Dead Rock vs Live Rock (1 Viewer)

[porkchop]

I am wanting to limit what enters my pico office tank, and I think I want to use some man made, or maybe some "dry" rock. I really want to keep this system Pristine and simple and almost....sterile. If that makes any sense.

In the past, I have always purchased "live rock" from my LFS.

Is there any inherent issues with starting fresh, instead of grabbing the "live" stuff?

Also, I am really on the fence about sand vs bare bottom. I have had sand in all of my tanks thus far, but this tank is smaller and only 6" deep, so I do not want to lose space to a sandbed...

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[izzy]

I thought the same as you, so I cycled my 120 with 100 lbs of dead rock from reefcleaners.org, great rock btw. As a newbie, I didn't want nor did I know how to deal with all the hitchhikers that live rock came with. The two negatives that I can think of, and excuse me for being captain obvious, cycling takes a lot longer. I'm not sure how long it'll take with your pico but with my 120 it took about a month, it takes a long time for 100 lbs of rock to grow bacteria. Another negative is that you don't get the benefits of the good hitchhikers with dry rock. However, to me, the bad hitchhikers you would get on live rock outweigh the good ones.

If you want, you can always speed up your cycling process using live sand along with bacteria in a bottle if your using dry rock.

 

[porkchop]

If you want, you can always speed up your cycling process using live sand along with bacteria in a bottle if your using dry rock.

I have not suffered through a cycle since my very first tank. I tend to stock and feed very light, and every since that first tank, I have slowly upgraded and just added live rock as I went.

I was thinking about doing this the hard way. Fresh rock, no sand, toss in some Mysis or something and wait for the magic. I really want this tank to be Uber clean and simple...

 

[izzy]

I cycled with 1 frozen shrimp and left it in there till it disappeared. I never saw an ammonia spike, so I started using ACE janitorial strength ammonia after the shrimp was diminished. I tested ammonia everyday and it took 3 days for me not to see anymore ammonia. I dosed ammonia two more times after that and got the same results. I new at that time that I was cycled.

At one point it was nice to see my fish swimming around with clear white rock and white sand, of course it didn't look like that after the diatoms started.

To be honest, you're going to have to be careful of what you put in your tank. If you're able to, make sure to dip and qt all of your corals. Unfortunately, in the beginning, I purchased some zoa colonies from a fellow MARSHian and they ended up having apstasia. Really upset me after going through the whole process of purchasing dry rock. Just be careful with what you buy, because eventually the stuff you don't want in the tank can end up getting in.

 

[porkchop]

To be honest, you're going to have to be careful of what you put in your tank. If you're able to, make sure to dip and qt all of your corals. Unfortunately, in the beginning, I purchased some zoa colonies from a fellow MARSHian and they ended up having apstasia. Really upset me after going through the whole process of purchasing dry rock. Just be careful with what you buy, because eventually the stuff you don't want in the tank can end up getting in.

This is SO true. I have fought with apstasia and flat worms in the past. I do NOT want to do that again. That's kind of why I have not done anything to my 40 gallon. Its working. everything is healthy. The parameters are dead stable. Super Super Simple to maintain.

When I start buying coral, I am going to force myself to stick to a strict QT system. I will start asking those questions and reading up on dipping when I get closer to time.

 

[izzy]

This is SO true. I have fought with apstasia and flat worms in the past. I do NOT want to do that again. That's kind of why I have not done anything to my 40 gallon. Its working. everything is healthy. The parameters are dead stable. Super Super Simple to maintain.

When I start buying coral, I am going to force myself to stick to a strict QT system. I will start asking those questions and reading up on dipping when I get closer to time.

I've never had any issues with any of my corals using Bayer advanced insect cleaner for dipping. I use 10 ml per every cup and leave in for about 15 minutes. Mostly everything opens up within the hour. Zoas take a little bit longer, I've seen some take up to three days to open. Thought I killed them but I'm glad I was patient enough to leave them in there.

Anyways, I've been with my tank since August and my corals and fish are all thriving. I haven't had any issues having dry rock as my bacterial filtration. When I upgrade, and it looks like soon, I plan on doing it all over again. Did I mention that dry rock is super easy to aquascape? The rock fits together well to where you don't see a seam, big plus!

 

[porkchop]

This conversation, along with a talk I had with the wife last night, has me re-considering my plans for this tank. Please check out my post in the nano forum and weigh in!

 

[bd5542]

I do agree that you have to be careful with live rock and what it can carry. But if you get it from someone who knows what they are doing you can be safe. Have a conversation with the person you pick it up from first so that you know what you are getting. However adding good dry rock to existing live rock is great. Mine didn't take long to start the process of becoming live afterwards.