best3175 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 What is everyone's thought of starting a reef tank with live rock or not? Advantages for and against? Link to comment
el_ote Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I started two tanks with dry rock and a bottle of Dr. Tims. I went that route to save money. ive read folks go dry rock route to avoid bad hitchhikers. if what you meant was live rock or no rock at all, I dont think ive seen anyones tank run rockless. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 You may save some money but if you go with live rock from your lfs or online you also get free good hitchhikers like stomatella and colonista snails and brittle stars and worms like peanut worms that are beneficial to help clean your tank. I've heard some people have a harder time cycling with the dry rock. I loved seeing signs of life right away, made the process even more exciting. It's entirely up to you which way you go. You can even do completely live rock uncured from the ocean and still very good pricing- check out SealifeInc. And check out the beauty of my live rock I received from them. pg 5, post 116 starts pics of the rocks when I received them 10/31. Link to comment
El Porker Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I ordered 35 lbs of dry rock from marinedepot. Once I have the base rock in place I will cycle the tank. After the cycle is done I am going to order 20 lbs from Gulfliverock so I can get some hitchhikers in the tank. Link to comment
best3175 Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 What are other peoples success and aqua scape looks that have not used any live rock? You don't know what you are introducing when add live rock. I can see the benefit of adding some small pieces for coralline introduction. I'm still planning on using some. I'm just trying to determine how much. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 All the live rock available now is crap or maricultured land based rocks. My conclusion is buy the best looking dry rock and culture it myself. I got ReefCleaner rock for my display tank. USP sells 4 foot long threaded nylon rods and nuts by the way, to aquascape your rock. I thought my live rock looked great! Link to comment
Subsea Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I will second the vote for diver collected, uncured live rock. Both Dale Barger of floridaliverock.com and Richard Harker of Tampa Bay Saltwater will fix you up. If you want, biodiversity in macro algae and inverts, including colorful sponges, scallops and tunicates then get Gulf of Mexico uncured live rock is an option. Patrick Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Where did you get it from? Pictures? I still need a few pounds for the sump to seed dry stuff. SealifeInc otherwise knows as KPA. Link to comment
Subsea Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 You may save some money but if you go with live rock from your lfs or online you also get free good hitchhikers like stomatella and colonista snails and brittle stars and worms like peanut worms that are beneficial to help clean your tank. I've heard some people have a harder time cycling with the dry rock. I loved seeing signs of life right away, made the process even more exciting. It's entirely up to you which way you go. You can even do completely live rock uncured from the ocean and still very good pricing- check out SealifeInc. And check out the beauty of my live rock I received from them. pg 5, post 116 starts pics of the rocks when I received them 10/31. Ken Nedimyer of Sealife is cut from the same fabric as Richard Harker and Dale Barger. IMO, these enviromental stewardards have created artificial reefs with land mined Bimini limestone. After 25 years underwater, it is colonized with great diversity. The specific license that these men have to harvest rock with coral on it has upset bureaucratese in Florida and is no longer issued. When these men are no longer able to dive, this unique source of biodiversity will no longer be available. Patrick Link to comment
Subsea Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 SealifeInc otherwise knows as KPA. http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/1stimereefer/media/046_zps179263e8.jpg.html'> http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/1stimereefer/media/041_zps3429e59e.jpg.html'> http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/1stimereefer/media/045_zps9cb8f684.jpg.html'> http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/1stimereefer/media/034_zps349e190b.jpg.html'> http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/1stimereefer/media/031_zps27839908.jpg.html'> Very nice live rock. Hold on for a wild ride of surprises. I have had stuff emerge one year after it was introduced. It looks like you have some dragons breath emerging on some of the rock. I also got red grapes that emerged a year after rock was introduced. Patrick Link to comment
Nocturnal Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 After my first time doing a dryscape I doubt I will go back to full LR. At best it will be a few live pieces mixed in to kick start the life cycle. You do miss out on some beneficial hitchhikers but the lack of bad stuff, environmental benefit, and ability to really build a unique look outweigh that IMO. Link to comment
ifarmer Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I started two tanks with dry rock and a bottle of Dr. Tims. I went that route to save money. ive read folks go dry rock route to avoid bad hitchhikers. if what you meant was live rock or no rock at all, I dont think ive seen anyones tank run rockless. my friend's tank has no rocks (in display and in sump) http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2208807&page=3 Link to comment
Paandemonium Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Dry Pukani rock FTW, screw live rock Link to comment
best3175 Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 The original question should have been Live Rock or Dry Rock. I am mostly concerned about the unwanted Hitchhikers. I think I can introduce anything I want either through a few small pieces of "seed rock" or directly. Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 All the live rock available now is crap or maricultured land based rocks. My conclusion is buy the best looking dry rock and culture it myself. I got ReefCleaner rock for my display tank. USP sells 4 foot long threaded nylon rods and nuts by the way, to aquascape your rock. I will tend to argue this.....my Manando LR from PA kicks ass. Pics of the rock http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/307377-manado-liverock/ Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Very nice. Ummm, I just noticed that thread is a year and half old....hmmm. and per the posts, you got it 4 months before that. So almost two years ago you received that rock, correct? Yes, I have had the rock for a couple years Link to comment
ZeroEvoX Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I just ordered 8lbs of Dry Fiji from BRS. I plan On cycling my tank with this and 4 lbs of live rock from the LFS. Just another option Link to comment
Boggers Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I like dry with a rock or two live to seed. Link to comment
2 f15hy 4u Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I prefer dry rock to live rock. It's fun to watch the random critters that pop up on live rock, but it just became a hassle for me. Link to comment
lokipsl Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 For me it really depends on tank size and stock availability I quality live rock at my lfs. My big tank I went with reef cleaners dry rock with a little live rock from the tank I was upgrading from. My little 20 gallon I went a live rock because I could pick choice pieces locally. That being said, that vida rock looks pretty awesome Link to comment
CageyBee Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I am using marco rock and seeding with garf grunge. They have a bright white fine aragonite that I will use for my shallow sandbed garf.org Link to comment
frags Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I used dry-rock but I do not have a single pod in my tank or any other signs of life. I think the best way is to do dry and if you decide you can seed it with some other rock from a buddies tank that you know what your getting! I think I am going to add pods to my tank and not a piece of live rock with a bunch of other stuff. Link to comment
Tamberav Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I went with dry rock and added what I wanted manually (brittle stars, feather dusters, pods, sponges, asterna's, ect). The dry rock is now covered with life. That being said... I couldn't QT my clam so it gave me some turf and bubble algae I didn't want Link to comment
Maniu Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 <--------- likes live rock Link to comment
frags Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I went with dry rock and added what I wanted manually (brittle stars, feather dusters, pods, sponges, asterna's, ect). The dry rock is now covered with life. That being said... I couldn't QT my clam so it gave me some turf and bubble algae I didn't want How did you aquire all that stuff? Did you buy it in a package? Link to comment
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