Dry Rocks VS. Live Rock

[cham]

I'm not sure that I agree the prices are similar. Down here LR goes for $6 to $7 a lb where dry can be had for under $2

 

[rinconmike]

For the BRS Pukani, I put around 50 pounds in a rubbermaid container, saltwater, powerhead, and heater. There was an ammonia spike and went down to zero at around 3 weeks. I changed the water once.

At around 6 weeks, I put around 10 pounds in my tank.

Now I assumed this rock us cured because it went through as cycle. I saw no negative affect in my tank (been in there around 10 days now).

does this rock need to be "seeded"?

My system has a wet/dry sump with bioballs in it and I really got the rock for decoration, but figured it would do some biological work too.

System has been up for around 15 months.

thanks,

Mike

 

[jlylec]

Depends on the rock. For example, BRS Reef Saver dry rock is mined and sent to you. Hose it off on the back porch and drop it in, it's inert rock.

This isn't exactly true. I just finished cooking and 'scaping 100lbs of this rock. I was going to just rinse it and put it right in the tank but a guy from BRS on their forums recommended cooking it for a couple weeks anyway. I did 4. The first week or so the water got NASTY so it definitely wasn't inert! I did complete FSW change twice during the cook. By the end the water didn't smell at all.

Another benefit to cooking is if you plan on drilling and pegging the rock. It's much easier to do when it's saturated. It just seems softer.

I know you asked for pics of rock after 6mos, but I can't help you there. Here's 6wks.

 

[MattinIdaho]

I went with dry because I wanted Pukani and for my first tank I did not want to have to deal with unwanted pests anymore than I had to. I have all the time in the world but I didn't want a big battle on my hands when I am going through the learning curve.

 

[D-Nak]

When I started my 120 gallon reef, I bought Pukani rock from BRS. It was generally clean overall, but did have a few crab carcasses. I started with 50 lbs and let it sit in the tank with saltwater, heater, and powerhead. About a month in, I tested the water parameters and all seemed fine, so I added a couple of clean pieces of live rock. As I added livestock the tank went though a small mini-cycle (had an algae outbreak for a few days) but now, 5 months in, everything is fine.

I've used 100% live rock in the past, but will go with the dead/live rock combo again if I were to set up another tank. In my area, it's a definite cost (money-saving) issue. If you take advantage of BRS' promotions such as free shipping over $175, you can actually save quite a bit of money.

 

[gooberz]

This isn't exactly true. I just finished cooking and 'scaping 100lbs of this rock. I was going to just rinse it and put it right in the tank but a guy from BRS on their forums recommended cooking it for a couple weeks anyway. I did 4. The first week or so the water got NASTY so it definitely wasn't inert! I did complete FSW change twice during the cook. By the end the water didn't smell at all.

Another benefit to cooking is if you plan on drilling and pegging the rock. It's much easier to do when it's saturated. It just seems softer.

I know you asked for pics of rock after 6mos, but I can't help you there. Here's 6wks.

Nice setup, can't wait to see how the coraline growth is on dry rock opposed from LR. Keep us posted on when you start to see changes.

Henry

 

[hypnoj]

After having 2 tanks started with LR and the hitch hikers that came with it, I decided to go with dry rock. Mine was not BRS stuff. I soaked it in bleach water for 2 weeks, with a power head. Rinsed it for 2 weeks with a power head, and then seeded it with MB7 over another 4 weeks. I watched it cycle over that time period and I'm very happy with the results. Fish are in and happy. 4 months strong so far.

 

[C0rp]

6 month Marco rock

 

[jlylec]

6 month Marco rock

Very nice!

 

[schoch79]

I agree with so many of the comments advocating dry rock. However like many have said there is so much more to "live" rock than just the bacteria. Not to mention all those little critters that you can get on live rock play an important part in the aquarium as well. While live rock can come with many pest hitch hikers, if you are willing to work them out of your system imo live is the way to go. Not sure if you ever saw it but look at some of the tampa bay saltwater rock for example. It is rock mined from land and placed in the ocean to seed it with all the stuff out there. If you go to the tbs vendor forum here on reefcentral you can see lots of posts and pictures of the rock and what I'm talking about.

 

[gooberz]

^ I completly agree with schoch79. LR is packed with a bunch of good things and i have so far, never come across any bad critters in my rock but i am very selective on where i buy my rocks from!

Cheers,
Henry

 

[pumarjr]

i have 50 lbs of marco rock in my artisan tank, it's sadly still pretty white and sad looking. maybe i need to add a few pieces of cured live rock to seed properly.