Dry Rock vs. Wet Live Rock?

[saltman123]

I'm planning to build out a 4 gallon pico I've been wanting to set up for a while now. I was dead set on using live rock, but after checking out BulkReefSupply's dry rock i'm considering that also. Since the tank is tiny I want to try to reefscape the rock as cool as possible to maximize space.

 

Has anyone ever started from scratch with dry rock? Did you find that it took forever to become "alive" and how long did it take to get some coralline algae? Do you end up missing out on a lot of the beneficial critters live rock introduces or does it eventually mature?

 

In a video BRS suggested using a product like Bio-Spira to jump start the bacteria:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean-77963-BIO-Spira-3-38-Ounce/dp/B002AK47JS/

 

So is dry rock cool and worth it, or should I just go with live rock and hope to get the pieces I need for a decent reefscaping?

[brandon429]

I have done many dry to mature picos through pm over the years.

 

Id never do it like that for a 4 gal, the eco conscious often do and its a worthy venture if you have the patience. im too adhd. must buy the best live rock avail, wet pack it home, put in tank with a bag of corals and begin decade long reefing. others take a different way.

 

coralline might come by month 4 if you arent dosing and lighting permits

 

if dosing c balance in a pico we can get coralline by month 3, usually.

 

its the coral capacity that matters though, you can keep some frags long before youll see coralline.

 

pinkdamsels reef on here was 100% ceramic brought to life. about 3 mos to a decent cycle level (able to support fair bioload) using ghost feeding and time.

 

for me I never could see the benefit, tank still took on algae in the end whether its live rock based or ceramic + matured tank. in the end you need a plan for algae, it doesnt matter how you start the tank.

 

if the challenge, or being eco conscious is the goal I say do it.

 

 

 

 

I hammer break, and file, and dremel, and glue all live rock I bring home into the pieces I want.

 

 

 

no, it didn't cause a recycle that only happens on the internet with api goggles. I still kept everything wet, one quick smash in a wet towel with a hammer, you got all the pieces you need

 

additionally, the ability to peer into the live rock that will become the spine of your reef is a priceless moment.

 

one trick that isn't done enough in pico reef science is actually breaking a sample of your live rock that is bought just to get a little sample of this grouping during any wierd problem issues just as a brainstorm to keep in the back pocket...Ive seen some tanks with issues crack into blackened, stinky lr we found in such a test.

 

hardly ever happens, its never happened to me all my lr purchases have been lucky good since 2001. but Im saying if you have to break some to get shapes you want, at least take note of the insides they shouldnt be wierd looking or smelling.

[jestep]

Love dry rock. Used BRS pukani for my pico. Probably only needed about 2.5# out of the 10# that I ordered. I used ceramic only for my main tank which I also like a lot but it's tough to get good pieces for small tanks.

 

Unlike cured rock, you'll have to go through a full cycle, but you never have to worry about it coming with pests and it quickly gets populated with micro and macro organisms.

[gulfsurfer101]

For cool scaping ideas go with the dry rock, but it will take longer as mentioned above to cycle and get stocked. If your in a hurry to get reefing live rock is the way to go. There are many ways to deal with whatever if any problems that may exist with your rock. I have never really been a fan of dry rock till I recently got my hands on about 30 pounds of dry rock from a local on a trade. I was able to put these chunks of rock together using epoxy putty and superglue gel.

http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/gulfsurfer101/media/20140413_182813_zpspwrvuh26.jpg.html'>

http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/gulfsurfer101/media/20140414_205953_zpsnyxtq8j9.jpg.html'>

My first attempt at dry scaping.

[Imaexpat2]

Only one time in the dozens of tanks I have set up over the years did I use all live rock. In fact on many I did not use any Live Rock at all. It had nothing to do with being a eco friendly tree hugger as I could care less about that aspect of it as much as it did the fact that dry rock often cost me about 1/4th to 1/3 of what Live Rock cost. Yeah I am a tightwad, whos a lot freer with his time than his money! Unlike a lot of Reefers I don't need instant gratification. I am quite content to start out with the most humble of beginings and watch a eye popping tank develop over a couple of years. To me its more satisfying that way and more sense of accomplishment. In fact in this hobby I always remind folks that "often times a lack of funds is a blessing in disguise...it forces you to take your time". I have always had better tanks when I subscribed to "Slow and Steady" vs "Fast and Furious". Its almost always been cheaper too!

