Look out! It’s another thread about rock!

[BeltedCoyote]

Hey all. I’ve got a question about rock

I’m going to start by saying I currently have 75lbs of marco rock which I was planning on using in the 120g dt I originally planned on building. Since then, things have changed and I’ll be going with an 8’ 240g.

which leaves me with a conundrum and some questions.

obviously I need more rock. As I’ve been researching and planning more about this build I’ve decided I want to focus on the biological filtration that is the basis of anyone’s system.

from what I’ve seen, live rock (maricultured or actual rock from reefs) is by far and away the best option for biodiversity. The. There is the aquacultured rock like KP aquatics (I believe this is the correct vender) sells which comes with coraline algae but not much else.

Due to the cost of the actual ocean rock, I’m not going to using solely maricultured rock to fill in what’s missing with the amount of marco I have. I’m thinking 30, maybe 40lbs of the maricultured rock.

on top of that I think I want to do 50lbs of the aquaculture live rock they sell.

to the old salts out there, do you all think this would be a viable way to truly seed the biodiversity of my tank? If so, do you think putting some of the maricultured rock in the display has a good chance of propagating more sponges and other good stuff?

thanks all!

 

[Vette67]

Yes and yes. You don’t need to get all live rock, but get as much as your budget will allow to seed your dry rock. I would still consider quarantining your live rock, to try to capture any potential pests like gorilla crabs or mantis shrimp. Look into home made traps to entice them out of hiding. Anything else is easy to deal with, especially in a tank the size you are considering. Foxface will devour bubble algae, and would do just fine in a 240.

I think the macro fauna; sponges, tube worms, amphipods, starfish, snails... are just as important as the micro fauna, including bacteria. That’s why I strongly advocate as much ocean live rock as possible. Your tank will do much better in the long run.

I am jealous. I have a 6 foot 180 and I wish I had enough room for an 8 foot tank. But I would have to block a hallway to do that in my current house. Good luck on your project.

 

[Spare time]

You can just use biomedia and less rock. As for whether or not to add any live rock is up to you and whether or not you want to run the risk of something added to the tank that you don't want. There are plenty of bacterial additives to help add diversity (eco balance, pns pro bio, waste away, reef brite live rock enhancement, etc.). Live rock is not the only way to add bacterial diversity. Corals, crabs and snails with their shells, etc all have surface area of which sponges and bacteria and what not can arrive.

 

[HuduVudu]

Hey all. I’ve got a question about rock

I’m going to start by saying I currently have 75lbs of marco rock which I was planning on using in the 120g dt I originally planned on building. Since then, things have changed and I’ll be going with an 8’ 240g.

which leaves me with a conundrum and some questions.

obviously I need more rock. As I’ve been researching and planning more about this build I’ve decided I want to focus on the biological filtration that is the basis of anyone’s system.

from what I’ve seen, live rock (maricultured or actual rock from reefs) is by far and away the best option for biodiversity. The. There is the aquacultured rock like KP aquatics (I believe this is the correct vender) sells which comes with coraline algae but not much else.

Due to the cost of the actual ocean rock, I’m not going to using solely maricultured rock to fill in what’s missing with the amount of marco I have. I’m thinking 30, maybe 40lbs of the maricultured rock.

on top of that I think I want to do 50lbs of the aquaculture live rock they sell.

to the old salts out there, do you all think this would be a viable way to truly seed the biodiversity of my tank? If so, do you think putting some of the maricultured rock in the display has a good chance of propagating more sponges and other good stuff?

thanks all!

Do you currently have a tank? I am pretty sure I saw in another post that you did.

 

[F i s h y]

Yes and yes. You don’t need to get all live rock, but get as much as your budget will allow to seed your dry rock. I would still consider quarantining your live rock, to try to capture any potential pests like gorilla crabs or mantis shrimp. Look into home made traps to entice them out of hiding. Anything else is easy to deal with, especially in a tank the size you are considering. Foxface devour bubble algae, and would do just fine in a 240.

I think the macro fauna; sponges, tube worms, amphipods, starfish, snails... are just as important as the micro fauna, including bacteria. That’s why I strongly advocate as much ocean live rock as possible. Your tank will do much better in the long run.

I am jealous. I have a 6 foot 180 and I wish I had enough room for an 8 foot tank. But I would have to block a hallway to do that in my current house. Good luck on your project.

This is spot on excellent advice.

 

[WVNed]

I used 150 pounds of live rock and 110 pounds Caribsea liferock

It would have worked fine if I had gone with 80 pounds of live rock and the rest Caribsea.
What some call pests others call sea life. Which is why I do this.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Do you currently have a tank? I am pretty sure I saw in another post that you did.

I have a 120g I’m working on selling for the big tank (well, for part of it). I do have a little 40b that’s fish only at the moment. One day it’ll be a quarantine or at least observation tank

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Thanks for the input everyone!

@Vette67 thanks for the tip on QTing the LR. I hadn’t even thought of that

 

[R.Weller]

This is great & very helpful. We're only in our 4th year of the hobby & we have used over 400lbs of dry rock along the way. But I have since come to appreciate the rock that we have in our sump that has been with us from the beginning & how it was first cultured & seeded by our favorite LFS. How much better our journey would have been if that first 15lbs (or any subsequent amount) had come directly from the ocean is hard to estimate.

It feels like only within the last year that we finally stumbled across the right formula (or right maturity) to see many of our inhabitants start to thrive. While I appreciate there are many variables to learn to create such an environment, I'm farily convinced that mature rock is well worth the investment from the beginning. Depending on the volume required, suggesting a ratio of mariacultured to dry rock seems like a great balance.

 

[X-37B]

I used 50% live and 50% caribsea dry.
After a year it all looks the same.
Currently removing all emerald crabs as they are eating coral. About 4 to go.
Just removed a black long spined urchin as it was eating coral too.
The emerald were in my nano and transfered to the 120. They were fine for over 2 years and now not so good.
Removed 1 gorilla crag too.
Still, live rock is the way to go, just be prepaired to remove coral eaters down the road.

 

[EMeyer]

You can just use biomedia and less rock. As for whether or not to add any live rock is up to you and whether or not you want to run the risk of something added to the tank that you don't want. There are plenty of bacterial additives to help add diversity (eco balance, pns pro bio, waste away, reef brite live rock enhancement, etc.). Live rock is not the only way to add bacterial diversity. Corals, crabs and snails with their shells, etc all have surface area of which sponges and bacteria and what not can arrive.

To be clear, all the bacterial products on the market contain only a handful of bacterial types (very few of which actually survive in aquariums), while live rock contains hundreds at measurable levels.

 

[HuduVudu]

I have a 120g I’m working on selling for the big tank (well, for part of it). I do have a little 40b that’s fish only at the moment. One day it’ll be a quarantine or at least observation tank

You can use those mature tanks to cure your rock.

When I had a fish store I had a system that was very old and gross it didn't even have real live rock because it was fish only. By accident I started using it to cure. It was amazing.

I am currently plotting how to get pieces of rock in my 20 to cure out for my 65.

Just a thought for you.

 

[Spare time]

To be clear, all the bacterial products on the market contain only a handful of bacterial types (very few of which actually survive in aquariums), while live rock contains hundreds at measurable levels.

Do you have any evidence to support this?

 

[BeltedCoyote]

You can use those mature tanks to cure your rock.

When I had a fish store I had a system that was very old and gross it didn't even have real live rock because it was fish only. By accident I started using it to cure. It was amazing.

I am currently plotting how to get pieces of rock in my 20 to cure out for my 65.

Just a thought for you.

Excellent idea! Thanks!