Bullet Proof Reef methods ???

[EIGHTWGT]

I have read tons of pages from the GARF site. I am trying to decide on Live rock vs using the aggrocrete and 'seeding' my tank with garf grunge, therfore as they say no worries about possibly polluting your tank with something bad (life forms,algea,etc..)

 

So please advise whats the good points bad points of the "Bullet Proof Reef" system as explained by GARF ?

 

Thanks guys !!!

[Korbin]

I dont know about the GARF grunge, but I seeded my 12 gallon from my 3 gallon which had absolutely no pests or bad algae problems.

 

As I said in the "Rookie questions" post, I just took some crap from the bottom of the tank, squirted it in the water, put a couple lbs of live sand and a couple lbs of liverock in and VIOLA! a duplicate tank with no pests.

 

I would say just find a tank that has no pests and seed it from that. No need for the GARF BS, in my opinion. Bacteria are bacteria. I dont see why you would need to buy fancy, brand-name, designer bacteria.:x

[MKramer]

As I understand it, it can take months to years for seeded dead rock to reach the filtering capabilities of quality live rock. Probably more in the months range for amsll tank, but that's still a long time. Whether it's worth it or not is up to you. I don't believe for a second that one can prevent algae from getting itno the tank using that method.

 

As for the bullet proof reef.... For one, it is really meant for larger tanks. Beyond that, it's outdated. A true deep sand bed will easily outperform a plenum system like theirs. But neither will have an noticible affect on a nano.

 

Further, their additive dosing is absurdly high for a small tank that sees frequent water changes. You replenish almost all of the elements you need jsut by doing a 10% weekly waterchange. In larger tanks, where doing such frequent changes is quite prohibitive, the additional additives may be in more demand.

 

In the end, their system's purpose is designed to cut a few corners and save some cash. I personally despise cutting corners, and am a firm believer in the fact that when you do, it come back to haunt you.

 

Try searching on reefcentral.com for info on GARF. They're not exactly a highly-respected group. I do think their grunge is good stuff, but that's about all I'd ever recommend them for.

[Satchmo]

Save your money. Look on ReefCentral and hook up with an experienced reefer (there are TONS in your area). Seed your sand with a scoop of theirs, and you're all set.

 

As for the rock... go live. You'll get countless stuff on good live rock that no "grunge" can deliver.

[printerdown01]

The best advice I can give you on creating an awesome nano is don't skimp on LR!! Seeding is possible, and allows you a lot more control over the aquascape. However, I have always prefered a good quality LR. And yes it is possible that you will end up with pests like aptasia or flatworms... But if you seed it is not possible to have massive pink sponges that cover the backs of your rocks, or sea squirts, or porites, or button polyps that I inherited from my LR. GARF has some great ideas... and shows people how easy it is to create a reef aquarium... but to be honest it can be even easier!

 

If easy is what you are looking for get a tank and lighting set-up to match its size: i.e. 7 gallon tank with 28W or 32W of PC or a 10 gallon with 2x28W or a 12 gallon with 2x32W.... Then add QUALITY LR, a deep sand bed, and a biologically diverse clean-up crew. By this I mean do not just go out and buy astrea or margarita... I prefer astrea thus of my 7 or 8 snails 4 are astrea, but you need diversity since certain snails are better at eating certain algae... That is one thing that GARF def has right! I have hear many people rave about their clean-up crew pacage and their coral pacages, but I have heard few happy customers when it comes to their "grunge."

*take this as no more than my opinion... There are many ways to create a successful reef, this is simply the method that I have found to be cost effective, most benificial, and easiest for myself.

[EIGHTWGT]

Ok... Ill go for the live rock. I live in Jacksonville so I am only 3 hours from Tampa - which has 2 really good suppliers of 'aqua cultured' live rock... Ill just drive down and pick it up - and pick out some sweet lookin stuff.....

 

 

 

thanks guys....

 

Tom Mitzlaff

[Satchmo]

You're lucky. Gulf View (I think it's in Tampa) is one of the premier distributors of Carribean Aquacultured rock. Everyone I know who has gone through them has been very, very happy. The rest of us have to have it shipped

[Crakeur]

regarding garf, their reputation is sketchy at best. check out reef central and you will see numerous complaints (almost as many as aquacon) about the livegoods and the customer service (Satch, if they call me back, I'm still placing that order so don't get worried).

 

If you want sand bed goodies, you can do no wrong with www.ipsf.com. They have great stuff and their reputation is great.

[Satchmo]

lol, no worries man.

 

Call you back? What did you get a machine? That's a hell of a way to run a business.

[second2n0ne]

I can attest to GARF's "sketchy" reputation...Their grunge is full of aiptasia, glass shards, broken marbles, and shell fragments - LITERALLY, not kidding. Not to mention that everything including frags arrived late and 2/3rds of it was DOA. Did they refund me or work with me on remeding the situation? NOPE! Check out REPUTABLE retailers like IPSF.com.

[printerdown01]

EIGHTWGT, if you could actually buy directly from Gulf View as Satchmo suggested BY ALL MEANS DO IT! I have heard nothing but praise when it comes to their rock... Some people around here (before the site was rolled over) posted some pics of the stuff and it was some of the best rock I have EVER seen!!!