 

Most of my tanks these days start with all or almost all dry rock. I will then either use a few small pieces of rock rubble from another tank to seed my tank with coralline algae spores and critters or I will spring for several pounds of Garf Grunge or a similar product to accomplish the same thing and add bacteria cultures to my new set ups and get them going. In the past though I did often times keep a rock vat (used those Poly Cattle Troughs from a feed store) with a couple of shop lights with actinics installed going when I was hot and heavy into this hobby a few years back and always fragging stuff and starting tanks. Again even with this I often used almost all dry rock to fill them and used Garf Grunge and a few pieces of live rock rubble to get them going. Once going I just added several pounds of rock to replace rock I had used as I went. I also sold a lot of it for 12 bucks a pound when the LFS was selling their ho-hum rock for 7-8 bucks a pound and usually had a waiting list of people that wanted to buy. That financed a lot of my purchases in this hobby.

 

There aint a right way or a wrong way, its more about how do you want to get there and how quick you want to get there. Just sharing with you how I have always got there...

[gulfsurfer101]

Here's the same rock formation in my 20L aio!

http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/gulfsurfer101/media/20140418_160701_zps8hsdvyrk.jpg.html'>

http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/gulfsurfer101/media/20140418_160720_zpsota4hayi.jpg.html'>

This would be my first dry rock build but we're off to a good start.

[saltman123]

Great feedback everyone. So it sounds like dry rock is a good option, just has some different steps and takes a little longer than live rock. I originally wanted to buy my LR from SeaLifeFlorida since I've wanted to get their stuff forever, but I hate to spend all that money on shipping and then possibly not like the pieces I receive. Guess I could always take a hammer to them, but even then you may not get what you want. I figured with the dry rock I could order a little extra, take my time handling it and get it exactly how I want it, then go through the curing/cooking process like gulfsurfer101 did.

 

For cool scaping ideas go with the dry rock, but it will take longer as mentioned above to cycle and get stocked. If your in a hurry to get reefing live rock is the way to go. There are many ways to deal with whatever if any problems that may exist with your rock. I have never really been a fan of dry rock till I recently got my hands on about 30 pounds of dry rock from a local on a trade. I was able to put these chunks of rock together using epoxy putty and superglue gel.

My first attempt at dry scaping.

Looks amazing, very creative bro! So was that old dried up live rock? Did you go through the cooking process?

 

I just remembered I have a ton of old live rock from when I bought a 90 gallon for my wife's turles and it came with it. Going to check out those pieces and if they seem worthy i'll post a new thread to discuss cooking.

 

 

Love dry rock. Used BRS pukani for my pico. Probably only needed about 2.5# out of the 10# that I ordered. I used ceramic only for my main tank which I also like a lot but it's tough to get good pieces for small tanks.

Unlike cured rock, you'll have to go through a full cycle, but you never have to worry about it coming with pests and it quickly gets populated with micro and macro organisms.

So about how many lbs do you think I would need if i go Pukani from BRS for a 4 gallon tank (Including the back chambers, so maybe 3.5 gal in the display). I was thinking 7lbs-10lbs originally to be safe and have some spare pieces to play with. What process did you use to cycle it?

 

Thanks again everyone.

[gulfsurfer101]

It was all dry rock that a local guy had planned on using but after a setting up two weeks later, he was able to find fully cured rock covered in coralline. Poor noob doesn't possess the patience of a reef samurai! This is really clean great looking rock, what is shown is not even half of what I got in the deal. I'm basically cooking it at this point in my 20L that will be my fish qt tank. I haven't noticed any po or nitrates so I'm willing to bet the guy never even cycled the rock. It was merely submerged in saltwater. I'll actually seed this rock with a chunk of lr or may try the liquid ammonia method.

[jestep]

 

So about how many lbs do you think I would need if i go Pukani from BRS for a 4 gallon tank (Including the back chambers, so maybe 3.5 gal in the display). I was thinking 7lbs-10lbs originally to be safe and have some spare pieces to play with. What process did you use to cycle it?

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

I looked back in my tank log and I actually used under 2 lbs for my spec pico tank which is roughly 4.5 gallons in the display side. If you check out my build thread you can see how much that looks like.

 

It's very porous, so you might only need 1 - 2 lbs of it depending on how much rock you want in the layout. I would definitely get more just so you have better options for scaping. It's easy to break with a hammer and chisel or even a sturdy screwdriver.

 

Mine had some weird organic material on it that I couldn't remove which caused a cycle on its own. No idea what it was since it's mined rock. Had some slight PO4 leaching before I added any fish, but nothing a tablespoon of GFO couldn't handle.