I HATE my rocks and aquascape

[savetheocean]

I cant enjoy my aquarium with the rocks that are in it right now (Caribsea Liferock). I have room in the sump for all the rocks and I was thinking of buying new rocks and putting the old ugly ones in the sump. Is this a bad idea and does anyone have any DRY rock suggestions for a 75 gallon tank?

I want to do this as soon as possible and as stressfree as possible. I just cant enjoy my reef tank with these rocks - after a couple aquascape changes I now know its the rocks that are the issue.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I cant enjoy my aquarium with the rocks that are in it right now (Caribsea Liferock). I have room in the sump for all the rocks and I was thinking of buying new rocks and putting the old ugly ones in the sump. Is this a bad idea and does anyone have any DRY rock suggestions for a 75 gallon tank?

I want to do this as soon as possible and as stressfree as possible. I just cant enjoy my reef tank with these rocks - after a couple aquascape changes I now know its the rocks that are the issue.

Do you have a picture?

 

[Mark Derail]

I have a bunch of live rocks in my sump, no problem. They help filter.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Go slow.

IMO.
Buy rock you like , put them in a bucket of old tank water from a water change with a small powerhead to cycle and cure.

Once you have pieces you like , see if you can make some of the old ones work with the pretty ones.
(I like to make them work with a drill , hammer and chisel )

 

[savetheocean]

Go slow.

IMO.
Buy rock you like , put them in a bucket of old tank water from a water change with a small powerhead to cycle and cure.

Once you have pieces you like , see if you can make some of the old ones work with the pretty ones.
(I like to make them work with a drill , hammer and chisel )

I like pukani dry live rock on BRS. When I cure it I am just going to put it in my 40g tank and put a towel over it. Can I use tap water and salt or do I have to use Ro/Di water? How long does it take to cure?

 

[Flippers4pups]

I like pukani dry live rock on BRS. When I cure it I am just going to put it in my 40g tank and put a towel over it. Can I use tap water and salt or do I have to use Ro/Di water? How long does it take to cure?

Probably not a good idea to use tap. Whatever is in the tap may soak into the rock.

 

[jbow50]

I like pukani dry live rock on BRS. When I cure it I am just going to put it in my 40g tank and put a towel over it. Can I use tap water and salt or do I have to use Ro/Di water? How long does it take to cure?

To cure you would need saltwater with at least a salinity of 1.020 SG with rodi and no tap. In this process we're trying to limit how many excess nutrients we introduce in the system. Starting low nutrients makes it easier to maintain low nutrients.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I like pukani dry live rock on BRS. When I cure it I am just going to put it in my 40g tank and put a towel over it. Can I use tap water and salt or do I have to use Ro/Di water? How long does it take to cure?

Use the water from the water change.

Best to wait as long as you can. Change the water in the bucket when you can.

 

[Idoc]

I like pukani dry live rock on BRS. When I cure it I am just going to put it in my 40g tank and put a towel over it. Can I use tap water and salt or do I have to use Ro/Di water? How long does it take to cure?

I cured my Pukani in tap water but dechlorinated it. The cure doesn't require saltwater since you are just trying to decompose some of the organics hidden deeper in the rock... but if you are planning to cure AND also build your nitrifying bacteria (cycle) at the same time, then you want to use saltwater.

I cured my Pukani for 6 weeks... you will need to do 100% water changes about every other day for the first week or so... hence why it's a little easier and cheaper to use dechlorinated freshwater! Raise the temp in the bin to around 85 degrees to quicken the decomposing... with a powerhead. Monitor your ammonia and phosphate levels. When they stabilize and stop rising after water changes, then good chance your cure is complete. Some put some lanthum chloride in the water to absorb the released phosphates...i used Phosguard.

 

[savetheocean]

I cured my Pukani in tap water but dechlorinated it. The cure doesn't require saltwater since you are just trying to decompose some of the organics hidden deeper in the rock... but if you are planning to cure AND also build your nitrifying bacteria (cycle) at the same time, then you want to use saltwater.

I cured my Pukani for 6 weeks... you will need to do 100% water changes about every other day for the first week or so... hence why it's a little easier and cheaper to use dechlorinated freshwater! Raise the temp in the bin to around 85 degrees to quicken the decomposing... with a powerhead. Monitor your ammonia and phosphate levels. When they stabilize and stop rising after water changes, then good chance your cure is complete. Some put some lanthum chloride in the water to absorb the released phosphates...i used Phosguard.

How does it aquascape? I have phosguard. Could you post a picture of your tank with pukani?

I was thinking of just putting a 40gal next to the basement shower so it would be very easy to fill and drain, theres also a close outlet where I can plug the powerhead and heater into.

