skippyreef
New member
The people who bring them into the US were informed.
My 270 gallon tank / Reefer Lounge
- Thread starter skippyreef
- Start date
invincible569
New member
I've wondered the same. I havent heard or seen any established tanks with this rock. But I do know that Klaus has made his own rock for his big tanks. I wonder if its the same formula and if he has ever had any problems.
skippyreef
New member
From what I understand there is a problem with these overseas as well. When I was purchasing these I was contacted by someone from Sweden who had pulled the wall plates from his own tank because he was having trouble and thought it was the reef ceramics. I did not heed the warning however.
Since the "sand" is bought in such quantity it is hard to say it is a batch problem. My ceramics were received in 2006 and so were Nicks and another person I know. Nick also purchased custom covers for his strainers that were made after the fact. When he added the ceramics to the tank the fisrt time he lost corals and when he added the strainers he lost fish and corals. Every since then his tank was never right.
My tank has had a similiar course and has never been right either. ANother person who is on MR got in on a group order (actually two people) and when they added these to there tank they lost there SPS and LPS. They moved the live rock from the tank (which contained the reef ceramics to a seperate frag tank and all the frags in that tank died as well when the live rock from the main tank was added. They threw out the ceramics and the live rock. Bills ceramics have ben in water for a year and still have that diatom growth on them as of last month.
Since the "sand" is bought in such quantity it is hard to say it is a batch problem. My ceramics were received in 2006 and so were Nicks and another person I know. Nick also purchased custom covers for his strainers that were made after the fact. When he added the ceramics to the tank the fisrt time he lost corals and when he added the strainers he lost fish and corals. Every since then his tank was never right.
My tank has had a similiar course and has never been right either. ANother person who is on MR got in on a group order (actually two people) and when they added these to there tank they lost there SPS and LPS. They moved the live rock from the tank (which contained the reef ceramics to a seperate frag tank and all the frags in that tank died as well when the live rock from the main tank was added. They threw out the ceramics and the live rock. Bills ceramics have ben in water for a year and still have that diatom growth on them as of last month.
yaktop
New member
better solution. live rock has pest and unwanted hitchhikers. check out:
www.marcorocks.com
use some for my existing tank and recently loaded up for my incoming 270.
www.marcorocks.com
use some for my existing tank and recently loaded up for my incoming 270.
skippyreef
New member
those are pretty Nice looking.
asnatlas
New member
If you are looking at base rock you can talk to Capt Jer at reeferrocks.com
skippyreef
New member
This is the replacement rock curing in the tub 
before the reef was redone
before the reef was redone
tankslave
New member
Well, dead rock is always hard to start out with. The one reef ceramic piece I have, I soaked in RO/DI for some time. I used RO/DI to see if anything leached (particularly slicates). After about two weeks soaking, I got a noticeable amount of silicate in the water. Two more water changes and six weeks later, I was satisfied enough to put it in the tank. Never bothered to check for nitrate, since I had mostly LR from my old setup. Nitrate spike usually doesnt last long.
skippyreef
New member
There was live rock in the tank for several months during the diatom bloom. I had the sump (which is 48-30-18) holding it in one of the large chambers. I also had purchased the microvert kit from Inland as well as there other live starter cultures for the tank. Not to mention the fact that I went to several LFS and received sand starters from friends in my area as well as those LFS. The things that I believe may come out of these are not things that an aquarist could readily test for anyway. I did not have any silicate spikes on the salifert kit and had a minimal issue with Phosphates at best.
skippyreef
New member
I sent what I have to the person who owns the retail establishment that distributes them via email. I did not feel it was necessary at that time to go any further. I also have given his contact information to others who have had the issue so they could contact him and discuss their issues with him.
skippyreef
New member
It was the ceramic Rock. I never used foam in the aquarium. The wall plates were removed first. There were days between the complete removal of the product from the aquarium. A lot of that related to needed assistance getting the much larger outcroppings out of the tank. The wall plates were not as difficult to remove on my own. I also had to account for the displaced water that would need to be replaced from removing hte wall plates so it was done in a total of three stages. The right side came out first, the the left and the end wall plates came out, then the ourcroppings came out. Over the time that this was taking place the nitrates dropped. As more of the material was removed the nitrates dropped. When the outcroppings were removed the Nitrates were in the 25ppm range with my salifert kit. After they were removed and the cured live rock was added the nitrates went to 1ppm and then to undetectable.
The corals have begun to grow and the color has improved in them as has polyp extension.
This is an example again of how less can really be more The tank is healthy with the live rock and natural filtration and critters. The fear of leaching is no longer there. The corals and fish are much happier as well. In reality live rock was cheaper too
The corals have begun to grow and the color has improved in them as has polyp extension.
