Pukini vs reef saver

[William]

Trying to decide on which to use for my reefer 170, any thoughts, comments, advice?

[Cencalfishguy56]

Trying to decide on which to use for my reefer 170, any thoughts, comments, advice?

reef cleaners Rock

[spectra]

I agree on the RC also. I love the Pukani but if in a hurry don't do it......it needs to be cured for a while and still leaches phosphates over time.

 

I have used RC in all of my builds so far and have been happy.

[masterbuilder]

Right...Pukani can give you lots of problems. If your in love with it, search for the procedure to clean and cure it. I wouldn't use it myself.

[Spiderguardnano]

Marco rocks is also a good option but I would also suggest doing an acid bath or curing it for at least a month in dark tub

 

 

But yes Marco rocks is my favorite also the e mortar kit is amazing just finished using it and it's strong

[HarryPotter]

Trying to decide on which to use for my reefer 170, any thoughts, comments, advice?

 

ReefCleaners!

[jolee0722]

Reef Cleaners unless you're willing to clean pukani rock and lose a lot of it from the cleaning process. Way too many phosphate issues that lasts for a year or longer with pukani. Save yourself the trouble and go with Reef Cleaners rock which is just as good looking.

[anizato]

Marco rocks is also a good option but I would also suggest doing an acid bath or curing it for at least a month in dark tub

 

 

But yes Marco rocks is my favorite also the e mortar kit is amazing just finished using it and it's strong

 

 

I did that, just dark tubbed them for like 4 months. It wasn't enough, I should have done an acid bath prior, serious rinse, then a dark tub for 4 months before even thinking about putting anything in my tank. Look at my thread, everything, parameters, husbandry, equipment are all top notch. BRS ReefSaver rocks, badass right?, well not if you don't go the extra mile to cure them.

[ajmckay]

IME pukani is the most interesting rock there is. It's really well suited to a reef tank and the average piece has so many holes and crevices for fish and critters to hide it's pretty amazing. I bought 22-23 lbs for a 40b and it was plenty.

 

The downside as discussed is that it doesn't come pre-cured. The amount of time you'll need to fully cure the rock is probably anywhere between 3 weeks to a few months depending on what method you use. It can be cleaned in a matter of minutes using a muriatic acid bath which has been done by many people with success.

 

As for rock leaching phosphates I think that probably shouldn't be one of the main determining factors in choosing rock because all rocks are different. There's no guarantee that reefcleaners rock won't have the issue or that pukani will. There are too many factors that can cause phosphate in a tank to put all the blame on rocks.

 

For my own pukani I soaked it in hot hot water followed by a vinegar soak and finally hosed it off with as high of pressure as I could get from a garden hose. I let it cure in my tank for about a month but never had any significant algae.

[William]

Didn't really think about reef cleaners.... I'm in a studio apartment in NYC, so long labor intensive rock curing is not really possible. Does anyone have any pics of setups using reef cleaners rock? Does anyone sell pre-cured pukini?

[ajmckay]

John has pics on reefcleaners.

 

If you're looking for ready-to-use pukani I find it best to buy it on craigslist or a local reef forum. It takes more effort because they don't always post good pictures and not many people are familiar with the various kinds of rock though.

[Rookie1]

I used pukani, no acid bath in a new tank. I had to take the rock out at week 2.5 and give it a good rinse/dunking session in saltwater to finish dislodging all the decaying stuff, but once I did that the cycle finished in 24 hours.

 

You truly cannot beat the look of pukani. Many of the others look good, but not AS good in my rookie humble opinion. I was using it in my first tank, maybe not the best choice but it's working so far.

 

If you didn't pull it for a second rinse I'd bet your cycle would take quite a while. I got a tip from the LFS to do a second good rinse and it worked wonders.

[William]

Does it Stink?

[ReefWeeds]

IME pukani is the most interesting rock there is. It's really well suited to a reef tank and the average piece has so many holes and crevices for fish and critters to hide it's pretty amazing. I bought 22-23 lbs for a 40b and it was plenty.

 

The downside as discussed is that it doesn't come pre-cured. The amount of time you'll need to fully cure the rock is probably anywhere between 3 weeks to a few months depending on what method you use. It can be cleaned in a matter of minutes using a muriatic acid bath which has been done by many people with success.

 

As for rock leaching phosphates I think that probably shouldn't be one of the main determining factors in choosing rock because all rocks are different. There's no guarantee that reefcleaners rock won't have the issue or that pukani will. There are too many factors that can cause phosphate in a tank to put all the blame on rocks.

 

For my own pukani I soaked it in hot hot water followed by a vinegar soak and finally hosed it off with as high of pressure as I could get from a garden hose. I let it cure in my tank for about a month but never had any significant algae.

