Go Live or Dead??

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I used live rock in my first 2 builds and dry rock on more recent ones. I prefer dry over live for multiple reasons that have already been mentioned.

 

[van7271]

Live rock is so much more interesting. I have gotten some great critters from live rock and learned invaluable lessons from the pests. Live rock matures the tank so much faster as opposed to the months or longer that dry rock takes.

 

[Seminoles76]

I have started a couple tanks with live rock and a couple with dry pukani. My take on it.....use live rock and your pretty good to go with corals within a couple of months. Both my live rock tanks had thriving SPS and LPS within about 5 months with the corals dropped in at three months. With the dry Pukani tanks, I have found myself adding everything under the sun to add microfauna to the tank which most likely zeroed out the price savings of the dry vs. live. Both the dry rock tanks had struggling SPS that just wouldn't encrust or thrive at the year point of the tank. I have also found that by starting with dry rock you have to be more on top of your game because things like nutrients and other parameters will be far different than if you started with live.
Bottom line up front: For a first time reefer, I would without a doubt start with live rock and live sand. It is much more of a fire and forget type of system. Not too mention, dry rock will really put your patience to the test in an already patience demanding hobby.
That is just my experience on the several tanks I have set up.

 

[Seminoles76]

Forgot too mention that all the head scratching I did with the dry tanks on why I couldn't get corals to thrive caused much more anguish than dealing with the occasional pest I dealt with from live rock.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I'm a fan of build your aquascape with dry cured rock. If you know a reefer in your area get some water from them if their tank is in great shape only. Also get some rock from them or ask if you can place a couple pieces of your cured rock in there tank or sump to seed with critters. Again only if the tank is in good shape. Other wise order a little bit of live rock to seed your aquascape. Your going to get good stuff and critters on corals you buy also. While curing your dry rock you could put one small piece of live rock from a seasoned tank in your tub with it.

 

[Oldsalt01]

The only issue I've heard about Pukani is that to tends to hold a lot of Phosphates than will leach out, raising your levels. This is purely anecdotal and I don't know if this is true.

 

[Literallyhydro]

The only issue I've heard about Pukani is that to tends to hold a lot of Phosphates than will leach out, raising your levels. This is purely anecdotal and I don't know if this is true.

I've heard this as well, could anyone who started their tank with Pukani chime in on this?

 

[anit77]

I've heard this as well, could anyone who started their tank with Pukani chime in on this?

Pukani will have a lot of dried bits of organic material. It will be release once wet again. You pick what you can off and cure it in a tub. I used it in my setup and bleached then acid washed it before curing for a few months.
Knowing what I do now I wou I'd use higher strength peroxide to clean the organics instead of acid.

 

[Seminoles76]

I have used Pukani twice. Both times I gave them a bleach bath. Both times I couldn't keep phosphate or nitrate in the tank. Both times I have dosed both NO3 and NeoPhos to keep nutrients in the tank. Both times nutrients started to self sustain in the ULN area without dosing at about the 12 month mark. Both of those tanks were BB so that could have been a factor.

 

[HawaiianReef]

Im new myself, just started about 14 months ago, but I think this is a personal choice. I've meet reefers that are Very anal about what they want in their tank. And I've meet people that want their tank to evolve and dont really mess with any pests that show up.
If you choose to go with cured (dead) rock, I would suggest looking for a really cheap used tank, like a 10 or 20g gor about 10 bucks. Throw a piece of live rock in it and watch it. Since it wont be your flagship DT, it wont be stressful at all. The tank could become a really fascinating pest tank. I set up 33g and it is my favorite tank to watch.

 

[Gablami]

If your vision for the tank if an SPS tank, then I would go with live rock. If you were thinking more lps, softies etc, dry is just fine.

Every few days you’ll read a thread where someone with a relatively new tank is struggling with acropora issues. They have almost invariably started their tank with dry rock.

IMO if I were to start a new reef tank, I would use live rock and go fish only for several months before adding corals. Gives you much more flexibility in dealing with pests. It’s easier to remove rock, kill pests, let pests die out, add fish that will eat aiptasia and other unwanted life forms that aren’t otherwise reef safe.

