How long for dry rock to function like live ocean rock

[Brandon McHenry]

Oh one thing that I forgot was that the sand bed in the old tank with homemade rock was also seeded with garf grunge. Again just trying to get that biodiversity. So I’m thinking it’s a consensus that biodiversity is key. The question is how do you get the best with out the pest????

That is a really good question. How do we seed a reef tank with everything that we want and avoid everything that we don’t? Or is the gamble worth the reward?

 

[Copingwithpods]

That is a really good question. How do we seed a reef tank with everything that we want and avoid everything that we don’t? Or is the gamble worth the reward?

Only way is to qt the rock

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Only way is to qt the rock

You could probably cure and quarantine at the same time right?

 

[Copingwithpods]

You could probably cure and quarantine at the same time right?

what do you mean by cure

 

[Brandon McHenry]

what do you mean by cure

When you let the live rock cycle in water until anything that died inside the rock gets cleaned out and stops producing ammonia.

 

[Copingwithpods]

When you let the live rock cycle in water until anything that died inside the rock gets cleaned out and stops producing ammonia.

With correctly shipped live rock there should be little to no die off but yes both would happen simultaneously

 

[Brandon McHenry]

With correctly shipped live rock there should be little to no die off but yes both would happen simultaneously

I assume you mean shipped in water?

 

[footgal]

So I had dry rock and live rock from the sump of a very established 20+ years tank cycling in the same bin for about a month. Do y’all think that’d be about the same?

 

[Neoalchemist]

You wouldn't happen to have a picture would you? I've never done that I'd be curious to see ;Woot

Here's a pretty good example of some old dry live rock broken. You can see the worm holes and left over worm casings. You don't have pores so much as huge channels created by life and left for other life to use.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

So I had dry rock and live rock from the sump of a very established 20+ years tank cycling in the same bin for about a month. Do y’all think that’d be about the same?

Are you saying the rock is 20 years old or the rock is new and it’s just in the sump of a 20 year old tank?

Here's a pretty good example of some old dry live rock broken. You can see the worm holes and left over worm casings. You don't have pores so much as huge channels created by life and left for other life to use.

Very cool! So the live rock would have finer holes/pores in addition to the large channels left behind by the other organisms?

 

[Neoalchemist]

Are you saying the rock is 20 years old or the rock is new and it’s just in the sump of a 20 year old tank?



Very cool! So the live rock would have finer holes/pores in addition to the large channels left behind by the other organisms?

Yes, and if its fresh un-dried when broken you can actually see worms and such pull in thier holes like earthworms when you take a shovel full of rich soil

 

[DesertReefT4r]

I would say 1-2 years to never. Dry rock can be seeded and matured over time to be come like live rock. However just bacteria in a bottle will not accomplish this goal. The dry rock must be seeded with live rock. The live used should be at least 25% of the total rock being used. Any live rock can be used as long as it good quality and more and more common source is from tank break downs. After 1-2 years all the dry rock will have become seeded and becomes what I like to call "reef tank live rock". It became live in a reef tank environment and not the Gulf or a Fiji reef. It gets close but stil not 100% the same as real live rock from Fiji.
Now lets talk about the never part of dry rock becoming like live. If there is never a source of micro life to seed the rock it will just be what I call "bacteria rock". Typically this is all but impossible to have occur in a reef tank environment. We are adding in corals and frags that will have mirco fauna hitch hike its way into the tank and slowly seeding the rock over time. The more frags you add especially if attached to a piece of rubble, the more life you introduce. Of coarse unless you have a hardcore coral QT process but even still pods ect find their way in. Now in the case of a fish only tank started with only dry rock and sand with bottled bacteria the rock will never become live. There is no corals being added to introduce micro fauna. That rock in this type of tank will just be as I said "bacteria" rock. Fully able to perform the nitrogen cycle but never being like live rock and lacking any form of larger life forms and mainy just bacteria and algae.
My current tank was started with all tank break down rock. So I not idea of its original source, reef live rock or dry rock. I think I have a mix of the 2. The rock was cooked in a blacked out bin for months before use and was clean looking and totally white when I set up the tank. 2 years into it and the rock looks great. Pods, worms, sponges, feather dusters have taken over the rock and it looks just like my old tank started with high quality Fiji or Tonga rock. My last tank was an upgrade and I used half dried live rock from my brothers old tank and the other half was from my smaller tank being upgraded. That rock was the high quality live rock and was very healthy. After about a year all the dry rock was seeded again and you could not tell which rock was the dried dead stuff.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

This my current tank over a 2 yesr period. Rock was from a tank break down like I said. You can see how white and clean it was at first, just like dry Pukani rock and over time has developed into mature "reef tank live rock". Covered in coraline algaes, sponges, worms, pods ect. Not a perfect example for this as the rock was not dry rock but was pretty clean, no visable life and was cooked in the dark for months before I even out it the tank.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

