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Cultivated Reef

Dry rock VS Live rock opinions needed


Nanoreefjoe

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Nanoreefjoe

So I know Dry rock has its pros and cons and so does Live rock i'm still contemplating on which type of rock I should buy. What do you use in your aquarium? And why

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Alexraptor

I preferr live rock.

I absolutely love the massive diversity in fauna that live rock can bring, without it my tank would not be teeming in pods, worms and mysid shrimp. That said there are some unpleasent suprises that can sneak in with live rock from time to time. But most of the time its rather beneficial critters.

Of course, Dry rock has the advantage of giving you "total" control and being able to know "exactly" whats in your tank and there is merit in that too.

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I have used both.

 

Live is nice because there's instant diversity but that can also be a bad thing! It costs a little more and depending on if it has been shipped there may be die off. There's instant color.

 

Dry can be aquascaped in to just about any shape you can think of. It needs to be cycled to grow enough bacteria and this can take 2 - 3 weeks. There are no hitchhikers and it is cheaper than live rock. It takes a few months or more to color up nicely. Anecdotally, some dry rock contains high levels of phosphate that can leach in to the water. This can be avoided by presoaking in RO until the levels drop.

 

I did my current tank with dry rock, seeded with Dr Tims One and Only and didn't have any unwanted hitchhikers and got the scape I wanted. Even though I dip and inspect corals etc I now have flatworms (a benign variety), Gelidium algae from snail shells and I saw a few bits of bubble algae. I QT my fish but didn't do so with the corals and inverts.

 

So, while dry can help keep undesirables out of your tank, it will only help long term if you are super-careful (and a bit lucky?) whenever you add anything to it.

 

I'm sure there are other pros and cons that others will provide.

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I used BRS reef saver on my last build and pukani on my current one and I would never use live rock again. Cheaper, easy to scape and no pests.

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HarryPotter

I vote dry rock.

 

I have conducted a test between BRS Reef Saver, Marcos Rock, and Reefcleaners with the following conclusion

 

ReefCleaners dry rock is by far the superior of the three. Besides being cheaper for the volume you receive, ReefCleaners looks MUCH more natural and does NOT leach any phosphates due to its curing conducted prior to sale.

 

BRS rock leaches a significant amount of phosphate (Tested in both RO and Salt water using two brands of test kits), and Marcos rock is like clay that crumbles when you attempt to aquascape.

 

Just my 2 cents :)

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BRS pukani is the best looking rock you can buy and its also super porous so you get a ton more per pound. Some phosphate will leach but it can be easily dealt with. In my experience the reef saver rock doesn't leach much of anything after a good rinse. I didn't see elevated phosphates last time when I used it.

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This thread got me thinking as I had recently bought 15lb of BRS Reef Saver dry rock. After a 24hr soak in a 5 gallon bucket of RODI water with a small powerhead in it, the phosphate measured at 0.00 with a Hanna meter.

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Just put 60 lbs of BRS reef saver rock in my new tank, and I gotta say I love the stuff. Connects together very well, its clean and for me, the biggest plus, is not having to be in a rush putting together your rock scape.

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I am setting my frag tank with pre cycled dry rock. I have been cycling it since January and finally got around to using it. I am hoping it is cycled e nough.

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So I know Dry rock has its pros and cons and so does Live rock i'm still contemplating on which type of rock I should buy. What do you use in your aquarium? And why

 

Like you said. Each has its pros and cons. I preferred the Live Rock for its diversity of life. You get all kinds of neat little creatures. Most of which add to your tank in its own way. BUT. I will never use Live Rock again. Unless it comes from one of my own tanks that I know its free of certain pests. After battling Bryopsis and this strange red feather like algae that grew everywhere and wouldn't go away. I will stick with Dry Rock from now on. Live Rock is a gamble. You have to ask yourself if the worst happens are you ready for the fight. If you are willing to deal with what comes then I say Live Rock. If you are not then I would suggest the Dry Rock.

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From personal experience, in most cases, the benefits of using dry rock will eventually become pointless. As others have stated, the main benefits of dry rock are the ability to scape and the fact that the rock itself will not introduce pests. In my current build, I used dry rock for both these reasons. I still do not feel that my tank is fully established at 8 months in and feel that it would be much further along if it were live rock that I started with. You can still put together a good scape using live rock, you may just have to let it re-cure a bit from the time it spent out of the water. As for the argument regarding pests. I have had all kinds of pests that have come in on frags, so I really don't think this should be part of the argument. I am extremely careful with my frags. I dip everything 100% of the time and inspect every plug/frag before putting it into my tank. I am currently fighting bryopsis, have had bubble algae pop up here and there, have seen flat worms, just found a random aiptasia last night, etc. While using dry rock gives you a head start, you will eventually introduce some form(and probably multiple) of pest via the addition of coral. If I had to do it again, I would use good quality, cured live rock, but that is just my $0.02.

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There is always the chance for bringing in the pest with frags just as with live rock. That is why I said if your willing to deal with what you get then Live Rock is the way. But if you want to be safe then I suggest the Dry Rock. There will still be the risk of bringing in something on frags but its much easier to quarentine and dip new comers to your tank than all of your live rock. My first tank (29g biocube) was all dry rock and a few pieces of live from a local pet store. I ended up with all kinds of cool little creatures and loved it. But also got Bryopsis, GHA, and some other unknown algaes. I finally won the battle but they put a fight. Peroxide for the unknowns and GHA and magnesium for the bryopsis. Then I moved to my current 75 and decided I didn't want that battle again. And decided on straight dry rock. No problems since. Though I do miss having all the little critters.

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