Live Rock vs Dry Rock

[AlexDm]

I have recently heard that there's no need for live rock to start a reef tank, and dry rock will work after so many months and additives the rock will be suitable for corals as a reef tank . Is this true ?
Any places for nice rock?

 

[PatW]

You can place dry rock in an aquarium. Given a source of ammonia, whether it is a chemical additive or a frozen shrimp, bacteria will colonize and convert the ammonia to nitrites and then to nitrates. You can add bacteria to your tank to speed the cycling process. You want the tank to be cycled. When you add fish and feed them, fish excrete nitrogen as ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. You want the tank to be cycled enough to rapidly convert ammonia to relatively non toxic nitrates.

There are pluses and minuses either way.

Live rock bring the cycling time to nearly zero.
Live rock can have interesting creatures that will benefit the aquarium.
Live rock can be infested with unwanted pests that could plague your aquarium.
Live rock costs about five times as much as dry rock.
You can get dry rock of various types to suit your aquascape plans.
Sometimes dry rock can be loaded with phosphates that will leach into your aquarium water causing big algae problems. The phosphate problems can be dealt with by soaking the dry rock in sea water for about a month hopefully giving enough time to release the phosphates.

Bulk Reef Supply offers several types of dry rock. Marco Rocks is also a highly regarded seller of dry rock.

 

[AlexDm]

You can place dry rock in an aquarium. Given a source of ammonia, whether it is a chemical additive or a frozen shrimp, bacteria will colonize and convert the ammonia to nitrites and then to nitrates. You can add bacteria to your tank to speed the cycling process. You want the tank to be cycled. When you add fish and feed them, fish excrete nitrogen as ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. You want the tank to be cycled enough to rapidly convert ammonia to relatively non toxic nitrates.

There are pluses and minuses either way.

Live rock bring the cycling time to nearly zero.
Live rock can have interesting creatures that will benefit the aquarium.
Live rock can be infested with unwanted pests that could plague your aquarium.
Live rock costs about five times as much as dry rock.
You can get dry rock of various types to suit your aquascape plans.
Sometimes dry rock can be loaded with phosphates that will leach into your aquarium water causing big algae problems. The phosphate problems can be dealt with by soaking the dry rock in sea water for about a month hopefully giving enough time to release the phosphates.

Bulk Reef Supply offers several types of dry rock. Marco Rocks is also a highly regarded seller of dry rock.

Wow Thank you that just answered all my questions ! what do you suggest ? Live rock or Dry rock . I was thinking of going with Dry rock .

 

[Pugfishluv3]

I prefer dry rock myself but others love live rock I've used both. Really it's up to you and your budget.

 

[AlexDm]

I prefer dry rock myself but others love live rock I've used both. Really it's up to you and your budget.

Is the "Live Rock" actually coming from the ocean?

 

[sbash]

Is the "Live Rock" actually coming from the ocean?

If you buy from a store, usually it is shipped from the ocean. One of my LFSs sell two different ocean live rock. Other LFSs sell cured rock, which is still live, but may not be as bio-diverse as straight from the ocean.

For my first system, a 65 gallon, I bought two small pieces of live rock (from two different sources). Both were cured, I doubt they were from the ocean. I then set it up with dry rock and dosed some sort of bacteria in bottle. This worked just fine.

For my latest system (220gallon). I bought a whole bunch of dry rock, sourced live rock, both cured and from the ocean from about five different places/tanks and let it cure for several months in my garage (in a tub of course). This worked extremely well, and I have a good range of biodiversity (as far as I an concerned).

However, the ocean rock is risky and can be full of unwanted pests. Although I have been fortunate and not had any issues with it, there are plenty of horror stories out there.

 

[AlexDm]

If you buy from a store, usually it is shipped from the ocean. One of my LFSs sell two different ocean live rock. Other LFSs sell cured rock, which is still live, but may not be as bio-diverse as straight from the ocean.

For my first system, a 65 gallon, I bought two small pieces of live rock (from two different sources). Both were cured, I doubt they were from the ocean. I then set it up with dry rock and dosed some sort of bacteria in bottle. This worked just fine.

For my latest system (220gallon). I bought a whole bunch of dry rock, sourced live rock, both cured and from the ocean from about five different places/tanks and let it cure for several months in my garage (in a tub of course). This worked extremely well, and I have a good range of biodiversity (as far as I an concerned).

However, the ocean rock is risky and can be full of unwanted pests. Although I have been fortunate and not had any issues with it, there are plenty of horror stories out there.

Overtime let's say 1-2 years will the dry rock biodiversity manage to cycle in the tank and become the same as in a for example the live rock ?

 

[sbash]

Overtime let's say 1-2 years will the dry rock biodiversity manage to cycle in the tank and become the same as in a for example the live rock ?

Sorry, I should have explained a bit further. I am referring to biodiversity as the 'macro' creatures which live in the rock. For example, snails, crabs, starfish, pods, chitons... the list goes on and on; some good, some not so good. These things may or may not reproduce, thus the 'biodiversity' may not extend to the other rocks in the tank.