After I cure, I will soak the rocks in RO/DI for a day or two just in case anything was leached into them. (Will that help)

 

[Susan Edwards]

I'd like a opinion on the using tap water to cure rocks as well. I don't want to dump 20 gal of saltwater every day or two. I'm purchasing my rock, marco and pukani, this month to start curing. Won't go into tank until prob. March. Is that too long? Is it possible to do tap water for a couple weeks, a week of rodi, then switch to salt? If not, I'll go back to cheap salt for this process. When you're ready to landscape, how long can the rock be out before you lose all the ground gained in doing this before hand. In otherwords, does it start the cycle all over again if it gets dry?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

If you put the rock in tap water , test the tap water for Po4 , then put the rock in over night , test again.
If you see a minor amout of increase , that's what's bound to the rock.
You can decide then if you need to treat.

If you use tank water , add ammoina and dr tims and cycle it the bacteria will lower the nutrients.
A water change will remove the no3 , the Po4 will also drop. The longer you wait , the more the bacteria will lower the nutrients , within reason of course.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'd like a opinion on the using tap water to cure rocks as well. I don't want to dump 20 gal of saltwater every day or two. I'm purchasing my rock, marco and pukani, this month to start curing. Won't go into tank until prob. March. Is that too long? Is it possible to do tap water for a couple weeks, a week of rodi, then switch to salt? If not, I'll go back to cheap salt for this process. When you're ready to landscape, how long can the rock be out before you lose all the ground gained in doing this before hand. In otherwords, does it start the cycle all over again if it gets dry?

If it gets completely dry , yes, but hours no.

You can leave the rock in the same water for a long time.
It's just like cycling a dry rock tank.

Myself (nut job) I added Fiji mud to mine for bio diversity and some nutrients and ammoina sources while "curing .

Tap just softens the "possible " organics.

I left mine in the bucket for a month. And it cyled
After 2.5 it tested with all zeros

Edit
I should add if you build it dry, and cycle cure it in a bin it works well.

And if you use fresh mixed salt water you can do the same Po4 test.
If the Po4 is high, you can use Lanth. Or gfo in a reactor or let the bacteria eat. It all.

My qt drops Po4 cuz I don't feed it.

Gha feeds on Po4 and stuff in the rock , and Esp if you go fast like most do, adding fish quickly and feeding them and adding in qt non cleaned coral imo is what makes gha a common complaint. In dry Rock thanks. Not the Po4 itself.

 

[savetheocean]

Anyone have any experience with pukani? Does it aquascape well?

 

[Idoc]

How does it aquascape? I have phosguard. Could you post a picture of your tank with pukani?

I was thinking of just putting a 40gal next to the basement shower so it would be very easy to fill and drain, theres also a close outlet where I can plug the powerhead and heater into.

After I cure, I will soak the rocks in RO/DI for a day or two just in case anything was leached into them. (Will that help)

I think pukani aquascapes really nicely. You can look in my build thread... it shows some diffetent aquascape plans i tried before finally settling on a plan. Pukani is ready to chisel and change as well. I had a big ball of pukani that i chiseled into a cave to make it look more interesting.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/idocs-first-reef-tank-build-75g.317135/

 

[savetheocean]

I think pukani aquascapes really nicely. You can look in my build thread... it shows some diffetent aquascape plans i tried before finally settling on a plan. Pukani is ready to chisel and change as well. I had a big ball of pukani that i chiseled into a cave to make it look more interesting.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/idocs-first-reef-tank-build-75g.317135/

Ive heard its very easy to make caves and carve into it

 

[Idoc]

Ive heard its very easy to make caves and carve into it

Very easy... just use a small chisel and hammer. But, tap with small multiple hits so as not to break the entire rock in half.

 

[V4Vendetta]

Anyone have any experience with pukani? Does it aquascape well?

I think any rock can aquascape well if you have the keen eye for composition. People that lack artistic talent seems to struggle the most when aquascaping imo.
but if you are asking if the rock stacks up well when putting next to another rock then the answer is so-so ime. It takes few tries to find the right angle for each rock to look naturally stacked.

 

[savetheocean]

I think any rock can aquascape well if you have the keen eye for composition. People that lack artistic talent seems to struggle the most when aquascaping imo.
but if you are asking if the rock stacks up well when putting next to another rock then the answer is so-so ime. It takes few tries to find the right angle for each rock to look naturally stacked.

I dont have any artistic talent lol, do you think I could make a good aquascape with this?

 

[Aaron Atkinson]

Google the artistic rule of thirds. Technical guidance for those of us who lack artistry