Curing dry rock is inefficient

[cdemoss01]

Hypothesis: I think curing dry rock is an inefficient way to start a reef tank.
Back when I started with my first tank I thought it would be a good idea to cure live rock as it was less expensive at the time. This rock was completely dry at first and was put into a bin for 6 months I added Aquavitro chemicals, with a heater and submersible pump to keep water circulation for the nitrifying bacteria to begin forming. Eventually about 2nd months in the rock had a carrot like smell to it. I had done several water changes. On the fourth month I added the rock to the tank. It had no color change and looked almost the same. I cycled the tank for 2.5 weeks when ammonia tests came back 0. I put the rock in during cycle and it immediately started leaching phosphates causing multiple algae blooms as well as ammonia spikes. It caused me a lot of grief into the future such a as algae blooms that wouldn't stop and sometimes ammonia spikes killing fish and causing crashes. I later added live rock to the system which changed a lot of things in the tank. More stable levels and way less algae. This rock began to help my system get to where it is today. After adding this rock I was able to grow coral stability.
In conclusion curing dry rock is an inefficient way to start a reef tank due to phosphate leeches and ammonia spikes.
Side note: I am only 14 making this as I do think that curing dry rock is an inefficient way of starting a reef tank. Please give criticism in this thread if there is any. I do understand that this research could be slightly bad.
Thank you.

 

[tzabor10]

Live rock is more efficient. Just a little bit can help

 

[Reefering1]

Curing liverock is the process which you control the ammonia spike while die of of ocean life occurs. What you're describing is essentially just cycling the rock

 

[Paul B]

If I had to start a tank using all dry rock. I would get into a different hobby.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Not everyone has access to live rocks, there are no reefs in Canada. Live rock here means dry rock that is put into an aquarium with fish for some amount of time. So it has all the bacteria to be "live" but none of the organisms that you can get on your rock.

Curing (cycling) rock DOES work if its done correctly. It takes many months (5+ IMO) to cure the rock so that it will not grow algae. I have built fish only aquariums for the sole purpose of bringing rock to life, in preparation for upcoming builds. I also test and treat for phosphate at this stage, so when I add the cured rocks to the tank, they have no phosphate to leach. This also doesn't work with bottled bacteria, you need to use a fish.

Its the same as putting a rock in the sump for a while, then put it in the display tank and it will not grow algae.

 

[Skywater]

Hypothesis: I think curing dry rock is an inefficient way to start a reef tank.
Back when I started with my first tank I thought it would be a good idea to cure live rock as it was less expensive at the time. This rock was completely dry at first and was put into a bin for 6 months I added Aquavitro chemicals, with a heater and submersible pump to keep water circulation for the nitrifying bacteria to begin forming. Eventually about 2nd months in the rock had a carrot like smell to it. I had done several water changes. On the fourth month I added the rock to the tank. It had no color change and looked almost the same. I cycled the tank for 2.5 weeks when ammonia tests came back 0. I put the rock in during cycle and it immediately started leaching phosphates causing multiple algae blooms as well as ammonia spikes. It caused me a lot of grief into the future such a as algae blooms that wouldn't stop and sometimes ammonia spikes killing fish and causing crashes. I later added live rock to the system which changed a lot of things in the tank. More stable levels and way less algae. This rock began to help my system get to where it is today. After adding this rock I was able to grow coral stability.
In conclusion curing dry rock is an inefficient way to start a reef tank due to phosphate leeches and ammonia spikes.
Side note: I am only 14 making this as I do think that curing dry rock is an inefficient way of starting a reef tank. Please give criticism in this thread if there is any. I do understand that this research could be slightly bad.
Thank you.

You are correct. I would rather spend an equal amount of money on a smaller portion real Live rock... Aquacultured in the ocean. Quality of diverse life found on ocean cultured liverock, is primarily why I keep saltwater aquariums.

 

[Reefing102]

I 100% agree with your statement. However, as mentioned, I think a missed step was not treating for phosphate. If I was strictly limited to dry rock, I would definitely run GFO or similar to try to accelerate the leaching. That said, I have had the same success using a mix of live and dry where I didn’t have many algae issues with the dry as the diversity on the live took care of any potentially major issues.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

I used dry rock..

But I didn’t turn on the lights for a couple months. And when I did I barely turned them on.

Heck I’m 5 months into my tank and I don’t have the full light schedule set yet.

I also seeded the heck out of the tank with copepods and bacteria.

Dry rock can be used just fine. Especially if you want a near zero hitch hiker tank for acros.

 

[GSPClown94]

I think you would need to clearly define your requirements for the aquarium you are setting up in order to compare efficiency. If you don’t care about hitchhikers or pests then sure live rock is a pretty efficient way to start a new aquarium.

 

[cdemoss01]

Makes sense @JustAnotherNanoTank this is supposed to be a research thread for the research badge it may not be the best but who knows.