This is my old 40B that was started with all premium Kalini live rock back in about 2009.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I would say 1-2 years to never. Dry rock can be seeded and matured over time to be come like live rock. However just bacteria in a bottle will not accomplish this goal. The dry rock must be seeded with live rock. The live used should be at least 25% of the total rock being used. Any live rock can be used as long as it good quality and more and more common source is from tank break downs. After 1-2 years all the dry rock will have become seeded and becomes what I like to call "reef tank live rock". It became live in a reef tank environment and not the Gulf or a Fiji reef. It gets close but stil not 100% the same as real live rock from Fiji.
Now lets talk about the never part of dry rock becoming like live. If there is never a source of micro life to seed the rock it will just be what I call "bacteria rock". Typically this is all but impossible to have occur in a reef tank environment. We are adding in corals and frags that will have mirco fauna hitch hike its way into the tank and slowly seeding the rock over time. The more frags you add especially if attached to a piece of rubble, the more life you introduce. Of coarse unless you have a hardcore coral QT process but even still pods ect find their way in. Now in the case of a fish only tank started with only dry rock and sand with bottled bacteria the rock will never become live. There is no corals being added to introduce micro fauna. That rock in this type of tank will just be as I said "bacteria" rock. Fully able to perform the nitrogen cycle but never being like live rock and lacking any form of larger life forms and mainy just bacteria and algae.
My current tank was started with all tank break down rock. So I not idea of its original source, reef live rock or dry rock. I think I have a mix of the 2. The rock was cooked in a blacked out bin for months before use and was clean looking and totally white when I set up the tank. 2 years into it and the rock looks great. Pods, worms, sponges, feather dusters have taken over the rock and it looks just like my old tank started with high quality Fiji or Tonga rock. My last tank was an upgrade and I used half dried live rock from my brothers old tank and the other half was from my smaller tank being upgraded. That rock was the high quality live rock and was very healthy. After about a year all the dry rock was seeded again and you could not tell which rock was the dried dead stuff.

This my current tank over a 2 yesr period. Rock was from a tank break down like I said. You can see how white and clean it was at first, just like dry Pukani rock and over time has developed into mature "reef tank live rock". Covered in coraline algaes, sponges, worms, pods ect. Not a perfect example for this as the rock was not dry rock but was pretty clean, no visable life and was cooked in the dark for months before I even out it the tank.

This is my old 40B that was started with all premium Kalini live rock back in about 2009.

Great explanation! I love the distinction between the two types of “live” rock and how you think it’s best to achieve each. The pictures with all of the sponges are really neat. That’s what I call diversity! Beautiful tanks all around. I’m really impressed with the amount of sponge growth that you have on some of those rocks. That just goes to show that there is definitely a difference between rock that can process nitrogen and rock that is a wealth of biodiversity. This is exactly the type of info that I think is super important in the distinction between dry rock and live rock. Thanks for your contribution!

 

[footgal]

Are you saying the rock is 20 years old or the rock is new and it’s just in the sump of a 20 year old tank?

The rock is at least 5 years old and has been in that sump the whole time. I was hoping that would’ve been enough time to gain a good amount of good bacteria and such so it would help out my dry rock.

 

[gambler]

it wont be exact but will function almost the same after 2 years and the longer the better

 

[Paul B]

Although this rock is not a great "reef" rock, I collected it only because those barnacle shells were full of amphipods so I just shook it on a bucket of sea water to collect them.
But this is the tide pool I collect rock and amphipods in. This is in New York and at high tide the water here is 8' deep.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Great explanation! I love the distinction between the two types of “live” rock and how you think it’s best to achieve each. The pictures with all of the sponges are really neat. That’s what I call diversity! Beautiful tanks all around. I’m really impressed with the amount of sponge growth that you have on some of those rocks. That just goes to show that there is definitely a difference between rock that can process nitrogen and rock that is a wealth of biodiversity. This is exactly the type of info that I think is super important in the distinction between dry rock and live rock. Thanks for your contribution!

You are very welcome and thank you.

 

[Perry]

Here's a pretty good example of some old dry live rock broken. You can see the worm holes and left over worm casings. You don't have pores so much as huge channels created by life and left for other life to use.

Very good post!
This adds to the notion of biological filtration and porosity for bacteria homing. Artificial rock simply cannot replicate this. I would contend that these pores took ages to create, and for nature to replicate that in our aquarium, maybe never. Pumice, to me, seems like it would do really well, especially if seeded in the ocean. I am a huge fan of fiji rock, have about 10lbs in my tank, air freighted from Walt. This was a few years back, I got the leftovers from another project for someone else. This rock was crazy live, the stink of cycling is only learned through experience, lol. Great thread, and great post from up above