100% BRS Reef Saver rock 'tanks'

[reeferfoxx]

Any of you actually start your tank with 100% all reef saver rock? What are your thoughts and experiences on this?

I was going through the Q&A on there website and noticed something kind of interesting.

2013-
"do you need to cure reef saver rock the same as you would live rock or is it fairly free of organics?
Question by: john on Sep 1, 2013 3:53:00 AM"
Hey John,
We would advise cycling any type rock from any source because it just isn't worth the risk of your live stock not too. As far as the rock goes though, the reef saver is by far the cleanest of any of the rocks right off the bat.

2014-
"I am starting a new tank with the Reef Saver Dry Live Rock and Caribsea Arag-Alive Fiji pink sand. Should I start the cycle with the sand first while I cure the rock and add the rock later? Or can I start the cycle with both the sand and rock? What is your recommendation?"
Question by: Calvin on Apr 23, 2014 3:37:00 AM
Hi Calvin,
If your going to cycle the rock in the tank, I would just do your aquascape, add the sand, add the water, and then let the whole system cycle together.

2016-
"I am setting up a 120 gal and would like to buy 120lb of reef saver rock. Now if I use the Red Sea reef mature kit or Dr. Tim's bacteria to cycle the tank do I still need to do the 100% water change?"
Question by: Michael Eaddy on Apr 3, 2016 10:09:00 PM
Great question!
We recommend curing the rock in a separate container to remove any excess nutrients before placing into the tank and starting the tanks cycle. If you prefer to cure in the tank we recommend curing for the same period and starting the cycle with the mature pro later. Feel free to let us know if you have any further questions!

2016-
"If this is 100% pest free, why does it need to be cured? I am replacing live rock I bought from a LFS in September of 2015 that I have been battling aptasia, bubble algae, and bryopsis with."
Question by: Randy on Jun 23, 2016 9:35:00 PM
Great question! We recommend curing all dry rock in order to establish a good starting population of beneficial bacteria within the pores.

I wish I had noticed this before I started my tank. Instead I started this tank off following this video from BRS...



Which they state the rock is ready for cycling and never informing anyone to cure the rock.

I began to look into this as I have been dealing with diatoms for literally 6 months straight, now.
So I would like to hear anyone elses experience with this rock?

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Check out vivid's 800 gallon ( they have a post somewhere) they set up their entire tank with the red sea real reef rock, the whole tank was in diatoms, they ended up dosing some yeast and now its super clean. Also I think this is a pretty informative video, though its impossible to put all of the info about setting up the reef tank in 7 and a half minutes.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Check out vivid's 800 gallon ( they have a post somewhere) they set up their entire tank with the red sea real reef rock, the whole tank was in diatoms, they ended up dosing some yeast and now its super clean. Also I think this is a pretty informative video, though its impossible to put all of the info about setting up the reef tank in 7 and a half minutes.

Yeah, I've tried yeast without much change. However their dosing procedure is 1/4 teaspoon per 100 gallons every other day or something to that effect. I tried 1/16 teaspoon without any changes.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

I honestly have no idea how much they dosed, but I can ask Dave next time I go there.

 

[sidneyreefer]

From what I have heard all man made continues to leach an unknown amount of phospates for quite some time. I am going to be using a fair amount of Marco on my 180 and plan on curing for atleast 6 weeks .

 

[reeferfoxx]

He posted a video http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-video-on-our-800-reef-diatom-algae-solution-first-corals.253126/

Not to sound redundant but I've tried the yeast....

 

[Ashish Patel]

Pukani rock is my favorite choice but I am not a fan of the curing processes - Does not make sense to me to cure Dry rock but its really just needs a good acid bath!...I started my tank with all Reef saver rock because i wanted a rock that did not require curing or risk leeching PO down the road. Reef saver rock is more difficult to break and drill holes as its more dense but its easy to aquascape as it blends very well. I have a lot of Reef saver rock rubble which I use as frag plugs making aquascaping a little less painful!

 

[Ashish Patel]

I would not cure Reef saver rock - their is no die off. It is safe to use immediately (this is my opinion)...For other Dry rock I would use Bleach/or acid - which will remove all the stuck on dead organics from the rock. Then you can powerwash the rock and let it bake in the sun.