 

[cdemoss01]

Not everyone has access to live rocks, there are no reefs in Canada. Live rock here means dry rock that is put into an aquarium with fish for some amount of time. So it has all the bacteria to be "live" but none of the organisms that you can get on your rock.

Curing (cycling) rock DOES work if its done correctly. It takes many months (5+ IMO) to cure the rock so that it will not grow algae. I have built fish only aquariums for the sole purpose of bringing rock to life, in preparation for upcoming builds. I also test and treat for phosphate at this stage, so when I add the cured rocks to the tank, they have no phosphate to leach. This also doesn't work with bottled bacteria, you need to use a fish.

Its the same as putting a rock in the sump for a while, then put it in the display tank and it will not grow algae.

for me at 10 years old making this tank I had no money so that's why I did it I thought it would be the same.

 

[twentyleagues]

Is using dry rock less efficient than using live rock? I guess in the amount of time yes. In cost no. Was the research bad? I would say the info about the research was not good. What is your definition of efficient? What chemicals from aquavitro did you use? What was the water change schedule? how high did the phosphate get? Was aquavitro the best choice for cycling the rock? I am guessing these are nano tanks or the same size without adequate filtration. Dry rock is a sponge whatever you input without proper export will get "sucked" into it.

I cycled my newest reef with dry rock, ammonium chloride, and mb start. No issues to date that adequate cuc and filtration hasn't been able to handle. Tank size matters also especially helping to handle algal outbreaks. I have seen no major issues with regards to phosphates or nitrates I have a decent sized refugium and skimmer. My dry rock has turned gray and is now getting coralline algae growing on it, in a few months' time it will look more like live rock. My water chemistry is good nitrates and phosphates at a detectable level within the range I deem acceptable. The issues I have had are from mistakes I have made the dry rock has caused me no issues. Initial start up and cycle was about 21 days. About 3-3.5 months to work up to current stock levels. Time wise not all that efficient.

My 30g tank that was my return to the hobby has many issues a lot of which stem from the live rock I used. It was store purchased not direct from the ocean. It was not white it was dark with coralline algae and teeming with life pods, bristleworms, bacteria. It also had aiptasia, and bubble algae. The fact of how I set this up and the limited filtration available are also reasons this tank has issues. Because of the rock I was able to insta tank, No cycle start phase fish and corals would have been able to go in day one. A test with ammonia confirmed this the 2ppm of ammonia I put in was completely gone in 24hrs. Time wise very efficient, amount of work I have put into maintenance not so much.

 

[Reefering1]

Makes sense @JustAnotherNanoTank this is supposed to be a research thread for the research badge it may not be the best but who knows.

Best to just forget the badges. Learn and enjoy the hobby, gain experience. There is alot to learn. Be helpful where you can and treat people with respect. The rest will come. It's not a matter of checking off boxes

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Makes sense @JustAnotherNanoTank this is supposed to be a research thread for the research badge it may not be the best but who knows.

It’s worth it to put the feelers out there like you did.

It’s how you’ll learn from others with their ideals and experiences.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

While I see benefits to live rock, I’m not understanding what is being evaluated as “efficiency”.

Dead rock is easily cycled.

Phosphate is not an attribute of live or dead rock. It’s an attribute of whatever specific rocks are used.

 

[cdemoss01]

While I see benefits to live rock, I’m not understanding what is being evaluated as “efficiency”.

Dead rock is easily cycled.

Phosphate is not an attribute of live or dead rock. It’s an attribute of whatever specific rocks are used.

Efficiency meaning its not efficient to start a reef tank as it can cause problems.

 

[JustAnotherNanoTank]

Efficiency meaning its not efficient to start a reef tank as it can cause problems.

slower starting for sure. Not much problem after that.

 

[cdemoss01]

slower starting for sure. Not much problem after that.

True. It took me 2 years to get my tank to somewhat normal. But even now its not stable. Im always having issues with nitrates being to high or low and very bad hair algae. My first thread on here was about hair algae and how to remove it I did get it fixed but it constantly regrows.

 

[twentyleagues]

True. It took me 2 years to get my tank to somewhat normal. But even now its not stable. Im always having issues with nitrates being to high or low and very bad hair algae. My first thread on here was about hair algae and how to remove it I did get it fixed but it constantly regrows.

That has to do with consumers of the algae and consumers of what the algae consumes and tank maintenance. Not the rock.

 

[twentyleagues]

Efficiency meaning its not efficient to start a reef tank as it can cause problems.

What is your definition of efficient? Is it time based? Money based? Energy based? I can show you 2 different tanks 1 lr and 1 dry. The dry rock was more efficient in cost, time spent maintaining and overall outcome is less time also. Those would not be good comparisons though as filtration, lighting, fish are all different there for a different outcome.