Dry rock vs. Live rock, which do you prefer?

[Crabs McJones]

So this past weekend at RAP, I picked up some new rock from Real Reef Rock for my reboot. It looks amazing and has great color right out of the box. The part I like best is that after its made its ran in freshwater for 12 weeks and then moved into a clean saltwater bin for 12 to 16 weeks. Opening up the box the rocks were all still slightly damp.
I really like that there are no hitchikers, and it still looks and feels like real live rock. Digitate hydroids, and others were getting out of control (not the reason for the reboot though)
But what are your preferences? Real live rock, or man made live rock?

 

[vetteguy53081]

After seeing this also at RAP and testimony from others including Crabs, I am acquiring 3 huge pieces todat from the show and will be incorporating more into my tanks. The stuff looks not only real but the displays I saw made the tanks appear seeded and established and with coraline.
As stated- no leaching, hitchhikers and dealing with pure white rock that turns brown. The couple of pieces I do have, diatoms blow right off the rock easily

 

[andrewkw]

Personally I would only use live rock. I would add some dry rock if need be, but I'll always run my tanks with mostly live. Of course if I get a huge tank in the years to come it may be difficult to get good quality live rock, but part of the reason I run several systems is to ensure I have lots of live rock for future use.

I got hyroids on some rock 10+ years ago and they are still there, but still haven't spread out of control. Eventually I'll epoxy over them

 

[fishface NJ]

Man made for the reasons you listed and no leaching bad stuff.

 

[Auquanut]

In the past, I've used live rock, but leaning toward man made for my next build. I checked out the Real Reef Rock website, and that stuff is pretty cool. Kind of pricey though.

 

[Retro Reefer]

My current build uses KP aquatics aquacultured rock from they Key’s and it’s incredible! I do like the real reef brand rock and have set up two tanks with it however IMO nothing beats real ocean rock and I will never set up another tank without it.

real reef grow out greenhouse and “race ways “..

KP aquatics rock and grow out area

 

[TheHarold]

Always dry rock. I think that’s the strategy of most people who are serious about keeping SPS. Sure, if you want random sponges, pests, and soft corals, buy live rock.

 

[mta_morrow]

Always dry rock. Reef cleaners for bases and structures and Tonga plate for fish caves.

 

[Johniejumbo]

I like live rock from the ocean personally. I love hitch hikers and micro fauna. I don’t keep high end corals though. If I did I may choose the reel reef rock instead.

 

[AquaBiomics]

The visible diversity on the rock is an indicator to some extent for the invisible diversity in the rock.

When we sample a mature reef tank we find about 400 different types of microbes. When I started experimental tanks with dry rock, after a month they still had <100 types, while the identical experimental tanks started with good live rock had high diversity like a mature reef tank (>400 types in some cases)

Why do we care? Yeah, the live rock tanks processed ammonia better than dry rock tanks, but bottled bacteria can help with that, right?

After 3 more months, here are pictures of the sand in (a) live rock tank and (b) dry rock tank. Since these are experimental tanks, I specifically did not even clean the glass for these pictures.

For myself, I will only start dry rock tanks in experiments, as a control. The more alive and (porous) the rock, the better I like it.

Full disclosure: I did find an Aiptasia in one of the live rock tanks. It doesnt change my opinion, but I don't want to pretend hitchhikers arent a thing. I just consider them very much a risk worth taking.

 

[C. Eymann]

I like using real live rock, not man made material, like I like old school fiji/totoka/pukani stuff.

It has deep inner pore structures for fauna and denitrification that I think man made rock lacks. This is why siprox, marine pure and matrix use has become really popular, esp with bare bottom reefers using man made rock.


Just my .02

 

[bluprntguy]

Having set up tanks with both live rock and dry rock, I much prefer the dry rock to minimize the number of hitchikers. The hobby is much more enjoyable without pests.