The dry rock will 'cycle' within a couple months to be able to process the 'input' into the tank (including food, critter waste, dead things, etc). It will normalize and balance itself out in a matter of months. However, if suddenly your auto-feeder falls in the tank, or a large critter dies, you could see ammonia and nitrite spikes due to the nitrifying bacteria not being able to process the sudden shift in 'input'. Hopefully that makes sense.

So, to answer your question, yes, I would consider rock which has been in a functional aquarium for two years to be live.

 

[PatW]

As I see it, the only reason to get live rock is to get really cool creatures. Tampa Bay Saltwater takes dry rock and sticks it out into the ocean for about 6 months so you get rock that is teeming with life. Of course, it can have things like mantis shrimp in it and they don't play well with others.

I went with dry rock. I chose my rock primarily based on its structure which I exploited for my aquascape. I should have cured it in salt water first because it leached phosphates in my tank with predictable results.

You can get dry rock that should be pretty phosphate free.

 

[Pugfishluv3]

Overtime let's say 1-2 years will the dry rock biodiversity manage to cycle in the tank and become the same as in a for example the live rock ?

It won't take that long usually about 6-8 weeks

 

[tom reilly]

Wow Thank you that just answered all my questions ! what do you suggest ? Live rock or Dry rock . I was thinking of going with Dry rock .

I liked the dry rock I got from Billys reef . clean with no phosphate leach. I used live sand and decomposed a couple raw shrimp. Cycle took about three weeks. Also added a bottle of bacteria from ifs.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Great thread. I just ordered rock for my first tank and I ordered dry rock, live sand and some bacteria. I went back and forth and back and forth before making my decision. One reason I went this way was the appearance of the rock. The live stuff from Tampa Bay (and others I've see) is too blocky for my tastes. Plus "the Package" clean up crew has too many critters to add at once, in my admittedly inexperienced view. I'd rather choose my own clean up crew.

I'll probably buy a piece or two of live rock from local sources to increase the bacteria diversity but that's still two weeks away (set up scheduled for Dec. 17).

 

[AlexDm]

Sorry, I should have explained a bit further. I am referring to biodiversity as the 'macro' creatures which live in the rock. For example, snails, crabs, starfish, pods, chitons... the list goes on and on; some good, some not so good. These things may or may not reproduce, thus the 'biodiversity' may not extend to the other rocks in the tank.

The dry rock will 'cycle' within a couple months to be able to process the 'input' into the tank (including food, critter waste, dead things, etc). It will normalize and balance itself out in a matter of months. However, if suddenly your auto-feeder falls in the tank, or a large critter dies, you could see ammonia and nitrite spikes due to the nitrifying bacteria not being able to process the sudden shift in 'input'. Hopefully that makes sense.

So, to answer your question, yes, I would consider rock which has been in a functional aquarium for two years to be live.

Okay thank you I understand now

 

[rock_lobster]

IMO NEVER buy "live rock" unless you are planning a species only tank of majanos, aipistia, Euclid worms, mantis shrimps, gorilla crabs, ect.. ect... ect...,

Live rock still has to be cycled just like regular dry rock it is a myth that you just put it in the tank and your ready to go. There is so much die off that it will usually take the same time if not longer to cycle than going with dry rock + plus some live sand or bacteria starter.

 

[AlexDm]

As I see it, the only reason to get live rock is to get really cool creatures. Tampa Bay Saltwater takes dry rock and sticks it out into the ocean for about 6 months so you get rock that is teeming with life. Of course, it can have things like mantis shrimp in it and they don't play well with others.

I went with dry rock. I chose my rock primarily based on its structure which I exploited for my aquascape. I should have cured it in salt water first because it leached phosphates in my tank with predictable results.

You can get dry rock that should be pretty phosphate free.

Wouldn't the rock be all green and maybe hair / bubble algae if they stuck it in the ocean?

 

[AlexDm]

IMO NEVER buy "live rock" unless you are planning a species only tank of majanos, aipistia, Euclid worms, mantis shrimps, gorilla crabs, ect.. ect... ect...,

Live rock still has to be cycled just like regular dry rock it is a myth that you just put it in the tank and your ready to go. There is so much die off that it will usually take the same time if not longer to cycle than going with dry rock + plus some live sand or bacteria starter.

Ouch, I will go with dry rock . Did u purchase yours online or LFS , writing a list of all possible places too look at.

 

[rock_lobster]

It won't take that long usually about 6-8 weeks

Yes agreed.. Live rock is simply rock that can carry out the nitrogen cycle which shouldnt take more than 2-6 weeks to produce.

 

[rock_lobster]

Ouch, I will go with dry rock . Did u purchase yours online or LFS , writing a list of all possible places too look at.

Last time I ordered "ocean harvest" live rock was probably 10 years ago. Since then I've always used dry rock and cycled with it.

 

[stevo01]

Im fighting with soaking my Marco rock. Ive been told this rock has little to no phosphates. Using RODI water from day 1 is important too.

Soak or no soak?

 

[elev8]

I bought brs pukani, and did 3 soaks, scrubs and rinsed with distilled water before adding to display....
Seems to be going well.

I suggest you buy dry rock.

Far less headaches to be had...