Best rock to use is new tank

[Rmckoy]

Why is there such a issue as no pests ?
I was always led to believe 90% of these pests everyone doesn’t want are good to help the system mature.

I’ve always used live rock
I personally don’t like the look of the life rocks available now. .
That’s being said . When I started live rock wasn’t that expensive , everyone that wanted a reef , rocks were essential !

when someone closed their system to sell . I bought all The rocks .
I have close to 400 lbs . With 200 lbs in my current system .
the rest is now dry and being stored .

 

[damsels are not mean]

Why is there such a issue as no pests ?
I was always led to believe 90% of these pests everyone doesn’t want are good to help the system mature.

mantis shrimps, bobbit worms, pistol shrimps, aiptasia, are definitely things you don't want.

 

[mehaffydr]

Hi
Just wanted to know what route to go down when starting new tank, either wet live rock or dry man made rock?

Wet live rock is the better way to go. Now if you have a lot and want to build some structure with Dry and then add real live rock that would accomplish the same thing.

 

[hotdrop]

Hi thanks for your reply, what’s wrong with the rock bins like the one attached at my lfs?

It has every Hardy pest imaginable, plus it’s constantly refreshing with livestock pests. This stuff needs a heavy acid bath nothing short of that

 

[JoJosReef]

Live rock! It doesn’t come with that many pests. Often when I see a tank overrun with pests it is something that came in on a frag and the dry rock they started with left a lot of area for the pest to quickly colonize.

I mean crap… Aiptasia doesn’t even grow in the KPA rock area and the gulf only has a relative that doesn’t spread as fast yet we see tons of threads about Aiptasia. Well it didn’t come from the commonly sourced live rock of today. sorry.

CaribSea "Life"Rock in my Evo. Went with Tampa Bay Saltwater in my Nuvo 10g and I have zero regrets even after sifting sand for baddies. Tore out some of the LifeRock in my Evo and replaced with spare TBS rocks. Picked off a Berghia nudibranch yesterday and gave it to a local reefer that jumped on the freebie post. We'll see how it ages, but I'll take the gulf rock over GHA covered dead rock any day.

And RE: aiptasia, my TBS came with some curliques, and we'll see how that goes, but I've gotten multiple aiptasia in my Evo (nuked immediately) from frags, so that's no counterpoint imo.

 

[Miami Reef]

I believe going dry rock is a no brainer.

Most new aquarists want to set up a tank ASAP. They fill it up with live rocks, but then a year comes by and they don’t like their aquascape, and there’s pests like bristle worms and aiptasia.

With using dry rocks, you don’t get those pests and you can take your time to make a really cool scape that you can be proud of.

In addition, dry rock is cheaper!

All the bacteria that you’ll need will come with the corals. The ugly stage is dependent on how “mature” the reef keeper is. Keep lower nutrients if using dry rock cycle the tank with lights off, and maybe even run GFO to get the possibility of leached phosphates from the rocks, and the ugly stage really shouldn’t be that bad.

As BRS says, it’s the more advanced aquarists that will go towards dry rocks, because they experienced pests in their first tank.

And you gotta QT if you want to be positive that you will be pest free. This is why it’s for advanced reefers.

 

[Tamberav]

I believe going dry rock is a no brainer.

Most new aquarists want to set up a tank ASAP. They fill it up with live rocks, but then a year comes by and they don’t like their aquascape, and there’s pests like bristle worms and aiptasia.

With using dry rocks, you don’t get those pests and you can take your time to make a really cool scape that you can be proud of.

In addition, dry rock is cheaper!

All the bacteria that you’ll need will come with the corals. The ugly stage is dependent on how “mature” the reef keeper is. Keep lower nutrients if using dry rock cycle the tank with lights off, and maybe even run GFO to get the possibility of leached phosphates from the rocks, and the ugly stage really shouldn’t be that bad.

As BRS says, it’s the more advanced aquarists that will go towards dry rocks, because they experienced pests in their first tank.

And you gotta QT if you want to be positive that you will be pest free. This is why it’s for advanced reefers.

I disageee with BRS. I see most old schoolers like live rock. Many beginners who flock to dry to save money and because they are scared about the unknown.

An advance reefer knows how to deal with pests and knows when not to panic. Some reefers on here have rock 10-15 years old. They would never dry it out. It is lifeblood. I have some rock before dry was even an option.

Also I don’t see anyone keeping bristle worms out if they add corals, nor are they a pest. They are beneficial. Being ugly does not make them a pest.

Aiptasia we think of doesn’t come on live rock from the gulf/keys. It’s not native there. That comes from frags.

 

[Miami Reef]

I disageee with BRS. I see most old schoolers like live rock. Many beginners who flock to dry to save money and because they are scared about the unknown.

An advance reefer knows how to deal with pests and knows when not to panic. Some reefers on here have rock 10-15 years old. They would never dry it out. It is lifeblood. I have some rock before dry was even an option.

Also I don’t see anyone keeping bristle worms out if they add corals, nor are they a pest. They are beneficial. Being ugly does not make them a pest.

Aiptasia we think of doesn’t come on live rock from the gulf/keys. It’s not native there. That comes from frags.

How do you treat aiptasia? Specifically in a 300 gallon tank (hard to get deep inside the rockwork?

 

[damsels are not mean]

How do you treat aiptasia? Specifically in a 300 gallon tank (hard to get deep inside the rockwork?

You put kalk paste in its mouth with a syringe then take the syringe out of the water, spin it around, and blow on the end of it as if it is a smoking gun. Works every time. Or you play the copperband lottery.

