livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I imagine a majority of the rock they sell isn't actually straight out of the ocean but they probably have at least some that is that they have set apart
Bio diversity
- Thread starter Isiah1820
- Start date
- Tagged users None
yep, that is the one pest I have removed in several shipments from KP - and yes, he is in his own tank now - that was the simple trap used to catch him
ReefBum Podcast has a recent hour long conversation with Philipp from KP (2 weeks back?) and there is an enlightening discussion on how the rock is placed, monitored, collected and shipped - makes one wonder how they can make money at this, but glad they do
ReefGeezer
Valuable Member
I started my current tank with dry rock and seeded it with some live rock. It took about two years to mature. I'd never start another tank with dry rock. I see a lot of post about problems I like the ones I battled. I blame them directly on the vacuum created when we start up a tank with dry rock. Nature just hates that vacuum.
jabberwock
2500 Club Member
No worries, just trying to keep you out of trouble!
I got a pound of live rock from one LFS, and a pound from another, and some manufactured rock media to start up a tank, and then added 20 pounds of real ocean rock after it the tank was cycled. You can get a little bit of diversity from a couple different sources, but nothing like from the ocean.
jabberwock
2500 Club Member
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
Staff member
Super Moderator
Excellence Award
Expert Contributor
Article Contributor
R2R Research
My Tank Thread
My trio of spawning ocellaris clowns in my gigantea anemone was my favorite thing in my reef tank. 
jabberwock
2500 Club Member
I have found them to mean aggressive killers in the smaller tanks that I operate. Especially when they reach breeding size.
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
Staff member
Super Moderator
Excellence Award
Expert Contributor
Article Contributor
R2R Research
My Tank Thread
Some species are much more aggressive than others. My ocellaris clowns bred just inches from another breeding pair of pink skunks without noticeable issues.
We were out attempting to harvest yesterday. Visibility was extremely bad and combined with a strong current, it was not a productive day. So, we motor back to the boat ramp with 200lbs of rubble and nano premium. There happened to be a Law Enforcement training session happening at the park, so of course, they asked what was in the boat. Live Rock, we said. Well now, we have to see what credentials you have to harvest live rock. Madelyn provided a folder of licenses and certificates to the officer, who replied, out of all the people he has caught with live rock, only 1 other person in 10 years has ever had the correct credentials to harvest live rock. It was the founder of TBS. LOL.
Don't collect Florida live rock, it is illegal.
In regards diversity of microorganisms, all I can say is, take a scoop of sand and a life covered rock from miles out in the ocean and it is going to be full of living goodies, more beneficial for a marine aquarium than ingredients found in a bottle.
"Your rock and sand, or rather the system set-up with it, had the greatest bacteriological biodiversity as well as those populations occurring in what were considered the ideal proportions." - a TBS customer
Don't collect Florida live rock, it is illegal.
In regards diversity of microorganisms, all I can say is, take a scoop of sand and a life covered rock from miles out in the ocean and it is going to be full of living goodies, more beneficial for a marine aquarium than ingredients found in a bottle.
"Your rock and sand, or rather the system set-up with it, had the greatest bacteriological biodiversity as well as those populations occurring in what were considered the ideal proportions." - a TBS customer
Last edited:
jabberwock
2500 Club Member
Absolutely agree, milage may vary. It is the nature of things.
djf91
Valuable Member
Going through the same thing right now in my 500 gal. Dry rock started Display (400 pounds of dry rock + 75 pounds of live rock from a previous tank). I’m at about 16 months right now. I already beat GHA/cyano/Lyngbya once and was free of it for 3 months but then it came back. I think because I let my maintenance slip just a slight bit. It seems while maturing dry rock, even a small irregularity in the system can cause a die off of corraline/bacteria, and open the door for nuisance occupiers.
Piscans
Active Member
seed the tank with pods & get some live rock (5-10 lbs) there will be an ugly phase, but it looks like your tank is managing it well. if the corals arent overgrown, you're fine. the gulf rock is very good cause it has no bobbit worms, mantis shrimp, or corallivorus stuff cause there arent very many true stony corals. more benefical bacteria is not going to help you IMO. best way to compete w/ algae is increasing the micro-biomass of your tank (copepods, worms, amphipods, etc.) it isnt necesserily biodiversity but it is biomass.So my tank is about 4-5 months old and doing well. Got some GHA issues and maybe Dinos, I’ve been battling it and doing all the right things like manually removing, water changes every week, less feeding, and so on. And it’s been helping and keeping it at bay for sure. But was told to try adding more Beneficial bacteria, so I know about dr times and all the reefers favorites but I got what’s in the photos because they are readily available to me. My question is any one have experience with the nite out product? I’ve seen enough about bio spira to trust it. And last question should I just add the whole bottle? I know I can’t OD on beneficial bacteria.
Isiah1820
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2020
- Messages
- 352
- Reaction score
- 109
Yea I’m doing well against the nuisance algae keeping it at bay. Nothing has grown back since my last water change, which is a change lol. I’ve noticed the corraline has slowed down after I had it popping up everywhere. 1 particular rock it cover a lot. This might be why the rock it didn’t take hold as much suffers from the most GHA.
