Live Rock - Why?

[Daniel91]

I believe majority of people start their tank with live rock. Why?

I’ve seen some cool critters but man have I seen some nasty stuff appear by starting off with live rock. Is it anything but a big gamble? In the future, how is it beneficial compared to Starting with dry rock?

I can see the appeal of having almost no or limited wait for a cycle or being beneficial to add later on to avoid ammonia/phosphate spike from dry rock.

Just a question out of curiosity for the hobbyz

 

[Heavymman]

You need to cure Dry rock for roughly 8 weeks.... tons of different methods, I prefer no chemicals so it takes awhile and you test for phosphates and nitrates. You are going to get a 50/50 response here but my .02 is start with dry rock and a clean slate

 

[Heavymman]

Also, reefcleaners seems to have precured dry rock, maybe someone else can confirm because that’s a huge time saver.

Live rock is really cool, my first setup 10 years ago had live Figi but I had so many pests later on! I wasn’t QTing anything back then so maybe it wasn’t the rock

 

[Daniel91]

You need to cure Dry rock for roughly 8 weeks.... tons of different methods, I prefer no chemicals so it takes awhile and you test for phosphates and nitrates. You are going to get a 50/50 response here but my .02 is start with dry rock and a clean slate

Yeah. Back to my point - in an year following your cycle will it matter if you started with dry rock (other than a long cycle)

 

[Heavymman]

Yeah. Back to my point - in an year following your cycle will it matter if you started with dry rock (other than a long cycle)

I would take it real slow with dry rock, at least that is my plan but I will let the experts answer

 

[Gareth elliott]

Live rock is a short cut to the diversifying of your tank.
But comes with risks of unwelcome members.

Dry rock you are going to spend extra time adding all that ocean microfauna into your tank.

Both are tradeoffs, end its what you want to battle.

Sidenote, not all live rock is equal. Dry rock that sat in a pool at your lfs for 6 months will not add everything that a rock that sat in the ocean for 6 months will.

 

[Heavymman]

Read some threads about Vermetid snails, that was enough to keep me FAR away from live rock. If you keep a coral /Invert QT tank, you can introduce all that good stuff to your tank over time by keeping a close eye on what you are introducing

 

[Daniel91]

Absolutely. I have two tanks with dry rock. I had a Pico with liverock. Patience is the overall way to go with this hobby.

 

[Heavymman]

Absolutely. I have two tanks with dry rock. I had a Pico with liverock. Patience is the overall way to go with this hobby.

Just reading the horror stories of people dealing with pests for months was scary enough.... at some point patience would wear thin

 

[PDR]

@Heavymman I have used reefcleaners rock for years and never had any of the leaching issues I had with the BRS dry rock.

IMO the importance of biodiversity in our tanks has started to get seriously overlooked.

 

[Heavymman]

@heavyman I have used reefcleaners rock for years and never had any of the leaching issues I had with the BRS dry rock.

IMO the importance of biodiversity in our tanks has started to get seriously overlooked.

Did you cure the BRS and reefcleaners yourself or dropped right in tank and cycled?

I agree, but I think a safe bet is maybe obtain a small live rock, put it in your coral QT and observe for a while. If all good, drop in your DT and over time the biodiversity will come... just my thoughts

 

[stAlphonzo]

Also, reefcleaners seems to have precured dry rock, maybe someone else can confirm because that’s a huge time saver.

I recently got 50 lbs of reefcleaners dry rock. Nothing to do but put it in the tank and add water. Really nice for dry rock.

 

[Heavymman]

I recently got 50 lbs of reefcleaners dry rock. Nothing to do but put it in the tank and add water. Really nice for dry rock.

That’s awesome, I wish I read and knew this 3 weeks ago lol... maybe I will be good by Thanksgiving to start my DT!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Much like yelp, people rarely post to to say how great things are.
Always post about “nightmares “.
There are more good stories out there than bad.

A fwiw , most folks now really probably should avoid wild live rock.there are enough nightmares i the ugly phase and pests on frags cuz the don’t qt or dip to keep them buisy enough.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...rock-really-all-that-bad.303378/#post-3715394

 

[stAlphonzo]

That’s awesome, I wish I read and knew this 3 weeks ago lol... maybe I will be good by Thanksgiving to start my DT!

Sorry to hear it will take so long. I was a bit scared away from other dry rock because of it. Definitely with a look at reefcleaners if you do it again.

 

[Heavymman]

Ughh

 

[stAlphonzo]

Your just getting to refine your patience

 

[samnaz]

The biodiversity that live rock adds to the tank is not only important and beneficial, it is fun to explore all the life, which to me outweighs any possible pests that come with it.

 

[squampton]

I prefer live rock if its good quality and been in the ocean simply for bio diversity it brings that is nearly impossible to recreate solely from dry rock and adding frags, and bottles of pods, I have just not been happy since live rock dried up from the market. (Not in the US so we don't have the Florida folks to get rock from.)

I never had a major issue with pests, that was fairly easy to deal with.

 

[Mark Shelly]

My guess is that most people have not tried both. It appears that years ago, live ocean rock was the best way to start a tank. But now there are many other options that don't require taking pieces from a reef. You can get some benefits of the live rock using live sand. Or you can introduce some desirable hitchhikers with coral frags or colonies. I have added 2 types of sponge that way. You get a rock from an established tank, or prepare your own for a future tank. I am doing that know in used water from my tank. One of my favorite things was to search for critters at night in my tank, especially with a florescent flashlight. But I wouldn't use live ocean rock if I was starting a new SPS tank.