Hi everybody. I am in the process of putting together a 90 gallon tank, and have purchased 100 lbs of Marco rock due to arrive today. I am debating whether or not I want to add live rock to DT, sump/fuge, or at all when I finally get it going. Waiting on a lifereef Berlin system with refugium not due until August, so I have some time still to create my aquascape. If you were to start from scratch with another tank, would you rather do all live rock, dry live rock, DIY rock, combo of dry and live? Why? The more I read this forum, the more I realize I don't know, just trying to figure out what is best for the longevity of my little slice of the ocean. Thanks!
If you were to do it over again...
- Thread starter JimON
- Start date
ReefsandGeeks
New member
If I had the cash, I'd do all live rock, probably from tampa bay. Actual live rock just seems to have the best micro life in it, and can be just as fun to watch as the fish IMO. This is a pricy way to go, though. If cost is to be considered, I'd probably do 50% TB live rock for half, and DIY or possibly dry for the other half. I'd also put the work into drilling and gluing the rock together in a structure that is open but stable, possibly with branch rock. This gives you so many viewing angles, and lots of water flow, as well as plenty of places to put coral and room for it all to grow.
bif24701
New member
Pukani all Pukani, because it is the best rock there is.
Lots of holes, the most porous, looks real (because it is real ocean rock), it's just the best.
When you get the Pukani from BRS it's very light weight, very surprisingly so. When you add it to water it bubbles for hours soaking up water through its deep pore structure, proof of its porosity. Then when you take it out of the water it weight a mega ton! The rock soaks up water deep into the rock and that means it will filter better because of a much higher surface area.
So what would I change? Nothing, my display is 100% Pukani, LOL. I like the bigger rocks and BRS came through and hooked me up with five large rocks that make up the majority of the 100+ pounds in my display. These large rocks have a very cool network of holes and caves where my all my Live stocks makes their homes, expect my Fat fish. Shrimp, large Serpent stars, fish, all kinds of stiff lives in the rock. It's cool to see that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reeferz412
Coral Hoarder
Dry live rock that I would dip in muriatic and let sit outside as my sump is being built. I would just seed it with a cured piece of LR from a reputable source once you get the tank going or the dead shrimp method. I wouldn't chance it with all live rock, since the likelihood of introducing something is pretty high. Just my opinion, I am sure people use all live, fully cured, and they were good to go, but that is usually not the case.
I feel that you should also think about accessibility when doing maintenance on your tank. If you were to pull a piece of hardware to clean, would it be difficult to pull out the sump and remove for cleaning? I service a lot of tanks and HATE the way the equipment sits in the cabinets. You need to be a contortionist to pull out the skimmer and in some cases, you can't pull them out! How is that even possible? So I would definitely think of equipment placement and ease of access once that space starts getting busy with chords, reactors, dosers, controllers, etc. Best of luck on your build!
I feel that you should also think about accessibility when doing maintenance on your tank. If you were to pull a piece of hardware to clean, would it be difficult to pull out the sump and remove for cleaning? I service a lot of tanks and HATE the way the equipment sits in the cabinets. You need to be a contortionist to pull out the skimmer and in some cases, you can't pull them out! How is that even possible? So I would definitely think of equipment placement and ease of access once that space starts getting busy with chords, reactors, dosers, controllers, etc. Best of luck on your build!
Hi devastator007. Thanks for the reply. My first salt tank that I took down 10 years ago was a 24 gallon cube, and I did use all live rock to start it. The stuff was really cool, and provided a ton of stuff that I would never have had I gone all dry/diy. The more I read, though, I think I was lucky in that I didn't get any undesireables. I really don't want that headache, and am shooting for as low maintenance as possible on this setup. That said, if I use LR in the sump, can there be anything that I wouldn't mind in the sump from LR that would be harmful to the DT, and could travel there through the return? I do want to seed it, but am fearful that I get some bad with the good...
Hi bif24701. Thanks for the reply. Pukani, eh? Well, the ship has sailed on this one for the bulk of it, as I ordered 100 lbs from Marco of the Key Largo. I have the time to make an aquascape and see if I need to add more rock. If I do, I will definitely look into the Pukani! Very nice tank, and I like how you have it set up!Pukani all Pukani, because it is the best rock there is.
Lots of holes, the most porous, looks real (because it is real ocean rock), it's just the best.
When you get the Pukani from BRS it's very light weight, very surprisingly so. When you add it to water it bubbles for hours soaking up water through its deep pore structure, proof of its porosity. Then when you take it out of the water it weight a mega ton! The rock soaks up water deep into the rock and that means it will filter better because of a much higher surface area.
