Best dry "live" rock which to avoid the phosphate sponge effect?

[revenant]

Hello all... I would love some advice please. I need to scape a base of rock for my new 300G tank on one side. I setup this tank two months ago with the intention of moving the contents of my smaller tank into it.. I scaped it on one side leaving the other side open to move the other tank into essentially.. I've been waiting to pull the trigger on that move for a while and the more I look at things the more I think I need to put the basement in first. I want to build a good base first so I can move over what I want onto a nice plateau of rocks.

I have been reading about dry rock and how much of it will absorb po4 (and no3?) and might crash it to zero and then dynos. UGH... So I was looking into

Reel Reef Rock https://realreefrock.com/ - they have a fresh and then saltwater "curing process" in-house which seems like it might be better than just straight up dry rock. "A truly green product, made from 11 natural Calcium Carbonate based materials and cultured for 5 months. Ideal bioactivity, without negative bioload and nuisance hitchhikers."

I read mixed reviews of this, not pourous but looks pretty... I was wanting a 40lb box to create the base I want. Would this be one of those rocks that would sponge up po4??

OR

MarcosRocks https://marcorocks.com/marcorocks-maricultured-live-rock-ships-overnight/ - this looks fully cultured... pricey but looks nice.. Is this something that would be a po4 sponge too?

My tank is going fantastic so far... it's all fiji tonga I got with the tank plus some misc bits from my 4yo mature tank to zip things along with the cycle.... Ulglies came and went, now some more, a little back and forth but it's gettin very stable..

no3 5ppm
po4 0.04
alk 8.4
ph 8.3

I didn't want to add dry rock and crash the nutrients but I wanted something I could just basically put right in.. Is there any rock that would avoid that po4 sponge effect?

Thanks all!


Some photos for ref:
Tank dems 96L x 30W x 23H

my plan is to pull out those small rocks and re-scape the whole left side from the side of the overflow all the way to the left side wall and wrap around to the front a little.. take advantage of the 30" width and the lack of view-ability in from that side.

 

[Spare time]

What about bommie reef rock?

 

[rhitee93]

I used Marco rock for my setup and didn't have any phosphate issues from it. I bought the plain old white stuff in a box.

 

[revenant]

What about bommie reef rock?

Thanks for the fast reply.. I have never heard of it but looks nice upon quick glance. Thanks!

 

[revenant]

I used Marco rock for my setup and didn't have any phosphate issues from it. I bought the plain old white stuff in a box.

Great to know.. thanks!

@rhitee93 - did you get some nice large base rocks with your order? like 10 to 12" across type? Def leaning towards Marcos at this point. Thanks!!

 

[rhitee93]

@rhitee93 - did you get some nice large base rocks with your order? like 10 to 12" across type? Def leaning towards Marcos at this point. Thanks!!

There were no true pieces of base rock. All the pieces were roughly round. The biggest pieces were about cantaloupe sized. I can't get to the pics right now, but there are some pics in my build thread that show the rock I used. The two big purple towers were another brand, and I don't like them much.

 

[MarsReefer]

I used Marco dry rock, no curing. It wasn’t too bad, I just dosed phosphate once a day for about two months and then I was done.

 

[revenant]

There were no true pieces of base rock. All the pieces were roughly round. The biggest pieces were about cantaloupe sized. I can't get to the pics right now, but there are some pics in my build thread that show the rock I used. The two big purple towers were another brand, and I don't like them much.

Thanks for all the info. I found a 40lb box of the Reel Reef and the seller said name your price.. I might roll the dice on that. I also texted the guy I bought the tank and rocks from to see if he still has more.

 

[revenant]

So the person I bought my tank from says he has more Fiji Tonga and some large pieces left so im driving there this Saturday to pick some up. Hopefully it’ll be enough for what I want to scape out.. Thanks again for the input !

 

[fish_collector]

If you were closer to Phoenix I have over 1000 lbs of dry Pukani rock in fist size all the way to 25lbs, it's the lightest, most porous and beautiful rock ever collected.

 

[JoJosReef]

If you were closer to Phoenix I have over 1000 lbs of dry Pukani rock in fist size all the way to 25lbs, it's the lightest, most porous and beautiful rock ever collected.

Worth its weight in gold (figuratively). I have dried Marshall Islands and Fiji rocks that I mixed with my TBS rocks and they have been stellar. Purples up super quickly and seem to resist GHA taking root (knock on driftwood). Bubble algae still seems to have its way woth the rocks, but that's what the pitho is for. Dried old rocks from ocean are awesome. If you were closer I'd probably buy some!