Newbie question

[OutsideBrian]

Everyone likes live rock but says to use dry rock to keep from having unwanted criters.

In an attempt to have the best of both world would it be viable to put dry rock in my Dt and live in my sump?
Looking at starting my cycle in the next couple weeks.

 

[shesacharmer]

I don't see why not. It's not a guarantee of a pest free DT but it's a pretty good deterrent.

 

[reepher315]

I used LR to seed my tank. I had one or two aiptasia pop up. I think its a good learning process to deal with the pests honestly. But if an aiptasia releases spores they will get in your DT even from the sump.

 

[Fallling]

As far as using it for bacteria purposes, you can put it in the sump. To help seed the dry rock with coralline and other life, putting it in the sump probably isn't going to help much. Even keeping it in the sump for several weeks before the DT doesn't guarantee unwanted hitchhikers. I personally think the life part of live rock is part of the fun... of course there's a chance for unwanted hitchhikers, but for me, the good outweighs the bad (I did a 50/50 live rock and dry rock). Also, keep in mind aptasia and other nuisances can come in on things like frags as well.