SPS and Gulf rock

[mmotown]

Guys I want to seed my dry rock in my 150 gal. I started complety over since the leak in my tank. Because I don't want any issues with AFEW or aptasia or anything, I went with all dry rock from BRS and Marco. What I wanted to know is if I was to buy some live rock from Tampa Bay... would I risk introducing any unwanted pest other than a mantis shrimp or crab(s)? Don't want to have SPS problems later. I hope I posted in the correct forum.
THanks for the replies

 

[GSMguy]

Yes the TB rock will introduce lots of hitchhikers. Algae mostly.

Seed the live rock with some live sand from a friends tank.

 

[chrishayes]

imo please do yourself a favor and give that rock an acid bath. IT is loaded with phosphate right off the bat. Then dont use gulf rock to seed unless you can get a piece from someone else. Dont get it right off the boat. Ime that stuff is loaded with pest algaes and little in the way of beneficial critters. Ive never gotten a piece that didnt sprout at the least, halimeda and hair algae plus this was after a month in the tank with no signs of it all that time, then bamn, algae bloom. I will say, its coraline is the most beautiful though.

If I were you I would go to the store and find a barren looking piece at the bottom of the bin, scrubb it off then put it in a container of water with a strong light on it and see what comes out of it over a week or two. If nothing bad, then use it to seed.

Of course im paranoid beyond belief so take this for what it is. FYI, if you get live rock, period, you risk adding pests. Why not just use bacteria and the small amount of coraline on frag plugs for seeding?

 

[mmotown]

imo please do yourself a favor and give that rock an acid bath. IT is loaded with phosphate right off the bat. Then dont use gulf rock to seed unless you can get a piece from someone else. Dont get it right off the boat. Ime that stuff is loaded with pest algaes and little in the way of beneficial critters. Ive never gotten a piece that didnt sprout at the least, halimeda and hair algae plus this was after a month in the tank with no signs of it all that time, then bamn, algae bloom. I will say, its coraline is the most beautiful though.

If I were you I would go to the store and find a barren looking piece at the bottom of the bin, scrubb it off then put it in a container of water with a strong light on it and see what comes out of it over a week or two. If nothing bad, then use it to seed.

Of course im paranoid beyond belief so take this for what it is. FYI, if you get live rock, period, you risk adding pests. Why not just use bacteria and the small amount of coraline on frag plugs for seeding?

Why not just use bacteria and the small amount of coraline on frag plugs for seeding?

Bacteria from what? Do you mean live sand or something? Also if I didn't mention this, my tank is in the first week of cycling. I don't mind seeding my tank this way but I have always used live rock.

 

[chrishayes]

I mean, bacteria in a bottle. MB7 from brightwell, zeostart from kz or any of the others available. These provide all the beneficial bacteria you need and like I said if there is something that you want introduced you can do so very selectively with carefully inspected livestock. This is the way of the present and probably future of reefkeeping. Its so hard to keep pests from the tank, the only way is using dead materials that have been purged of phosphate and nitrate then using specific products for good bacteria and carefully selected and quaruntined livestock. It sound nuts but once youve gone through continued outbreaks of algaes and pests, it sounds more and more appealing. Ask me how I know!

 

[mmotown]

I mean, bacteria in a bottle. MB7 from brightwell, zeostart from kz or any of the others available. These provide all the beneficial bacteria you need and like I said if there is something that you want introduced you can do so very selectively with carefully inspected livestock. This is the way of the present and probably future of reefkeeping. Its so hard to keep pests from the tank, the only way is using dead materials that have been purged of phosphate and nitrate then using specific products for good bacteria and carefully selected and quaruntined livestock. It sound nuts but once youve gone through continued outbreaks of algaes and pests, it sounds more and more appealing. Ask me how I know!

Chirs and everyone else thatnks for your input. I have been in the hobby since 2004. After I had a leak and tore down my tank and started completly over, I started fresh. I use to cycle with live rock etc and I didn't know you could seed with a product. I will get the Brightwell MB7. I guess bacteria is all the same or is there a product you choose over another?

 

[dixiedog]

I'm a dry-rock fan too.

BTW, aside from the initial cycle, I've seen someplace (premium aquatics maybe?) where they sell these little plastic "cards", covered in coralline, to seed the tank with. Something I might do next time.

 

[mmotown]

I'm a dry-rock fan too.

BTW, aside from the initial cycle, I've seen someplace (premium aquatics maybe?) where they sell these little plastic "cards", covered in coralline, to seed the tank with. Something I might do next time.

Perfect! I will look into it