rglewis
New Member
Hey guys. Just wanted to share my recent experience with BRS Pukani dry rock. As Im sure you have read countless times, this rock is DIRTY, leaches phosphates like crazy, and stinks to high heaven as soon as it hits heated saltwater. It is also beautiful rock, which is why I decided to use it in my DSA 165 gallon build.
I read a lot about this rock before choosing it. Reefers have pre soaked in RODI, saltwater, acid baths, dosed Lanthanum Chloride , countless water changes while pre curing etc etc. Sounds like a lot of work, and almost scared me away from using it. Ive never been a fan of waiting months to use new rock, or water changes or messes or acid for that matter. And I simply didnt have the space for it. So I decided to do it the old fashion way. Throw it in and use it to cycle the tank with the lights OFF.
I aquascaped, added dry sand and filled with RODI and mixed the saltwater right in the tank once it was full. As soon as water hit the rock, IT STUNK. I would compare it to a stack of dirty diapers. The water was a murky brown color and you couldnt see in the tank. I installed my BRS carbon reactor, added 500ml of Seachem Matrix carbon and within 24 hours the smell was gone and the water began to clear up. At this point I tested phosphate. My first phosphate reading after 24 hours on the hanna phosphorus checker was .18. Time to add GFO.
I always use ROWAPHOS. Ive tried them all, and in my experience Rowa outperforms and outlasts the others. Per Rowaphos instructions, my tank calls for about 200 grams. This is the part of the Rowaphos intructions that I think A LOT of people miss........
"On new or established tanks where the phosphate levels are high then first measure the level in the water and assume that 2 to 4 times that amount may be bound up in the substrate and adjust the table accordingly by dividing the aqaurium size by 2 to 4 times"
This is a new tank, so per the instructions, I multiplied the dosage by 2 and added approx. 400 grams to my reactor. Was hoping that was enough, it wasnt. Had to add the other 400 grams later. Heres how the next month or so went.
3/28 Tank is full, pumps turned on, added carbon
3/29 Phosphate .18 , 400 g of Rowaphos added in reactor
3/30 Phosphate .16
4/3 Phosphate .16
4/4 Phosphate .18 (added 400 more grams of Rowa to the reactor)
4/5 Phosphate .06
4/6 Phosphate .10 (rowa wasnt tumbling like I wanted, turned up flow)
4/7 Phosphate .05
4/10 Phosphate .08 (just let it run with no testing for 10 days)
4/20 Phosphate .17 (tested water straight from reactor to see if GFO was exhausted, that tested .08, decided to leave it, still removing)
4/25 Tank is now cycled. Lights have been off. Phosphate .17
At this point I want to add fish from my old system. I would like to note that I also ghost fed the system a cube of frozen mysis daily from startup, added to a media bag and placed in the sump in a high flow area. I also dosed BA Microbacter 7 per the intructions from day 1. I wanted the phosphate lower before I added fish and turned the lights on. Ive had success in the past with Kent phosphate sponge so I decided to grab some from my local petco. It was a 1.4 pound container, I added about half to a reactor, packed tight between sponges, with slow flow. I noticed that the instructions said that you can leave it in for up to 2 days. The instructions when i used this product a couple of years ago stated 24 hours. This product can release phosphate back into the water when exhausted, so I decided to stick with 24 hours. Here are the results.
4/26 GFO reactor turned off. Kents phosphate sponge added to seperate reactor
4/27 After about 13 hours, phosphate tested 0! Kent phosphate sponge removed. Changed out GFO, added about 500g back to the reactor.
That was the last time I have seen a phosphate reading other than 0.
It is now 5/9. Lights have been on for close to 2 weeks. 4 fish added to the system. Had a diatom bloom, it is now almost gone, and phosphate still reads zero today. NO algae of any kind other than the light dusting of diatoms and a little film algae on the glass that needs to be wiped away every 3-4 days.
Im sure the acid baths, Lanthanum chloride dosing, water changes and so on, works. I spent about $100 on gfo and phosphate sponge, with little to no extra work. I would imagine that with water changes, cost of salt, acid and lanthanum chloride, you would spend around the same amount, with a lot of work, extra space used, and messes.
I hope this helps. Pukani rock is beautiful. And it doesnt have to be headache. Happy reefing!!
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