"Real Reef" rock vs. Fiji Live Rock

[attaboy]

I've had Pukani rock in my reef for 9 months now and am ready to throw in the towel. Phosphate management is just more difficult than it needs to be.

Anyone have experience with the real reef rock (artificial)? Is it really just as good as live rock?

If so I'm in as I'm hoping to avoid the mantis shrimp for the sake of my tiny gobies.

 

[dkeller_nc]

In a word, and in my opinion, categorically "no". It's not nearly porous enough, it's horridly artificially colored, and I strongly suspect that it's made with crushed aragonite/calcite and hydraulic cement. Hydraulic cement contains a large amount of aluminium silicate. I definitely don't want that in my tank.

But - there's no reason that you should be battling high phosphates this far into it. Yes, there may be an initial spike, but if you're running high capacity GFO, are reasonably careful about feeding, and aren't running a low-grade carbon (that will leach a ton of phosphates), you should be good by now.

Are you carbon dosing (i.e., adding vinegar/vodka)?

 

[jalisco]

How did this end here? Anyone?