Starting a tank-- Live rock or dry rock

[Age_of_Aquarius]

How would you start a reef tank? Live or dry- and why. If you answer dry, tell me your preferred brand of dry rock!

 

[Reefin Aint Easy]

Do yourself a huge favor and start with dry rock. You have fun control on what goes into your tank by doing so. Yes it takes longer through the cycling process but well worth it in the end. BRS has a good selection of dry rock (Marco, Caribsea etc..) that is great dry rock to use and to create your nice aqauascape from the start.

 

[PeterC99]

There are trade offs with each option. I choose dry rock because I could build my structures the way I wanted before placing in the aquarium.

I used white dry shelf rock and branch rock. Stacked the them on top of each other by drilling a hole through rocks, placing a support fiberglass stick, and cementing together. Here’s my reef one year and one month later. You would never know I used stacked white dry shelf rock - everything is covered in Coraline algae.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’ve bought two 25lb shipments of aquacultured live rock and absolutely loved everything about it. The only critters I got that I didn’t like was a few large bristleworms that were easily plucked out.
If it was in the budget I would use all live rock for a 180 I’m putting together.
I also have a stash of dry pukani that I will be mixing in; that’s the only dry rock I use personally because I like the look.
heres my last shipment of live rock.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I say go with a combination. I would start with live maricultured and dry for a large system. Cheaper for one thing.

When I got my live rock, I put in its own tank for months before allowing in my main system. I wanted to make sure it was healthy and most pests were identified. Plus, no diseases would have been present for m y fish at that point.

I love the variety and fun of finding creatures on live rock. Dry rock allows you to do some scaping and as stated earlier, cheaper.

Note: I have not started a new tank with dry rock for 15 years or more. My rock is put in a sump and kept there for months before moving to a tank if I want to set one up. Curse of too many tanks.

 

[X-37B]

Started my 120 with 50/50 with good results.

 

[Kfactor]

i did dry for my scape and put 15lbs of live rock in my sump

 

[MaxTremors]

I will never use dry rock in a tank again. I used it for the first time in my most recent tank and I hate it. I have seeded it with around 25% live rock, and 8 months in the dry rock is no where near as nice as the live rock. Also, for me, so much of the fun of a reef tank is all the microfauna and the complex food chains/ecosystem that develops in a mature reef tank with real live rock. I think the paranoia about hitchhikers is totally overblown, and the stability and bacterial diversity that comes with live rock is not something you can get from a bottle.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I go with a combo of both
The dry is my base and live help seed the dry and seed the tank.
Add 1.5ml of liquid bacteria daily per 10 gallons for 2 weeks to add culture to the dry rock

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Both possibly, I always bought live rock from another hobbyist.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

depending on the size of your tank, I would suggest to use as much live rock as possible. I stocked up my current 32 gallon with only dry rock just to save $100, and ended having to fight algae for 6 months, until the phosphate was finally leached out of the rocks. With my other tanks, I never had the 'ugly phase' cause I started with live rock, which is so much better. I learned my lesson.

 

[Wasabiroot]

There are trade offs with each option. I choose dry rock because I could build my structures the way I wanted before placing in the aquarium.

I used white dry shelf rock and branch rock. Stacked the them on top of each other by drilling a hole through rocks, placing a support fiberglass stick, and cementing together. Here’s my reef one year and one month later. You would never know I used stacked white dry shelf rock - everything is covered in Coraline algae.

That torch is a freakin' MOP head


In all seriousness :live rock is pricy but worth it with a higher chance of pests. Dry rock is far cheaper and easier to scape, but it takes way longer to stabilize and mature. It's kind of dependant on your budget and patience.

 

[G Santana]

If money were no object, I'd start with live rock. IME it lessons the cycling and uglies substantially