 

I agree with AJ. I bought pukani via BRS, soaked it in vinegar for 24 hours, scrubbed and hosed it off, soaked it one more time, scrubbed and hosed. Then let it dry. I haven't had any problems with it and I absolutely love how porous it is and the shapes you get.

[Rookie1]

Does it Stink?

 

Mine did for about 24 hours, and even then I was still able to sit and watch tv about 5 feet from it without being bothered by it too much.

[William]

My issue is I live in a high rise apt in NYC and do not have access to a Waterhouse etc, so all of the cleaning would have to be done in a sink/bathtub/plastic tub, is this something that would be manageable or would it be too much

[Rookie1]

My issue is I live in a high rise apt in NYC and do not have access to a Waterhouse etc, so all of the cleaning would have to be done in a sink/bathtub/plastic tub, is this something that would be manageable or would it be too much

 

Absolutely doable. Here is the process I've gone through with my rock start to finish (my tank is now week 2 post cycle and doing great):

 

-Bought dry pukani rock

-Threw rock in my bath tub and used removable showerhead to hose the stuff down best I could. I used a screwdriver, and some odds and ends around the house to get as much stuff out of it as I could. A great deal of crap came out of the rock.

-Rinsed rock in saltwater pretty well.

-Started my new tank with new saltwater and put rock in tank. Had an ammonia spike within 36 hours.

-Let cycle go, ammonia went down, nitrite shot up off the charts.

-Once I started seeing nitrate i was wondering why nitrite didn't start coming down. After waiting a week or so, a LFS told me to get the rock out and rinse it in salt water again. Following that advise I yanked it out and dunked/swirled it in a bucket of saltwater for 30 minutes or so.

-Put rock back in tank and did a water change using established water. Nitrite hit 0 within 48 hours. Even with the water change though I got nitrite readings immediately after though.

 

So yeah, I had a little struggle with the rock. Some local knowledge really helped me out. My tank is processing great and holding everything in check with the new fish (one fish) and some inverts.

 

The only thing I needed was my shower and a 5 gallon bucket for all of this, oh and the container of saltwater from the store. I live in a very small home with all hardwood. I need to be very careful as well!!

[anizato]

 

Absolutely doable. Here is the process I've gone through with my rock start to finish (my tank is now week 2 post cycle and doing great):

 

 

2 weeks is not enough to tell if your rock was cleaned properly or not.

 

---0---

 

I would go a little more hardcore IME

setllablue and AJ suggested a vinegar dip, others also suggested a muriatic acid dip, I would do at least one of these methods to be extra safe. You don't want to deal with BS down the line (after 10 months and beyond), trust

[Rookie1]

 

2 weeks is not enough to tell if your rock was cleaned properly or not.

 

---0---

 

I would go a little more hardcore IME

setllablue and AJ suggested a vinegar dip, others also suggested a muriatic acid dip, I would do at least one of these methods to be extra safe. You don't want to deal with BS down the line (after 10 months and beyond), trust

 

This would only make sure you'd done an even better job. I think this could also be done in an apartment setting without much mess.

[Finding Paulo]

Right...Pukani can give you lots of problems. If your in love with it, search for the procedure to clean and cure it. I wouldn't use it myself.

What kind of problems?

[Cencalfishguy56]

My issue is I live in a high rise apt in NYC and do not have access to a Waterhouse etc, so all of the cleaning would have to be done in a sink/bathtub/plastic tub, is this something that would be manageable or would it be too much

i used reef cleaners in my current build, very porous, I can easily slide frag plugs in the rock with out gluing and the rock he sends you is easy to aquascape

What kind of problems?

it can leach phosphates and other organic a into the water column for months causing algae outbreaks for months unless you clean it prior to using it

[Halo_003]

Pretty much all rock can give you problems.

 

I would get what you prefer and just give it an acid bath. I personally much prefer Fiji rocks, I love the texture.

[William]

I may actually do the Walt Smith Reef rock 2.1..... But still not sure

[Rookie1]

I may actually do the Walt Smith Reef rock 2.1..... But still not sure

 

Ultimately, get the rock you like. It all cycles and after whatever amount of time that is it will provide your tank the filtration needed. Get the rock you want to look at. You'll hopefully have the tank running for a good long time. Just like any other investment of time or money, don't get something you'll regret later. I personally really like the look of pukani and wasn't deterred knowing it could take longer to cycle. A little additional work to clean or cycle your rock to have the aquascape that you will enjoy for years is worth it in the end.

 

Full disclosure: The above advise is from a complete novice.

[William]

I have used Marco and reef saver before and have used both live and dead Fiji. I like the look of the pukini, but I don't know that I like it enough to go through the trouble to clean/cure it in my apartment.