Products That Might Help Seed Dry Rock?

[AmaleeC]

Lately I've been reading and hearing a lot about reefers having much less success with dry rock tanks vs. live rock. Is anyone aware of any products or combination of products that might speed up the process - i.e. making dry rock more similar to live rock in less time?

I wouldn’t say dry rock tanks are “less successful”, I would say they are more challenging and need more time to mature than tanks with live rock. As others have mentioned, these tanks lack the biodiversity that tanks with live rock do. They don’t have that same “kickstart”. While there are products that help with speeding up the development of nitrifying bacteria and making your tank livestock ready, there’s really no product that can establish your tank with the hundreds of variations of biodiversity found in a mature tank. The best thing you can do is go with a combo of live rock and dry rock from an established tank.

Personally, I started with dry rock and got dinos in my 75. For future reference I’ll be doing the combo of both. My family is headed towards the FL keys sometime in May so I’ll be bringing back some sand and water.

 

[ChrisP]

I ordered some stuff from ipsf that I am hoping increases my chance of success with a dry rock tank. My order comes in tomorrow.

Thanks - just the sort of thing I had in mind!

 

[Acroalan]

I used the IPSF pack highlighted above along with a small 15lbs. order of KP Aquatics live rock to mix in with my Marco dry and am very pleased with how those two combined to add diversity to my tank. It worked out great and I'll do the same on my next tank as well.