So what would I change? Nothing, my display is 100% Pukani, LOL. I like the bigger rocks and BRS came through and hooked me up with five large rocks that make up the majority of the 100+ pounds in my display. These large rocks have a very cool network of holes and caves where my all my Live stocks makes their homes, expect my Fat fish. Shrimp, large Serpent stars, fish, all kinds of stiff lives in the rock. It's cool to see that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Reeferz412. Thanks for the reply, and the well wishes! A while back I watched a BRS tv episode about how best to cure dry rock, and they did plain salt water, RO with acid, and RO with bleach. Surprising to me that the bleach actually cured it quicker than the acid! I do plan on adding one or the other to the mix for the first week or so, then switch to all salt water for the remainder. Right now I am leaning towards bleach, simply for disposal purposes after the fact. What say you regarding my question of LR in the sump, and undesirables making their way to the DT? Have you seen it happen? As I said above, I really liked having the LR, and would be fine watching the good stuff in the sump as long as the bad stuff can't get to DT.
As for the room underneath the tank inside the stand, yep, point well taken. Only so much you can do with a 4'x18" stand. It is tall, though, and will provide enough room to remove the skimmer when needed. I am also having Jeff from Lifereef build an ATO for me that will take up the last few inches of floorspace inside the stand, so room is at a premium for sure! I am thinking that for electrical, I will have the main plugins actually outside the stand on GFIC protected strips that I can pull out easily to work with, one on each side of the stand. I will have enough room above the sump/fuge on the sides and back of stand to mount the diferent controllers. Gonna be tight, but will get it done!
Thanks again!
daninflipflops
New member
are you making a stand? if so, take a lot of time thinking about the height. personally i like a tall stand, i think it looks better and you dont have to bend over as much. of course it makes working in the tank more difficult.
Hi Dan. Nope. I bought the tank, stand, and canopy. I think it is a 3' tall stand.
bif24701
New member
I think bleach is by far the best way to go if you plane to cure separately. I never do lol, I just ask for trouble. In fact all the greenish rock you see in my tank is about 3 months old, just some film algae, it will get eaten and be gone soon. I have several strong layers of export as well as larger frequent water changes. I put all the new rock into my 100 gallon sump for 6 weeks to "cure" then it went into the display. Started with about 75 pounds and put another 50 with it.
Pukani is sold and shipped very dry, like all dry rock but it is so porous that for the weight is larger in diameter than other more dense rock. My big rocks where no trouble to move when dry but after sitting in salt water for 6 weeks they nearly killed my back trying to reach them over the glass and gently place in the tank.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
bif24701
New member
Also fit larger skimmer under it, keeps little tiny greasy hands off the glass if you have those things lol.https://youtu.be/hjHLRVN2pe0
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I went with 100% pukani too and love it. I miss live rock but undoubtedly I got the best scape from pukani.Pukani all Pukani, because it is the best rock there is.
Lots of holes, the most porous, looks real (because it is real ocean rock), it's just the best.
When you get the Pukani from BRS it's very light weight, very surprisingly so. When you add it to water it bubbles for hours soaking up water through its deep pore structure, proof of its porosity. Then when you take it out of the water it weight a mega ton! The rock soaks up water deep into the rock and that means it will filter better because of a much higher surface area.
So what would I change? Nothing, my display is 100% Pukani, LOL. I like the bigger rocks and BRS came through and hooked me up with five large rocks that make up the majority of the 100+ pounds in my display. These large rocks have a very cool network of holes and caves where my all my Live stocks makes their homes, expect my Fat fish. Shrimp, large Serpent stars, fish, all kinds of stiff lives in the rock. It's cool to see that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
Very nice, sir. Nope, little tiny greasy hands have grown into big hands that live 400 and 1000 miles away from me. Only thing I have to worry about is Hooch getting his snotty nose all over it!:spin3:
bif24701
New member
Dude I added a single actual Live Rock from a LFS that came from Florida with all kinds of cool stuff on it. Then 6 months later I had aiptasia and bryopsis, could have come from any place. I would do it again though, I think we need the biodiversity that seeding the tank gives you. Placing it in a sump is a good way to avoid that, I did not.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Potatohead
New member
I'd probably still do dry rock but I would cure it in darkness for probably three or four months. The first year or so of starting a dry rock tank without any kind of curing is a pain unless you only want to keep fish and/or easy corals.
Ya I believe it! Aiptasia drove me nuts in a cube, don't want it in this one for sure!!! Am I asking for trouble, though? You know how Murphy is...
bif24701
New member
I got some of those Aiptasia eating nudis and they cured me, haven't seen a single one in 4 months. Took 4-5 months though for them to reach the critical mass to eat them all. I had hundreds, maybe thousands.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
