Pukani Rock - Cyano & Cloudy Water

saveafish said:
Cost more in long run too. Time its shipped dry rock is about $3 a pound. $150 for 50lbs. Than you wait 3 months spending money on media and test kits. After you spend another 150$ you might have it at the right level just to fight GHA later. so now we are at 300$ with the dry rock going in the tank. Good live rock is running about 6$ now. so 300$ and no GHA hummmm
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Good point Saveafish. I don't see too many people who started with decent live rock spending money on GFO and chasing phosphate. Not to many playing around with crazy stuff like full strenght hydrochloric acid either. Dry rock is costly and way to much work in the long run. The most radical thing I have done with live rock is dump a chunk into some club soda to get a mantis out. The good far outweighs the bad. I think this thread is getting derailed a little bit though? The OP may be in for a long battle. I would try to get that stuff out in stages and replace with proper rock. The only other option would be to wait it out and try to remove the phosphate. The cloudy water may be a bacteria issue. A UV Sterilizer can help with this. This will only affect the bacteria in the water column.
 
A problem I have had with the dry rock myself, is that coralline seems to avoid it. My actual LR has a lot of coralline, my dry rock, however, has barely any. It is very strange. My tank has been up for 3 years. I would think by now it would be covered in coralline. Then again, it could just be me.
 
MarineGirl411 said:
A problem I have had with the dry rock myself, is that coralline seems to avoid it. My actual LR has a lot of coralline, my dry rock, however, has barely any. It is very strange. My tank has been up for 3 years. I would think by now it would be covered in coralline. Then again, it could just be me.
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That is due to it negativity leaching elements just enough things like PO4 and other elements that hinders growth of coralline and other life. There is a reason it is call DEAD ROCK
 
=( That is a big bummer. I have pods, brittle seastars, etc. in the rock. Just no coralline. Hmmm...maybe I will purchase some more live rock in the mail. Any suggestions on that?
 
To bring this back on topic...

Anyone have experience with Pukani rock and if so have you been able to solve the cyano issues?
 
I have Pukani and, I use chemi clean to get rid of my cyano problem. That is why I was talking about an alternative. I have the same problem w/ mine.
 
This is the first system I ever introduced dry rock into. My 180. When I had a smaller system, everything did really great, and I didn't have any dry rock. I don't believe I had one cyano problem ever. I have been struggling with this system for a while. I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and get some more live rock when I downsize. It is a bummer.
 
Here is why the dead rock sucks. It is old filter media. It is no different than getting someones used infected filter pads to use on your tank. Even though the rock is dense it is still pours. It can take years for it to dry out in the center. Live rock if just filter media that catches a lot more crud than most think. Most chemicals get locked up in bacteria deep in the rock. as it dies over hundreds of years it leaches to the surface. We get it put it in water and all the leaching from the center of the rock has to either be locked up again or it has to leach all the way out. When they Aquaculture it or stick it in the ocean they leave it for 3-5 yrs for this to happen. Closed system or cooking it would take 5-10yrs to do it properly. Just as it takes many years to fully dry out in the center it also takes many years for it to get wet in the center too.
Dead rock is a sad market promotion.
Yes it can be good. If you had a store set up to where you can dump hundreds of thousands of snails and crabs in a 600gal tub of 100lbs of rock. It would only take a year or so to cure it fully. But it is unpractical to do so.
 
when I did my upgrade a little over a year ago I made the mistake of starting it with all pukani rock. I did take the time to cure but apparently not long enough. I had the rocks curing for almost two months and all was well for the first 3-4 months in my tank then all of a sudden po4 spiked and it took a 6 month battle for me to finally throw the towel in and raise the white flag. I removed all of the rock and replaced it all live rock. It wasnt cheap but after being in my tank now for 3 months everything looks amazing. The pukani looks great but unless you are going to dip each individual piece in acid and cure for several months.....go a different route.
 
Spotter that is sad. =( I made the mistake of not curing it with a solution of vinegar and water like I did with my Marco rocks. Yes I have paid the price. My Marco rock and Pukani have barely any coralline. My live rock has a lot of coralline. It is so frustrating, I think that hobbyists should be more aware of this. I was naive! I have been in the hobby since 2006 as well and bought that it would eventually seed and not leach po4. I use a calcium reactor as well and things are stable in the alk/ca arena. I am guessing that ceramic rock would be better than even the Pukani because at least it doesn't leach anything into the system. Time to start saving for more real rock I guess.
 
Most "dead' rock should be treated for phosphates PRIOR to introduction to a new reef otherwise you run into cyano and hair algea problems for a looooong time before the enbedded phophate gets spent and coralline starts to grow on it.

I ususally treat with lanthanium chloride or even a bacterial enzyme product prior to introducong to display tank. You can use vodka, zeovit, prodibio. Anything really to export the phosphates.
 
Well this is disaponting to read. I am getting ready to toss my live rock due to a nasty Fulgida worm infestation. I have BRS reefsaver rock on the way after hearing good things about it. Now I'm not sure what I should do. I will have wasted $100 on the dry rock if I now decide to order some LR.
 
Track Rat said:
Well this is disaponting to read. I am getting ready to toss my live rock due to a nasty Fulgida worm infestation. I have BRS reefsaver rock on the way after hearing good things about it. Now I'm not sure what I should do. I will have wasted $100 on the dry rock if I now decide to order some LR.
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Easy enough to find out. After initial wash, pop those rocks into a container, add water and then test for phosphates. If there is plenty, replace water and test again the next day. If there is still plenty, a lathanum chloride treatment will be essential. With those dry mined rocks I doubt you'll be having much problems, the dead, recently sea based rock seems to be the most problematic.

I've also been unlucky with live rock in the past and battling unwanted hitchikers has definately been the biggest and most annoying problem I've ever ran to in the hobby. Personally next time I'm going with dry rock, lathanum chloride and a small batch of live rock that I've personally cured and quaranteed for at least 3, preferably 6 months in lit conditions. If the dry rocks take a bit longer to get covered with coraline.. meh.
 
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