"Dry" Rock

[cjm3fl]

On other sites I visit when many of us refer to "dry rock" we're talking about the artificial, man-made, rock like Tuffa. Our main concern is the introduction of unwanted hitch-hikers since most of the tanks I've worked with have been for Seahorses or Dwarf Seahorses.

 

It seems that when 'reefers' talk about "dry rock" you are referring to collected/washed/cured/dry live rock. Right?

[seabass]

"Dry rock" can refer to any rock that is not wet (and contains no marine life). It could be live rock which has been taken from the ocean and dried; or like BRS Reef Saver rock, dry rock can be mined from a land-based fossilized coral reefs (so it doesn't impact ocean habitats). It may or may not go through various stages of cleaning. Reef Cleaners rock is cleaned, dried, and soaked in a deep water well (to help eliminate leaching phosphate).

 

It can get confusing as terms are used which could mean multiple things. The term base rock is often used to refer to dry rock, but it could also mean lesser quality live rock meant to build the base for higher quality live rock. Dry rock can also refer to man-made rock (like "Real Reef" Eco Friendly Live Rock). In theory, you could even refer to ceramic "rock" as dry rock.

[cjm3fl]

Seems to be a 'catch-all' term.

Thanks for the info, seabass.

[printerdown01]

+1 with seabass.

 

I much prefer dry. No undesirables, more time to work with it and sculpt it out of water, and I can find dry rock options that don't negatively impact reefs.