Tl02022020
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So dry rock but with the downsides of shipped live rock that has to be cured? Ugh. I would be frustrated too. Hopefully it will cure pretty fast for you.
“Real Reef Rock” issues
- Thread starter diverjm
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JPM San Diego
Active Member
I am using real reef rock currently and am happy with it. The process that you have experienced is NOT what the real reef rock company recommends. I have two LFS that I use. One does it right and the other does it wrong. Reel reef rock is pre-cured by the company and it ready to go. It is supposed to go into a separate holding system at the LFS and sold wet. One of my LFS does this and I asked once (testing them), "what do you do with real reef rock brought back into the stores by customers. Answer: dry it out completely and sell it as decorations - never to go back into an aquarium. No chance of contaminating a future customer with the sellers old real reef rock. Unfortunately my other LFS just throws used real reef rock back in with new rock and with live rock. Everyone gets every pest and unpleasant hitchhiker. If you received real reef rock with sponges and macro algae you can be pretty sure it came from another user's tank and not from the company that makes it.
realreefrock.com
Dealer Support | Real Reef Rock
LeftyReefer
2500 Club Member
I'd say you got exactly what their site says you'd get....
The website says " It’s made from all natural reef eco friendly materials and grown in greenhouses to become a bio-active rock, without the nuisance pests and hitch hikers commonly found on wild rock. Rock is then dried and packaged for shipping. "
This seems to be an issue of the buyer not knowing what they are buying, not the seller being shady.
They clearly say the rock is dried before shipping.
After further research you are correct that saltwateraquarium.com does state they sell the product dry and I didn’t catch that before purchasing it. Most other retailers of this product sell it wrapped in damp paper which is what Real Reef suggests. My bad for expecting a company to sell the product the way the manufacturer suggests.
Could you link which one you bought? It does seem like you glossed over it by accident.
" Real Reef Rock is our standard reef building rock. It is very light, porous and full of holes and crevices. It is three dimensional in shape and comes in many natural shades of purple, pink and red. It replicates the look, feel and function of coralline encrusted coral skeleton rock. It’s made from all natural reef eco friendly materials and grown in greenhouses to become a bio-active rock, without the nuisance pests and hitch hikers commonly found on wild rock. This rock is great for Marine Reef and Fish only aquariums. Not suggested for Freshwater, as it holds a high stable pH. Rock is then dried and packaged for shipping. "
saltwater aquarium link
There is also this one called "life rock" which IMO is a terrible name since it will get a lot of people thinking it's live rock... But it's LIFE rock. Dumb thing to do IMO.
"Don't just put rocks in your tank, ROCK YOUR REEF with LifeRock Shelf Rock! Spectacular shelves make the perfect display area for inverts or use shelves to create caves and platforms. Amazing porosity, incredible biological performance (drops ammonia levels like real live rock!), and unsurpassed realism make LifeRock the best, and most cost effective choice for any aquarist. Nature Perfected, Nature Protected, that's LifeRock from CaribSea.
It is safe for all fish and inverts, and is an aragonitic base material (does not contain cement), requires no curing, and is infused with spored, live bacteria."
life rock link
If thats the case they needed to ship it wet.
They dont seem to sell real live rock.
" Real Reef Rock is our standard reef building rock. It is very light, porous and full of holes and crevices. It is three dimensional in shape and comes in many natural shades of purple, pink and red. It replicates the look, feel and function of coralline encrusted coral skeleton rock. It’s made from all natural reef eco friendly materials and grown in greenhouses to become a bio-active rock, without the nuisance pests and hitch hikers commonly found on wild rock. This rock is great for Marine Reef and Fish only aquariums. Not suggested for Freshwater, as it holds a high stable pH. Rock is then dried and packaged for shipping. "
saltwater aquarium link
There is also this one called "life rock" which IMO is a terrible name since it will get a lot of people thinking it's live rock... But it's LIFE rock. Dumb thing to do IMO.
"Don't just put rocks in your tank, ROCK YOUR REEF with LifeRock Shelf Rock! Spectacular shelves make the perfect display area for inverts or use shelves to create caves and platforms. Amazing porosity, incredible biological performance (drops ammonia levels like real live rock!), and unsurpassed realism make LifeRock the best, and most cost effective choice for any aquarist. Nature Perfected, Nature Protected, that's LifeRock from CaribSea.
It is safe for all fish and inverts, and is an aragonitic base material (does not contain cement), requires no curing, and is infused with spored, live bacteria."
life rock link
If thats the case they needed to ship it wet.
They dont seem to sell real live rock.
LeftyReefer
2500 Club Member
its the manufacturer who isn't being clear about the product, not so much the stores selling it.
The manufacturer basically acts as if this is real live rock, but it isn't. They charge live rock prices, but ship out dry rock. They even call it live rock, but it isn't. Its dried painted rock that may or may not have some dead/dry algae on it.