 

[tharbin]

As BRS says, it’s the more advanced aquarists that will go towards dry rocks, because they experienced pests in their first tank.

I believe you are misquoting BRS. I'm pretty sure I saw the video you are referencing and I believe they were saying that experienced reefers were better able to handle using dry rock.

I never met an experienced reefer that worried about pests, they just dealt with the bad ones, and they certainly would not consider an amphipod or a bristle worm a pest.

 

[JoJosReef]

I don't know how much money I saved on my Evo dry rock. I've dumped a massive amount of money on bottled bacteria, first for cycling then for combatting encroaching algae, then treatments like Vibrant and ReefFlux, then throwing away low quality algae-fuel food for high quality food... All beginner mistakes, but these little things add up. Let's not forget the value of time, plenty of which being spent with a toothbrush and tweezers.

I am hoping not to do that with my Nuvo 10g with the expensive gulf rock/sand. Let the worms keep everything in check--they seem to be up to the task.

 

[Tamberav]

How do you treat aiptasia? Specifically in a 300 gallon tank (hard to get deep inside the rockwork?

Paul B just used a wand. His tank is 50 yrs old and not over run with them.

I would just add butterflies though… kleins maybe? 300g is so large that if you cover it in coral colonies.. the nipping from butterflies or filefish won’t matter.

Start with live rock and they wont have as much territory to spread anyways. Then grow a **** ton of coral and toss the Aiptasia eaters in. Done.

Others choose nudies or peps.

Or you can drive himself nuts… but Aiptasia can spread form an invisible cell on a frag plug. People start with dry and still get it even with dipping and inspecting.

Aiptasia is pretty weak compared to red bugs and such.

 

[damsels are not mean]

The horror stories of aiptasia taking over a tank happen when you don't do anything about it and your tank has a bunch of empty space. New, young aiptasia trying colonize rock can't beat a healthy coral. Once the tank is mature they are mostly relegated to inside your plumbing. Removing them becomes like scraping your glass. It's really not a death sentence like people make it out to be. Just don't wait until you have an aiptasia dominant reef and you're fine.

 

[Miami Reef]

I believe you are misquoting BRS. I'm pretty sure I saw the video you are referencing and I believe they were saying that experienced reefers were better able to handle using dry rock.

I never met an experienced reefer that worried about pests, they just dealt with the bad ones, and they certainly would not consider an amphipod or a bristle worm a pest.

I did not misquote BRS: 1:50

 

[Rmckoy]

I believe going dry rock is a no brainer.

Most new aquarists want to set up a tank ASAP. They fill it up with live rocks, but then a year comes by and they don’t like their aquascape, and there’s pests like bristle worms and aiptasia.

With using dry rocks, you don’t get those pests and you can take your time to make a really cool scape that you can be proud of.

In addition, dry rock is cheaper!

All the bacteria that you’ll need will come with the corals. The ugly stage is dependent on how “mature” the reef keeper is. Keep lower nutrients if using dry rock cycle the tank with lights off, and maybe even run GFO to get the possibility of leached phosphates from the rocks, and the ugly stage really shouldn’t be that bad.

As BRS says, it’s the more advanced aquarists that will go towards dry rocks, because they experienced pests in their first tank.

And you gotta QT if you want to be positive that you will be pest free. This is why it’s for advanced reefers.

Firstly …
The ugly stage is inevitable . By reading posts on here , I’m going to assume dry rocks give a longer maturing time to pass this stage .
it’s natural and needs to happen .
As for pests …
Some pests such as bristle worms are not a bad thing at all .
again , they’re natural and their population and size depend on available food .
Over feeding will encourage their numbers and size .
Cost . Live rock is a little more pricy
Let’s say : if someone was to buy cheaper dry rocks , the white ones . Add them to a friends established sump . It isn’t long before they become live .

 

[tharbin]

I did not misquote BRS: 1:50

I stand corrected. You certainly did not misquote. The only thing I can say on this is that Ryan's comments do not track with any reality I am aware of. Sometimes BRS works outside their comfort zone and I'm sure that having tons of quarry rock on the shelves may influence their perception.

I like Ryan and Randy and think they try hard to balance being helpful to the community with being dry-goods salesmen. I was amazed by their revelation that their NSA aquascapes might not be the best habitat for the fish in their systems.

I do remember a more recent video where they started to think that just possibly some of the massive gha, dino and cyano outbreaks occuring today may actually have something to do with the dry barren lifeless rock (kind of what happens after a Crown-of-Thorns invasion). Imagine...

 

[Midrats]

Who cares what BRS says!

 

[Miami Reef]

Who cares what BRS says!

It’s not about BRS. There’s multiple ways to run a reef tank. There’s no shame in wanting to go live/dry/or even a mixture of both!

 

[jda]

With dry rock, read and understand the hundreds of threads with hundreds of pages of fighting hair algae, dinos, high phosphates and fish parasites needing months or years to sort out.

With live rock, you see a post here or there about a crab that took a day to catch, or just got killed in the rock every once in a while. Most other pests are going to be in your tank anyway unless you have an extensive coral/rock/invert QT tank and process... bubble algae, aiptasia, etc. Most of what else comes on real live rock is very beneficial.

When you factor in the cost of dry rock, factor in the tens of thousands of posts of people fighting at least dinos, hair algae and fish parasites... the cost is too high for me.

 

[jda]

If anybody sees what BRS produces as anything more than a vehicle to fuel sales, then I strongly suggest that you change your paradigm. There are sometimes some nuggets in there that are unbiased, but they are there to sell products. I hope that all understand this.