 

[Quietman]

I setup with CaribSea LifeRock Shapes...dry, man-made because of all the horror stories with hitchhikers and pests. My tank is only 5 months old and struggling with all the usual - diatoms, corals taking their time in looking healthy, too clean and too dirty.

True, I have a very cool aquascape and no pests to deal with, but can't help wondering if 'too sterile' can be applied to rock as well as nutrients. And is no pests worth the time to get a reef environment in place using only purchased fauna. I trusted the majority of experienced posters that it is....still can't help wondering though.

 

[bigdrew]

I just setup my reef in February and so far I’m very thankful I used dry rock. It was old live rock, from maybe 10 years ago, that sat dry in my brother’s basement. I have enjoyed 0 pests, except stuff coming off of frags and small coral colonies.

 

[bigdrew]

I setup with CaribSea LifeRock Shapes...dry, man-made because of all the horror stories with hitchhikers and pests. My tank is only 5 months old and struggling with all the usual - diatoms, corals taking their time in looking healthy, too clean and too dirty.

True, I have a very cool aquascape and no pests to deal with, but can't help wondering if 'too sterile' can be applied to rock as well as nutrients. And is no pests worth the time to get a reef environment in place using only purchased fauna. I trusted the majority of experienced posters that it is....still can't help wondering though.

I think it’ll come with time. I think over the long haul, you’ll be happy. In my estimation, it seems easier to fix sterile. It’s much more difficult to solve for pests.

 

[Bob Weigant]

My last 2 tanks I set up with man made reef rock mainly for the pest/hitchhiker issue. I remember the store I used to work in got live rock from Florida and the stuff came with everything in it

 

[Quietman]

I think it’ll come with time. I think over the long haul, you’ll be happy. In my estimation, it seems easier to fix sterile. It’s much more difficult to solve for pests.

And that was the logic behind my decision exactly. But making a decision on what's easiest to fix is different than what's easiest path to success. And there are many people saying it's much easier to guarantee success with live rock - if you can avoid the bad things with live rock.

I likely would have made a different decision if the cost of failure wasn't so very high in this hobby. So yes, given the conditions - I made the decision not to fail rather than to be successful - and would do it again. Still I wonder what if...

 

[SDK]

I’m sure either way is fine if you do your research. It comes down to personal preference. I’ve set up a dozen or so reef tanks since the first days of live rock availability and have never had a hitchhiker problem that I couldn’t solve.

My preference is to want all of the “good” hitchhikers that you miss out on going the sterile route. They are a huge part of the draw for me.

 

[miamijaaz]

I’ve used both live rock and dry rock (but it was formerly live) through a couple of decades of reefing. One thing I’ve noticed is that during cycling there is a lot more algae issues with dry, formerly live rock than live rock—and the algae lasted longer to clear up than with live. Mostly diatoms which I attribute to the the dry rock leeching silicates, as well as cyano—both on the rock itself and the sand bed. The live rock was not algae free, but it definitely was less and lasted a shorter period of time. On the flip side, no live rock I’ve ever had was free of aptasia, which reproduced amazingly quick, and often came with tons of bristleworms, so I had to deal with that. But I can not deny that I miss the rich and diverse life that comes on good live rock, which can take a long time to be reproduced on dry rock, if ever to the same extent—instant gratification!

So, there are pros and cons to each clearly, but if I had to choose, I’d go with live assuming I could source good, quality live rock and hopefully limit the unwanted critters that way, although I know I could never eliminate them completely. I simply abhor diatoms and cyano and if I could reduce those from occurring during the initial months of a tank set-up, I would. Plus, as mentioned, the abundant life that comes on live rock from day one is hard to beat.

 

[Fishurama]

I prefer natural but i understand the need for man made. I prefer real because its generally more porous, looks more "real", naturally carved tunnels, shelf,etc. Also before the ban prices for live were always better then man made, but like stated above I understand the need for man made to sustain what we have in the ocean and less chance of hitchhikers. No wrong answer here, get what you can find/afford.