Replacing all Rock = Re-cycling Tank?

[Luke Burns]

I bought all live rock to start for my Fluval 13 and have had it setup about 3 weeks now. I hate the rock I bought so I just purchased some dry reef saver. Will I have to re-cycle the tank or should it mostly be fine still?

 

[ncaldwell]

Having old media in the filter will help along with sand. Your rock will likely go through the ugly phase of various algae and maybe some diatoms. Probably a much shorter process than the first time. Is there fish?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Luke, I'm just curious. What was it about the first LR that you didn't like?

I've always used dry rock except for one time. I started a 65g shallow reef tank (4'x2'x14"). I used Tampa Bay Saltwater LR. I figured the tank was going to be more about local collections than fancy coral so why not start out with really LIVE rock. I was quite disappointed. The sponges, barnacles and some other stuff all died. Ugh. And some of the macro algae took off and grew literally inches per day! It spread 2+ feet across the tank in just a few days and once it was attached to other rock, it was impossible to remove. And all this was in a well established tank with other LR and a huge refugium full of LR and chaeto (that grew at a typical rate).

 

[Luke Burns]

Hey there. It purely has to do with the look of it. I tried getting it into a good shape but wasn’t really happy. I got some epoxy to try and build it up but am still not happy with it.