How many of you have used Walt Smith Fiji Ultra Rock?

[Montanna]

Excited to see how it goes. Almost used that with last set up. Used TB live rock in previous tank but there were so many tiny pistol shrimp that the tank crackled at night and hubby didn't appreciate it. They were evwn breeding! Wanted lighter, more porous rock for current 200. Went with cured figi and love it.

 

[Midrats]

That's pretty amazing rock, and that's all man made base material? I too had live rock back in the day and watching what grew was amazing. This time around its taking forever to get the dried pukani to get any corraline algae or other life. I had some Florida reef rock from the previous owner and that has done awesome, but the pukani has been just dead rock.

That's the real McCoy not the 2.1 rock.

 

[shred5]

Speaking of stink how much die off do you think I will get? I have already performed about a 50% water change. How often should I change it?

It depends where dd you get it? was it cured or trans-shipped? Sponges cause the most die off. I see one dieing I remove it.

Trans shipped could have lots of die off vs cured. Even most trans-shipped rock though has most removed nowadays.

I would change as much water as possible and run a skimmer. This will help it cure faster and keep ammonia down. Problem is that ammonia can kill other living things causing a chin reaction. Plus letting nutrients build up in the water can cause it to bind to the rock which will slowly release it latter causing a much longer cure time. I like to cure rock in a separate container with little water so it is easier to change. I also light it in case a coral or something comes in. Sometimes you get a coral that you can not get anywhere.

I used to buy Caribbean rock with lots of sponges but was shipped dry. The rocks would turn white from slime/bacteria and die off from the sponges and smell like rotten eggs.

 

[Mark Gray]

Looks really nice I will be in the market for some rock soon but man live rock scares me years ago had a mantas shrimp and some other pests fish diapering lol Good luck

 

[revhtree]

Oh my gosh it stinks so bad!!!

 

[Midrats]

Speaking of unwanted guests, a little crab made the mistake of stepping out onto the open sand. I made quick work of him with a plastic rod I keep nearby.

 

[d2mini]

Oh my gosh it stinks so bad!!!

Unfortunately this is what happens when you ship live rock not in water. Lots of die off. Not so live anymore.
Hopefully the stuff deep down inside makes it thru. Should still be better than that dry rock you had.

 

[BigRedSpecial]

So jealous of this. Apparently actual live rock isn't easy to come by in Canada anymore.

EDIT: So the forum autocorrected my original sentence and replaced **** with dang... lol

 

[d2mini]

Rev, how's it going? House still stinky? Mrs Rev kick you out yet?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Rev, how's it going? House still stinky? Mrs Rev kick you out yet?

Yes, update please.

 

[dansreef]

It is interesting following this thread. Good Luck Rev with the curing process. Back in the late '80s this was the way we started tanks. Live rock and a couple of throw away damsels... Of course... the Damsels would become a terror if they got too big... but the rock... it was amazing....it was always fun to see what you could get. Even years later.... new stuff would appear out of the blue. On my last three tanks... they have all been started with dry rock... or rock from an existing tank. There just isn't the diversity you can get with live rock from the ocean.

I would love to get a 5 lb chunk of live rock like you got there Rev. A good chunk of rock like that is all it really takes to increase the biodiversity of an established tank. Yes... I know it could introduce some pests... I would gladly run the risk.

 

[Midrats]

How's it going?

 

[ps2cho]

Here’s a question — let’s say you went to a California beach, grabbed a submerged rock. Would this provide any beneficial function, or is the average water surface temperature going to make this bacteria worthless to transfer to our tanks?

Curious if adding a small rock would improve bacterial biodiversity?

I have had zero coral success with dry rock unless it was 18-months old or longer. I’m finally no longer losing corals...shouldn’t have kept changing tanks and restarting with dry rock each time!!

Pick your poison I guess...

 

[reefwiser]

I would suspect that the water temp change from 40 degree water to say 79 degrees would not beneficial to the bacteria.

 

[TerraFerma]

Speaking of stink how much die off do you think I will get? I have already performed about a 50% water change. How often should I change it?

Put on your finest thick rubber gloves and shake the rock around in front of some flow every few days, or even in a 5 gallon bucket so you can capture the detritus and dispose of it. This will speed things up a bit. As mentioned a slimmer and carbon will help as well. Well done on your rock selection!

 

[bubbaque]

@revhtree I am going to bring up this old thread. I know your tank has had dino and algae issues the past couple years. Did the issues happen with this rock? Do you feel using this live rock helped anything?

 

[revhtree]

@revhtree I am going to bring up this old thread. I know your tank has had dino and algae issues the past couple years. Did the issues happen with this rock? Do you feel using this live rock helped anything?

I had the issue before Walts and I thought this would help me solve the problem. Come to find out you can get Dino and other algae with all types of rock! HA!