Live Rock needs to be cured because die off has occur during shippment and you want the living organism thrive. Dead rock is the opposite so to me curing does not make sense unless you planning on maturing the rock in the process of curing so your tank has an established biological filter from the get go!..

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would not cure Reef saver rock - their is no die off. It is safe to use immediately (this is my opinion)...For other Dry rock I would use Bleach/or acid - which will remove all the stuck on dead organics from the rock. Then you can powerwash the rock and let it bake in the sun.

Live Rock needs to be cured because die off has occur during shippment and you want the living organism thrive. Dead rock is the opposite so to me curing does not make sense unless you planning on maturing the rock in the process of curing so your tank has an established biological filter from the get go!..

Dry rock needs to be cured because the aragonite once it hits seawater begins to buffer as ions are exchanged. There's actually a slightly higher ph in the water surrounding the rock and it does effect the water colo. also the outer layers of the dissolve releasing silicates and other soft minerals.
As the curing proceeds bacteria coat the aragonite reducing the buffering of the water on the outer layer of the rock.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I was so newb haha!

I began to look into this as I have been dealing with diatoms for literally 6 months straight, now.
So I would like to hear anyone elses experience with this rock?

This was before I identified my "diatoms" as Chrysophytes... LOL ;Hilarious

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Lol. Oh yea.

Now in hindsight and what we know happens to your rock I wonder if there was a correlation. Hmmm.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Lol. Oh yea.

Now in hindsight and what we know happens to your rock I wonder if there was a correlation. Hmmm.

Some may not agree with curing dry rock. I think it's necessary.

 

[hart24601]

Some may not agree with curing dry rock. I think it's necessary.

I sure do too. Started a 60 cube with BRS tonga rock. Looks great, I even had this rock sitting in the back room in a tub for a month where I was adding LaCl to remove phosphate. I made the mistake of not making sure phosphate were really at 0 before setting up the display and I have been battling nutrient for almost 2 months now. I only feed a tiny pinch of food a day and vodka dose along with a chaeto reactor but I fight nutrients. Nitrate has remained 25 or so and phosphate is always 0.05 or more despite running a constant spyglass full of gfo that I have changed 3 times. RO/DI water tests 0/0.

It is finally settling down and the rock doesn't have as much algae or whatever it is on there, but it sure has taken it's sweet time. With the small amount of food I add daily and good RO/DI water the most likely source is the rock.

 

[Evoguy]

So how would you all recommend curing dry reef saver rock? I would like to do it the most natural way .thanks

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm probably not the best person to ask. I've had nothing but horrible algae outbreaks with this rock. Tanks been up for over a year and 8 months and still growing cyano and hair algae. Live rock is the way to go.

The most natural way is to soak it in rodi water for a few weeks then cure it with saltwater and a heater for 5 months outside the display tank. This rock was mined from the sea floor and has a lot of phosphates in it.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Just get a rock that was not living in the water. Who wants to cure for 6 + month with the hopes that maybe it's cured. I used reef saver and algae forms on the glass before the rock. I know it's cured from day 1. Also I use the rubble to mount frags so it's no issues about curing those aswell

 

[Evoguy]

So. You didnt cure reef saver. And it worked out well?

 

[reeferfoxx]

So. You didnt cure reef saver. And it worked out well?

His dry rock tank is 6 months old. To make the claim that algae hasn't plagued his tank yet would be a premature response. It's best to cure/cycle the rock in a bin separate from the display for roughly 5 months to remove phosphates, silicates, and other minerals.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I've had no algae growing on the reefsaver. It's not harvested from the ocean which is why I picked it. I had algae problem from dosing nitrates and having a autofeeder drop a lot More pellets then thought. Even then no algae on rock.

If you have the time to cure its good as you can get the nitrifying bacteria going so your tank will be ready for fish and coral faster. IMO it not necessary to cure this rock

 

[reeferfoxx]

It's not harvested from the ocean which is why I picked it.

Actually it is harvested from the ocean. Clearly stated on BRSs website.