None of these Real Reef rocks are shipped wet, they are all dried and shipped dry. You can request a free sample of the frags/rubble on a $20 order if you don't believe me.
The manufacturer basically acts as if this is real live rock, but it isn't. They charge live rock prices, but ship out dry rock. They even call it live rock, but it isn't. Its dried painted rock that may or may not have some dead/dry algae on it.
None of these Real Reef rocks are shipped wet, they are all dried and shipped dry. You can request a free sample of the frags/rubble on a $20 order if you don't believe me.
Rjukan
Day Dreamer
So why didn't you buy from either of those sources? Odds are it's because they were more expensive, which takes in to account the cost of keeping/shipping them wet.
When I found out what "real reef rock" and "life rock" actually were I was annoyed that they could get away with calling it that. Its like a Chinese company called "American Made" selling things you think are made in the USA, but it's just the name of the company...
My LFS was out of stock and I chose saltwateraquarium.com over BRS because they sold “smaller sized rocks”. I honestly thought I would receive the same product (other than size), treated in the same manner no matter who I purchased from. Again, I do take responsibility for not comparing the descriptions for each website and how they sell the product. I would have gladly paid more for a product that I can use immediately vs one that has to be cured in a trash can in my living room. The wife is ecstatic having a trash can filled with decaying rocks, smelling up the house!
Dweezilz
Active Member
For what it's worth at this point as this reply is a bit late, but there should not be dead stuff on the dry version at all. I've seen Real Reef Rock sold as dry fully cured which will arrive either totally dry or slightly moist or fully cured live version which is the original dry version sent to the stores by Real Reef and then put in tanks separate from any other rock by the end seller. On a few sites like premium aquatics you can purchase either version. The live version is more expensive by a little bit. There is not supposed to be any version that needs to be cured at all. If that is what you got, I'd say it was a store returned item or the company did not store it in a separate tank since it should not have any dead material or need to be cured no matter where it was purchased from.
So what was the outcome of this? I just received my shipment of the dry version.
So what was the outcome of this? I just received my shipment of the dry version.
jesspal
Well-Known Member
I purchased real reef rock that was dry and it did have small sponges and other organisms on it. I paid a much cheaper price for it and cured it myself while I was ordering my tank and gathering equipment. I am very happy with the rock and it seems to be a good choice, if you are willing to put in the work.
I did see the rock cured already on Premium aquatics but decided against it since I had the time to do this myself.
I did see the rock cured already on Premium aquatics but decided against it since I had the time to do this myself.
The rock is still currently curing as we speak. I have it in a brute trash can with a recirculating pump, a Powerhead and an air stone. I’ve been doing weekly water changes while adding MicroBacter clean after the water change. The sponges and micro algae are still decaying. I’m happy that I decided to cure it in this manner because all of this decay would have definitely lead to problems.
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"Real reef rock" to me does not specify live or dead. I would read it as actual reef rock from the ocean vs mined rock, but again, I would have no idea if it was live or dead.
Terminology surrounding rock in this hobby is too confusing.
Terminology surrounding rock in this hobby is too confusing.
MaxxuM
Active Member
"Real Reef Rock" is a brand name. The rock is man-made and is cured in freshwater then saltwater for four+ months. The curing process is probably to stabilize the rock chemically (just a guess). It is then dried out so it will likely have die-off algae and bacteria (some of which may still be active inside). It most certainly will have some kind of impact on the biological filtration due to the dead organics left on it. It isn't marketed as "live". A quote from the site...
"It is through this labor intensive proprietary Patent Pending process that makes Real Reef mimic some of the best coral Live Rock shapes the aquarium industry has seen!"
"It is through this labor intensive proprietary Patent Pending process that makes Real Reef mimic some of the best coral Live Rock shapes the aquarium industry has seen!"
Dweezilz
Active Member
Yeah seems a few people on the thread are confusing real reef as meaning live rock or dried rock instead of the brand name Real Reef Rock. That stinks you had to cure it yourself but better safe than sorry since there was loose dead matter. Part of the beauty of this brand of rock is that it doesn't impact natural resources since it's man made, you don't have to cure it, and both dry and the 'live' version have levels of beneficial bacteria to speed up a cycle, in addition to it looking cool right out of the box. Sorry you had to go through curing it again. I got the dry version because our schedule is so crazy, i couldn't guarantee I could get it into the tank in 4 days which they recommend if you get the 'live' version that soaked in tanks for the extra months.
MaxxuM
Active Member
That's the important thing.
MaxxuM
Active Member
Yeah, I got about 150lb of Gulf rock and wow did it stink for a few weeks, but it was vastly more interesting than dry rock. Lucky the only pest was a mantis shrimp that I had to find and donate to my LFS.
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