Marine pure block over rock

[edc_aquarium]

So I've been wondering do you guys think I can get away from using alot of rock in my tank if I use marine pure blocks in my refugium

 

[ChrisRD]

I don't see why not. I think as long as you have enough surface area for the bacteria to populate you will be fine. Seems to be quite a few successful tanks that follow that same concept...i.e. more rock/filtration in the sump and less rock in the DT to leave lots of room for coral growth.

 

[RUNVS]

I have 5 pieces of live rock in my whole system, with two marine pure blocks in my sump and have never had any issue. I have a 65 gallon display, 100 gallon sump, 55 gallon refugium and 45 gallon frag tank.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

@RUNVS - In my new system, I will have a little more than 5 rocks in my new system!! I have a nice custom show pcs that will go in the middle of the tank. Then, I will be making two Pillars in each corner with some VidaRocks, a few more pcs of TONGA BRANCH which you can't get any more, at least the original Tonga Brach!!!!!!!! Just got done mounting my external overflow and now comes the fun part, the hard plumbing.

TANK INFO:
SC -150 RIMLESS / 20'' SYNERGY EXTERNAL OVERFLOW BOX / SKIMZ SKIMMER / BRS DUAL REACTOR / AQUA UV, SANTA MONICA SCRUBBER / APEX CONTROLLER / GeoReef Cal Reactor

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm personally not a fan of any aluminum based materials in a reef tank.

One possible concern in relying on remote methods of nitrifying is that in a power failure, you may not have enough capacity ready at hand in the main tank to keep ammonia adequately low.

As to the denitrifing capability of either llive rock or Marine Pure, IMO there are a lot of ways to accomplish that goal.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I only used about 15lbs of dry pukani in my 35g cube and added a box of marine pure spheres to my refugium in the sump for added surface area. Those things have so much surface area they float for half a second while the air purges out of the micro pores. I didn't want the display cluttered with a ton of rock and have no room for coral to grow or fish to swim. I've got a large(20" cube kind of large) open sand bed and a lot of room for my fish to swim around, yet a ton of caves too, and they are happy.

 

[VR28man]

My only warning about the marine pure is: make sure you're getting low enough flow wherever it is so that it does both the ammonia cycle AND denitrification.

I don't have a sump, and my MP is in the DT. I've gotten no denitrification from it, even after several months, IMO because the flow in the DT is too high. (formerly a bit more than 10X, now perhaps more. The key problem is that there's no way the powerhead won't be hitting it). ETA: it processes ammonia very effectively, as one can imagine from a block in a 29 gal tank. .

It's become quite the piece of (aluminum based artificial) live rock, with algae, loads of bispira tube worms, some corraline, and now possibly purple sponges. Much more life than the few pieces of dead rock I put in, though that's probably because it came from someone else's sump.

 

[saltyhog]

I have used both Marine Pure and Brightwell Xport and prefer the later. If you have a large enough sump live rock/rubble will accomplish the same thing.

 

[kyleinpdx]

I second Randy's concern about the alu, IMO we have begun to see more and more reports of alu buildup causing issues. There isnt yet a large enough sample size to draw real conclusions however I think there is enough anecdotal evidence to warrant some suspicion.

 

[VR28man]

Cermedia, marinepure's manufacturer, states their product is probably not the cause of raised Al. ( as of course they would):

http://cermedia.com/blog.php?p=142

Kyle, what kind of reports have you heard of?

 

[VR28man]

I only used about 15lbs of dry pukani in my 35g cube and added a box of marine pure spheres to my refugium in the sump for added surface area. Those things have so much surface area they float for half a second while the air purges out of the micro pores. I didn't want the display cluttered with a ton of rock and have no room for coral to grow or fish to swim. I've got a large(20" cube kind of large) open sand bed and a lot of room for my fish to swim around, yet a ton of caves too, and they are happy.

Do u have pics?

 

[kyleinpdx]

Cermedia, marinepure's manufacturer, states their product is probably not the cause of raised Al. ( as of course they would):

http://cermedia.com/blog.php?p=142

Kyle, what kind of reports have you heard of?

I'll have to try and dig up some of the posts I've come across, mainly seen the discussion in threads with ICP analysis results from systems experiencing various issues and no clear boogyman but high metals such as Alu.

EDIT: verdict is for sure still out, however here are some of the threads I could quickly find -

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...d-is-it-havent-any-ill-effect-on-your.182740/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/marinepure-aluminum.208329/

There are also some discussions on RC but they're mostly pricks over there so I wont bother linking to it.

I tend to fall into the first category listed below

There are at least three separate questions here, and it may take substantial time for the answers to become clear. Now that testing is more widely available, we may make faster progress, but answers won't happen fast unless the problem is a clear issue that happens almost instantly (and it appears to not to, unless the doses of aluminum are fairly high).

After all, it is relatively hard to pin down chronic effects. How long did it take people, who are obviously intimately aware of whether they are alive or dead, to realize that cigarette smoking causes deaths?

The questions are:

1. Is aluminum released from Marine Pure. (Still an open question, but related materials appear to do so).
2. If so, what form: particulate aluminum oxide or soluble aluminum ions.
3. If anything is released, is it in sufficient quantities to harm corals or other organisms.

IMO, you need to ask yourself what is the risk/benefit trade off of using aluminum oxide objects.

If you are among those who would have stopped smoking as soon as there were some initial studies that smoking was risky, you might want to stop now.

If you were among those who would smoke until it was clearly demonstrated in multiple tests that smoking was risky, you might want to wait.

if you are among those who still smoke, then you probably won't remove the media, regardless of what others find.

 

[FlyinBryan]

I had to pull a couple out as just 2 of the 4x8” were keeping nitrates too low. As far as aluminum affect I don’t know but fish and coral all seem happy and growing!

 

[kyleinpdx]

Another option to achieve the same effect, take a look at Seachem Matrix or Pond Matrix (larger chunks) its pure pumice I believe.