Setting up new reef tank with dry rock!

vipboy25 · Nov 23, 2018

Hi everyone. After deciding between transferring from my old tank or setting up new system I decide to go for 2nd option. However this time I don't want to take my LR over coz it's not in good condii9tn with bad stuffs on there. Therefore I decide to go for dry rock this time so I got time to scaping my tank without rush. After look up on Google there are lot of good news about dry rock but there are also some people said dry rock kill stock from their tank later on. So Anyone here with experience with dry rock set up can give me some tips or anything I need to prepare or take care of when setting up with dry rock? Thanks a lot

James M · Nov 23, 2018

Welcome to reef2reef!!
Where did you hear that it will kill livestock later on ? That is completely false.
There’s really nothing to prepare for other than cycling.

vipboy25 · Nov 23, 2018

James M said:
Welcome to reef2reef!!
Where did you hear that it will kill livestock later on ? That is completely false.
There’s really nothing to prepare for other than cycling.

Ok great. There was a post I found out on Google, it quite weird that the guys said his tank was down because of using dry rock, so I'm just curious. Do I need to cure dry rock if purchase from someone else but not brand new from shop? Thanks

CJS80 · Nov 23, 2018

Welcome to R2R. There is nothing wrong with using dry rock, it just takes longer to get your tank established. With a new set up you can cure/cycle rock in the tank at same time. The only problem with doing it this way is if the rock wasn't cleaned good enough, it can leach a lot of phosphates and other stuff into the tank, which can make it take longer until you want to add livestock.

keystoneckp · Nov 23, 2018

After getting back into saltwater, I started my new tank with dry rock. put everything in tank and let cycle.
I did give it another 30 days after to make sure before I added anything to it.

Idoc · Nov 23, 2018

I used dry rock... everything is going well.

jabberwock · Nov 23, 2018

There are different kinds of dry rock. Rock that used to be in the ocean and has been dried out needs to be cured to remove dead dry things. Rock that is not from the ocean, like reef saver, does not have any dead things on it, and just needs to be thoroughly rinsed. I used reef saver. No issues except it takes longer to mature. I am going on 5 months and just starting to see small bits of coraline algae. Lots of green hair algae on the rocks, but I don't mind too much.

I did get a few hitchhikers from corals anyway , but nothing really bad or overwhelming.

Reef-junky · Nov 23, 2018

Yeah depends on the rock. I had to give mine an acid and bleach bath. Also had to clean it really well but the rock I bought was known for having a lot of dead stuff trapped in it.

vipboy25 · Nov 23, 2018

CJS80 said:
Welcome to R2R. There is nothing wrong with using dry rock, it just takes longer to get your tank established. With a new set up you can cure/cycle rock in the tank at same time. The only problem with doing it this way is if the rock wasn't cleaned good enough, it can leach a lot of phosphates and other stuff into the tank, which can make it take longer until you want to add livestock.

Thx a lot for the info. So what is the best way to cure dry rock thx? Also what do you mean or.how do I cure rock and cycle at the same time? That would be really helpful

CJS80 · Nov 23, 2018

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...s-what-is-the-best-way-to-cure-dry-live-rock/
A decent video form BRS.

cracker · Nov 23, 2018

Iv'e always used live rock,however the few pieces of dry I have added seems to have a lot of Po4 or such so these rocks end up with a lot of algae. Not saying not to . I could have missed a step in curing or such missed a step some where .

Gerald Garcia · Nov 24, 2018

vipboy25 said:
Hi everyone. After deciding between transferring from my old tank or setting up new system I decide to go for 2nd option. However this time I don't want to take my LR over coz it's not in good condii9tn with bad stuffs on there. Therefore I decide to go for dry rock this time so I got time to scaping my tank without rush. After look up on Google there are lot of good news about dry rock but there are also some people said dry rock kill stock from their tank later on. So Anyone here with experience with dry rock set up can give me some tips or anything I need to prepare or take care of when setting up with dry rock? Thanks a lot

Hello and welcome to R2R. There is nothing wrong with dry rock, as stated by others, it will take longer. But to speed things up, you can use several methods.
Try saving a small amount of Live Rock from your tank that is in good condition to help seed off your new tank setup... even some of the live sand.
I sort of did this when I had to upgrade my 2.5 pico tank to a 6.8 gallon. In just a few weeks to 2 months, my tank was 25% - 50% seeded. Just make sure to rinse the dry rock in your old tanks used water. This will take out any dust and microbes that linger in it. Save the sponge too, don't rinse it out too much if any at all. This will speed the process of cycling your tank. You can add the cleaning crew at any point.
The first two pics show the 2.5 tank and the last is the 6.8 gal tank with new DR at the lower left and a smaller one at the far upper right.
Hope this helps.

Reef-junky · Nov 24, 2018

cracker said:
Iv'e always used live rock,however the few pieces of dry I have added seems to have a lot of Po4 or such so these rocks end up with a lot of algae. Not saying not to . I could have missed a step in curing or such missed a step some where .

Lanthanum Chloride and bleach bath

Gerald Garcia · Nov 24, 2018

cracker said:
Iv'e always used live rock,however the few pieces of dry I have added seems to have a lot of Po4 or such so these rocks end up with a lot of algae. Not saying not to . I could have missed a step in curing or such missed a step some where .

That did occur in mine as well, but not too much. My cleanup crew took care of it and I lowered the intensity of the lights as well. Kept the blues on longer till they were all gone.

Ruben's Reef · Nov 24, 2018

!!! Welcome to R2R !!!! I start my 40g with 35 lbs of dry rock and a see on my build thread what it looks right now. Take more time to mature but on my case, no problem at all. Happy reefing

vipboy25 · Nov 24, 2018

spyder813 said:
!!! Welcome to R2R !!!! I start my 40g with 35 lbs of dry rock and a see on my build thread what it looks right now. Take more time to mature but on my case, no problem at all. Happy reefing

Thx for that, I'll take a look.

vipboy25 · Nov 25, 2018

One question for the noobie. At the moment I'm running a AR300 but I'm gonna set up a new tank with the Red sea max s400. I just bought a marine pure block, so should I use it now on my tank then put that to my new tank ( gonna take few weeks for my new tank to set up ) or save it to use for the new tank? Thx a lot.