Real reef from Pacific East Aquaculture

[Dlc27]

Usage may vary, but here's my experience. DO NOT DO IT. This is amultiplerunonsentancerant. I haven't been on this forum in a while, and I'm mostly a lurker, but after tearing down my entire aquascape to toothbrush my rock AGAIN tonight, after this "new" tank has been running for six months, I feel obligated to post my experience.

Full disclosure, this is my second saltwater tank experience, and my first successful nano has only been running not quite two years. IM9 started with gulf live rock, read/researched, followed instructions and advice, and have never had a major issue, tank is currently thriving beyond my expectations.

"New" tank IM fusion 20 that I saved up for it so I could do it right from the get go on the mid/low tech setup I wanted. It pretty much mimics my 9, except for the fact that I started with all new equipment vs. second hand. I had to break in a skimmer that I didn't have on my 9, and figure out that I wanted to stick with high end lighting, but that only counts for less than two months or so.

From the time I recieved my first order of real reef from Pacific East Aquaculture (PAC) at the two week mark it started going downhill. The first order was all bleached out no better than base rock crap (that was apparently the bottom of the barrel just before they were "out of stock and awaiting a fresh shipment", but after over a month PAC sent me replacement (about 2/3 of the total weight of my original purchase) for free. It was what I had expected the first order to be, and fit well with the scape I wanted so I said thank you, and done. I did cycle the tank with some of my live rock from the 9 and the crap that PAC sent the first time, but I'm sure I went through a mini cycle at the two month mark when I added the replacement rock from PAC that they had just recieved and then directly sent out to me.... So it wasn't cured, or likely even "live". The first issue was the worst outbreak of GHA I've ever seen in all my interwebs research. I NEVER had GHA in my first tank (lucky?) so I read and researched, and systematically went through all the manual, organic, and chemical combat methods for a few months until it was, as it still is now, only just in check.... I'm only just ahead of it, but God forbis I miss a water change or don't replace my media in time. Hello fluff. Next I dicover flatworms. Great. Never had that in my 9, with live rock that was uncured, straight from the gulf. Dealt with those, well actually I still see them on the glass now and then. Maybe three at a time... but anyway just as I noticed them, and while I was dealing with them, I was also seeing the beginnings of a cyano outbreak. The red, the brown, the blue brown. This shit is everywhere. It (the blue brown) covers these stupid ugly ass (I'm tainted to them at this point) rocks, and spreads to my sand bed. The red covers the tops of the rocks and my sand bed, and I can't keep the air bubble collecting brown crap off of my back wall, and only just off the rest with a flip mag. The only living creatures are an abundant assorted TARGETED clean up crew, a six line wrasse (for the flatworms), and my royal gramma that I felt needed more space than my 9, and one poor hearty rock nem. I feed lightly/hardly at all. I haven't even been able to think about transferring my corals or buying new for this disaster zone.

Oh how I wish I had gone with live rock again. The only "pest" that came in on my gulf live rock shipment for my first tank is a really very pretty majano nem that has never multiplied, and that I even enjoy feeding now. He looks like a bubble tip but he's brown. Oh I wish I had gone with gulf live rock!! I'm about to pull the real reef, toss it, and order gulf live rock again. Maybe I can actually start my new tank at the one year mark!

[Eckozulu]

What's a IM9?