2600731 for my thoughts about the "pests" that come in on live rock and the real threat to corals in reef systems.
mountainraised
New member
With all this dialogue, I myself went with a 50lbs order of Marco's rock after weighing the pros and cons. It was economic and even though they offer a WYSIWYG aquascape, you can still provide notes on the rocks you are looking for, so its very close to a WYSIWYG, I would consider is WYAFIWYG (What You Ask For Is What You Get). With a fully customizable aquascape at my finger tips and a true zero impact on the ocean, I felt going with a dry-harvested option provided me with an option that best matched my values. This way I get exactly what I want in the foundation, and like many, I have years to enjoy this hobby, I am not looking for instant gratification.
Thank you all for your input.
Thank you all for your input.