This is an example again of how less can really be more
The tank is healthy with the live rock and natural filtration and critters. The fear of leaching is no longer there. The corals and fish are much happier as well. In reality live rock was cheaper too 
What was it that you think was leaching into the water causing the problem? I ask this as I have two wall plates in my tank as well.
I also have been having problems keeping SPS, but had issues with temp (last summer) and salinity (bad refractometer) I've been afraid to add any new SPS until I'm sure I have found the problem. I love the look of the plates, but if I can be sure that this is the root of my problems, I'll pull them in a second.
Double-J
Premium Member
My tank is 99% reef ceramics. I was having a nitrate issue but recently brought it down to 4-6ppm by adding some LR to the sump and a sulfer dentirator. I'm not sure if the RC are to blame for my nitrates or my overfeeding the crap out of the tank which i tend to do. All the parameters are in check at the moment. When Skippy reef pm'ed me about the problems my nitrates were at 50ppm and I was thinking I was having the same problem. the difference is My corals are growing like crazy. I had a 125 setup before this with 100%LR and with my new setup I would say my corals are growing faster and much more colorful. granted I have different lights and filtration on my new setup.
I waited it out a little to see if I could get the nitrates down which they did come down. I don't have any of the same symptoms as Skippyreef is having with loss of coral and fish. the only two fish I have lost have been 2 Dispars out of 16 which is sort of expected. My Moorish Idol, crosshatches, CBBF 5 tangs, etc... are all doing great and seem to be very happy. The colors of my corals just seem to get better and better and polyp extension is not a problem either.
At this point I'm definitely paranoid about Skippyreef's misfortune and some of the others that have had simular situations. I'm not sure if I got a different batch, although It seems like Scott has had the same stock in his wharehouse for a long time, so I would assume it's the same stuff. Maybe my way oversized skimmer is helping, I'm not sure. Very strange.
Also my diatom bloom went away in the first 3 months and hasn't come back, I did go thru a little cyano which lasted about a month but with the addition of powerheads making my 380g. tank over 25,000GPH flow it helped.
I definitly feel for you skippy and the investment that you made in going with reef ceramics. I hope my tank doesn't end up in the same situation.
Just want to make it clear I'm not backing up reef ceramics at all. If I'm 1 guy out of 5 that has had success (at the moment) That is not very good odds to go on. When my nitrates were high i was very close to pulling them all out but because that was my only problem unlike skippy, so I decided to stick it out.
Click on my little red house and it has some detailed information about my setup and some poor picures of my corals and fish. Still trying to learn how to use my camera
Here is a shot of my tank last month when my nitrates were at ~50
<img src="http://www.shallowreef.com/display_image.php?id=252">
I waited it out a little to see if I could get the nitrates down which they did come down. I don't have any of the same symptoms as Skippyreef is having with loss of coral and fish. the only two fish I have lost have been 2 Dispars out of 16 which is sort of expected. My Moorish Idol, crosshatches, CBBF 5 tangs, etc... are all doing great and seem to be very happy. The colors of my corals just seem to get better and better and polyp extension is not a problem either.
At this point I'm definitely paranoid about Skippyreef's misfortune and some of the others that have had simular situations. I'm not sure if I got a different batch, although It seems like Scott has had the same stock in his wharehouse for a long time, so I would assume it's the same stuff. Maybe my way oversized skimmer is helping, I'm not sure. Very strange.
Also my diatom bloom went away in the first 3 months and hasn't come back, I did go thru a little cyano which lasted about a month but with the addition of powerheads making my 380g. tank over 25,000GPH flow it helped.
I definitly feel for you skippy and the investment that you made in going with reef ceramics. I hope my tank doesn't end up in the same situation.
Just want to make it clear I'm not backing up reef ceramics at all. If I'm 1 guy out of 5 that has had success (at the moment) That is not very good odds to go on. When my nitrates were high i was very close to pulling them all out but because that was my only problem unlike skippy, so I decided to stick it out.
Click on my little red house and it has some detailed information about my setup and some poor picures of my corals and fish. Still trying to learn how to use my camera
Here is a shot of my tank last month when my nitrates were at ~50
<img src="http://www.shallowreef.com/display_image.php?id=252">
Double-J
Premium Member
I do have like a 1/2" gap for the fact that my overflow teeth are adjustable so the screw sticks out a little, I'm not to worried about things settling back there if anything its a safe haven for pods etc...
I have 4 tunze 6100's on the bottom of the tank going clockwise and counterclockwise every 5 minutes so nothing settle on the bottom except maybe behing the wall plates a little.
I have 4 tunze 6100's on the bottom of the tank going clockwise and counterclockwise every 5 minutes so nothing settle on the bottom except maybe behing the wall plates a little.
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