 

[andreasch]

if you go with 100% dead, except from not stability, you gonna face alot of algae problems as well?

 

[Seminoles76]

You will go through the ugly phases as it's often referred as with both dead rock and uncured live rock. Several stages of algae that come and go within a week or two....maybe a bacteria bloom for a few days.....maybe something crazy growing on the rocks or glass that goes away. After that both my dead rock tanks had zero algae problems but corals struggled....zero algae was due to not being able to keep nutrients as I eluded to earlier. Live rock tanks had more algae but all corals were thriving.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Live rock. Or at least a mix of live and dry.

Not even a close call for me.

 

[Potatohead]

I started my latest tank with dry rock (not dead) and I am approaching two years old and I still don't feel I am where I would be after a month or two with live rock. Never again.

 

[neupane00]

If i had to start a tank I’d 100% go with dry rocks. Live rocks are a gamble with hitchhikers

 

[User1]

Hello guys..
i got a new question for you. although am sure more people asked this before, and i read many articles about this, but i still would like to see your answers.
I am making my first ever reef tank. So am totally new to this.
I want to find out what is the best way for a beginner to go with the rocks. To use live or dead rock.
I know with live rock ill have less parameters peaks, my tank will cycle better, it look nicer, i can add fish faster, but the reason i hesitate to decide the live rock without a question (except from price), is all these bad pests and hitchhikers someone can get from live rock and which are not reef safe and have to be removed.
As i stated before i am new to the hobby so i dont know how easy is to handle these issues and what you can do about them.
So what is easier for a beginner after all? To go with dead rock and handle all these params up and downs issues and the long process of cycling, or go with live rock and handle pests and hitchhikers?
Thank you

Well, beginner has you say and having been there before while also just completing a new tank upgrade cycle here is my take. If you have patience and willing to follow some basic rules dry rock would actually give you a pretty solid foundation to start from. Pick up a book say from Martin Moe "The Marine Aquarium Handbook: Beginner to Breeder" to start with and go from there. He provides a pretty solid foundation, while maybe dated, to help understand the marine cycle. To me it was invaluable. With that and this forum, or others, you can probably get underway a bit cheaper than going with live rock. Watching something you create from scratch is utterly amazing if truth be told. You start a process or cycle which in 30 days give or take goes from nothing to being able to process ammonia in 24 hours or less because of mother nature / bacteria, etc. Once that finishes then more crazy stuff happens like diatoms, hair algae, and what not which you learn to manage, control, and then start building out your piece of the ocean. Really - it is cool if you can't tell Bare sand has worms. Bare rocks grow algae. Bare rocks have life. Pods, worms, sponges, etc. You went from moon base rock to your own personal ocean.

Now, having said that, and you have a bit of residual income, I would still recommend the book but go with live rock from TBS. Same concept but after setting up equipment and the tank with proper lighting you place a order, drop package one in, check parameters, get package two in, add it, and have a full blown piece of Florida right in your living room. You will have good algae, sponges, hitch hikers both good and possibly bad, and everything in between. Honestly, 0 to reef in 24 hours. The difference is that you will miss the overall creation process and learning of doing it from scratch but in return you get a tank full of diverse life. Search on TBS rock on these forums to get an idea.

So basically you have to choose. Going from dry to live, is something I do believe everyone should do at least once. It is amazing at what mother nature does in front of your eyes. Honestly it is. My kids really got a lot out of it has did I. On the other hand there is nothing wrong with ordering some quality live rock from say TBS. Probably the best stuff out there today although expensive (and this is just my opinion) that gets you real Florida aquaculture rock that is environmentally friendly from the ocean to your house in under 24 hours. How super awesome sauce is that.

And yes - I just cycled a new tank, 210 gallons, using 150 lbs of dry Pukani. I wanted, and tried, to go with TBS but with two children in college I just didn't see how I could swing it Another day, another tank, I will get that rock yet

Best of luck.