Breaking up live dry rock

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So I have got 50 lbs of dry rock that I ordered from Bulk Reef Supply and I and currently in the process of curing them. I did a check today and my ammonia is reading at 0 so I am probably not far from getting them ready to go into display tank. However they are in really big chunks... so my question is what is the best way to break them up into smaller pieces so that they are easier to aquascape with? I have a general idea of what I want with my layout and had it close with the bigger size rocks. I just believe it will be easier to get it perfect by working with smaller chunks. Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Reef man 89]

I took a chisel to my pukani rock and broke up easy and was able to design my own rocks in a way.

 

[Reef man 89]

What kind of rock is it?

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

It's just the reef ready rock that BRS provides. With this being my first reef tanks I went with the safest route to keep away from all the hitchhikers and whatnot.

 

[Mikedawg]

Small hammer, masonry chisel and especially channel locks for fine tuning are what I use. And, I always buy extra 'cause rock rarely breaks exactly how I want it.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Small hammer, masonry chisel and especially channel locks for fine tuning are what I use. And, I always buy extra 'cause rock rarely breaks exactly how I want it.

Yea, I was looking the other day was thinking the exact same thing. LoL, probably wouldn't have hurt me to have about 5 or 10 more lbs.

 

[ciscomania]

I also bought pukani from brs and didn't really like big chunks so I broke it up to about baseball and golf ball size pieces and epoxied them together. In the end, I think I used around 50 pieces to aquascape my tank. I think the biggest benefit was there are so many nooks and crannies that fishes can swim and hide.

 

[Vahanyos]

Bang bang bang with a hammer lol

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

How do you guys think the dry rocks would react if I put live rocks in there that came straight out of the ocean? I've got some family in Japan that can pull me some straight out the water and send to me..

 

[Vahanyos]

You're risking introducing some pests or creatures already living in the rock to your tank - that is all really...

And since it's coming from the ocean... you don't know what kind of creatures are in it lol

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

You're risking introducing some pests or creatures already living in the rock to your tank - that is all really...

And since it's coming from the ocean... you don't know what kind of creatures are in it lol

Well it would definitely be going through a extended curing process before it got anywhere near my other rocks, lol. I was just thinking it would be a cool idea to have some actual real live rock from over there. I really don't know if it is worth the risk honestly.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

How do you guys think the dry rocks would react if I put live rocks in there that came straight out of the ocean? I've got some family in Japan that can pull me some straight out the water and send to me..

itll have a lot of die off, you'll want to qt it in a bucket or bin. you can kill stuff while its in there. fwe interceptor etc etc and let the nutrients from the die off lower. Kinda how you treat wild live rock so there's no hitchikers. prob be ready in a week or two fully cycled.

Id drop it in its own tank and wait to see what comes out. It wont live long as Japan is temperate and not tropical.