SPS not thriving in Dead Rock system vs Live Rock system .

[Makers Marc]

I see that your phosphate are high and why the long hours of lights. Kessil are not over powering. But 14 hours is too much. Other than calcium being a little low. Bring your lights to 8 hours. Keep po4 around .02

First 6 months my po4 was barely detectable. My rocks were soaked for months in phosrx before adding to the tank, so really started as dry as possible.

As i added my final tangs and upped feeding even more, cyano started disappearing and the uglies disappeared as I raised po4.

 

[Makers Marc]

Started my take in May 2018. Started adding corals on June 21st. Tank is doing awesome. Used dry dry I bleached myself. Added a load of bacteria, microbacter, Dr Tim’s and special blend. Had coraline growing in July. So far knock on wood no sps deaths and good growth and color

Got any before and after pics showing the growth and color over time?

 

[ajtomase]

I started with dry BRS reefsaver rock, it took around 8 months or so for me to have great success with stable parameters and good coral growth, now my tank is almost 2 years old and my rock looks more live-rock-like than the maricultured stuff my LFS gets. It takes longer to mature as others have said. I didn't try acropora until I think April or May of this year which would put my tank at 16-17 months old.

What beneficial bacteria did you add when you started your tank? Did you do a fish or fish-less cycle?

 

[Stain]

I'm a believer in dry rock if done right