Live Sand or Live rock
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homer1475
New member
If I ever setup another tank it will be with properly cured dry pukani. IMO the absolute best rock for filtration there is.
Skip the live sand, yes it's wet, but how long has it been sitting on the shelve? How long did it sit in an unheated warehouse and probably froze/got heated to well over 80 degrees killing anything that may have been live. IMO live sand is a gimick so they can charge more for it.
Besides unless you want a dust storm in your tank, you need to rinse sand in plain water, and that will kill anything living in the "live sand".
Skip the live sand, yes it's wet, but how long has it been sitting on the shelve? How long did it sit in an unheated warehouse and probably froze/got heated to well over 80 degrees killing anything that may have been live. IMO live sand is a gimick so they can charge more for it.
Besides unless you want a dust storm in your tank, you need to rinse sand in plain water, and that will kill anything living in the "live sand".
mcgyvr
New member
Use dry sand and you can use live rock if you want..
If that live rock is locally sourced you can have little to no cycle and be adding fish/corals in no time..
If you get your live rock shipped from most places then you will likely have a cycle due to the die off from shipping..
"live" does NOT mean it comes with worms or anything as "live" is only about it being colonized with beneficial bacteria.. But there is usually a good chance there is more than just bacteria on it..
But if you go "Dry rock" and plan on corals you will usually get worms/pods,etc.. that come in on the corals..
If that live rock is locally sourced you can have little to no cycle and be adding fish/corals in no time..
If you get your live rock shipped from most places then you will likely have a cycle due to the die off from shipping..
"live" does NOT mean it comes with worms or anything as "live" is only about it being colonized with beneficial bacteria.. But there is usually a good chance there is more than just bacteria on it..
But if you go "Dry rock" and plan on corals you will usually get worms/pods,etc.. that come in on the corals..
ReefMaster48
New member
IMO,
Live rock or even sand is not worth the risk. You can never know what exactly is on it, visible or not. Dry rock and sand ensures that there is NO bad (or even good, yes) items that will enter your tank through the rock or sand. Check out BRS.com for dry rock, best place IMO. You get a lot of beneficial bacteria from live rock, but it is not worth it IMO and experience. An extra week or two of waiting for a complete cycle is much MUCH better then a pest algae, or other unwanted hitchhiker. :thumbsup:
Live rock or even sand is not worth the risk. You can never know what exactly is on it, visible or not. Dry rock and sand ensures that there is NO bad (or even good, yes) items that will enter your tank through the rock or sand. Check out BRS.com for dry rock, best place IMO. You get a lot of beneficial bacteria from live rock, but it is not worth it IMO and experience. An extra week or two of waiting for a complete cycle is much MUCH better then a pest algae, or other unwanted hitchhiker. :thumbsup:
lapin
Member
Since you are in Florence, driving down to the coast to pick up some live rocks and a bucket or 2 of sand is prob not in the cards. Next option is to buy live rock and sand. As stated above once you rinse the sand a few times you will get rid of most of the live stuff. Not a good choice. You can buy live rock. Comes with good stuff and bad stuff. If you are new to this, you might not want to deal with bad stuff. It takes a lot of fun out of the hobby at first. A better option might be to get good porus rock thats dry and start your own bacteria cycling. Local reefers or your LFS will be happy to give you a cup of live sand and a piece of live rock to add to your dry stuff to start the growth cycle. It is possible to buy tank starter bacteria, comes in a bottle. Any of these methods will work. Some faster than others. Just keep in mind reef keeping is a long term project. No hurry, No worry. Is one way better than another?
mcgyvr
New member
A word of caution.. Doing that may likely be illegal in most beaches/areas and may include hefty fines....
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
+1 if you were to do this LEGALLY some way you would want to go a few miles out and get rock, you don't want the rock that has been near the shore
sde1500
Active member
I get most people wanting to control exactly what goes in tanks, so evil creatures are less likely to make it into our reefs, but I feel its way overblown. This will totally be anecdotal, but how many people do you see starting with dry rock that later have a ton of algae issues? Or how many cure/treat their rocks for months to try and avoid these issues. Then compare to the people that buy high quality live rock, and don't have these issues. Are a couple crabs that you can set up traps for really worse than nutrient and algae issues for months to years?
mcgyvr
New member
I agree fully...
But I also believe that with most rock paying the extra just for some "bacteria" thats going to come anyways is kind of goofy..
Now some live rock is "live" for far more reasons than just the bacteria on it..
I've been meaning to order some TBS live rock just for the diversity and fun "discoveries" it can bring..
I'd love to get a pygmy octopus,etc...
sde1500
Active member
Yea, that was why I hedged my statement with "high quality" LR. Wouldn't buy anything that wasn't shipped in water, preferably very quickly. I regret not going with TBS for my current tank, definitely will for any upgrade. Finding an octopus would be awesome "oh no, now I need to set up another tank for this guy" haha
mcgyvr
New member
In general there seems to be a decent chunk of users who post phosphate related issues with Pukani rock... and they don't properly cure/leach it out prior to being used in the tank thus the elevated phosphate levels can fuel algae..
Its not a good reason to avoid dry rock in general...
There are far more users who don't experience that with Pukani and all other dry rock types..
lapin
Member
I agree. This time around im going with Marco Rock since I need quite a bit. Pressure wash and a quick acid bath. Then while soaking I can test for phosphate. If thats a prob I can use a bit of lanthanum chloride to help coax it out. We shall see how that goes.
mcgyvr
New member
Again the "problems" with dry rock are really because of one issue and if anything else related to dry rock is "user error" and you can have bound phosphate issues in live rock too so its really not related to dry rock at all..
In general... I believe that most issues in this hobby are caused by "user error" typically due to lack of knowledge/understanding.. Few people take the time to learn properly before diving in and that applies to many things in life..
But it sure is easier to just blame the product or equipment or rocks than your own laziness or lack of understanding,etc....
CRreef
New member
i did get dry rock when i start my tank, 1/2 dry 1/2 live, to be honest the dry rock after 6 months still having a lot of brow algae and white spots, i haven't see any good things from the dry rock, is cheaper but it take long time to cycle the tank. Ill say get some live rock, try craigslist or letgo, i got 120lbs of live rock for only $70, i find it on craigslist. i haven't see any bad creatures from the live rock.
Also i start with live sand, it had a little worms at the beginning but i have a purple dottyback and that guy is eating those worms, now i dont see any worm around.
Also i start with live sand, it had a little worms at the beginning but i have a purple dottyback and that guy is eating those worms, now i dont see any worm around.
Being blunt and having fun lol
