KP Aquatics Live Rock Review 2020

[jeffrey750750]

Very good info, thanks for sharing

 

[Tired]

There are so many crabs that it's not really possible to know what kinds you have without pictures. Not necessarily all bad ones, too- there are some harmless ones you might get.

Pistol shrimp, by and large, are harmless enough. About the only reason you'd need to remove one is if you wanted to add your own that you know will pair with a goby. Worth checking to see if you've got a species that will pair, though, you might have gotten lucky.

I think for hitchhikers, people get scared of the really rare, really nasty ones. Cirolanid isopods are pretty bad, bobbit worms are very rare but very scary, mantis shrimp are scary (but usually not that big of a deal to trap out), that sort of thing. Some people get bad information and think they can avoid nuisance algae if they start with dry rock, when of course it comes in on frag plugs and just goes wild in all that free real estate. Some people don't want aiptasia, some don't want bristleworms, some are just trying to avoid a nebulous concept of "pests". Usually there's a reason, just a somewhat misinformed one. Now and then it's someone who got a really unfortunate batch of live rock once, with many types of pests, and wants to avoid that again.
(there's a guy on NanoReef right now who has, I think, multiple polyclad flatworms and cirolanids and possibly a mantis. That's not a very good lottery to win.)

 

[shred5]

There are so many crabs that it's not really possible to know what kinds you have without pictures. Not necessarily all bad ones, too- there are some harmless ones you might get.

Pistol shrimp, by and large, are harmless enough. About the only reason you'd need to remove one is if you wanted to add your own that you know will pair with a goby. Worth checking to see if you've got a species that will pair, though, you might have gotten lucky.

I think for hitchhikers, people get scared of the really rare, really nasty ones. Cirolanid isopods are pretty bad, bobbit worms are very rare but very scary, mantis shrimp are scary (but usually not that big of a deal to trap out), that sort of thing. Some people get bad information and think they can avoid nuisance algae if they start with dry rock, when of course it comes in on frag plugs and just goes wild in all that free real estate. Some people don't want aiptasia, some don't want bristleworms, some are just trying to avoid a nebulous concept of "pests". Usually there's a reason, just a somewhat misinformed one. Now and then it's someone who got a really unfortunate batch of live rock once, with many types of pests, and wants to avoid that again.
(there's a guy on NanoReef right now who has, I think, multiple polyclad flatworms and cirolanids and possibly a mantis. That's not a very good lottery to win.)

Part of it was a retailer that wanted to sell dry rock. So many people are new to the hobby and believe videos and what they read and think it is real not thinking well this retailer needs to move product. It gets parroted enough on social media it has to be true. Live rock is Evil.

Plus people that are happy with their live rock say little and post little but you look back it those who got something ugly. Same with a piece of equipment.. 95 percent of the people are happy say little and 5 percent have issues watch out..

Live rock is becoming popular again because they found out their are worse ugliness than a mantis shrimp out there that comes with dead rock like dinos. Also bubble algae, vermetid worms spread rapidly on dead rock.. Found that out in one of my live rock pools when I had them. Dropped a few dead pieces of rock in to cycle them and in months bubble algae all over them. All the live rock in there and it was hard to find a piece of bubble algae on the live rock. If there is a place to colonize on a rock bad things will be there first. Same in my garden if I do not have something planted somewhere weeds will grow first and fast. Matter of fact I think dead rock actually helped give live rock a bad name because people became so scared of bubble algae and vermetid worms because of how fast they spread on dead rock but back in the day they didn't on live rock. You just picked a few off.

The thing about dead rock too is people do not want to quarantine anything.
One frag plug or snail has some bubble algae on it next thing it is all over.

I am not against dead rock matter of fact since I moved into aquaculture a little I can not afford any ugleis on any frag or anything. It takes forever with dead rock let me tell you but it can work..

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Evening,

Great thread, thanks for putting it together. The upfront costs for setting up a tank this way can get a bit pricey compared to other methods, but your results will show down the road. I am about 9 months in on a 60 gallon build using all live rock and sand fresh out of the ocean from TBS products. Tank is running sweet.

I did notice you were wearing gloves handling yours. Mine product came in so clean I was able to handle it bare handed while also eating chicken wings from Chili‘s ;Woot . Kidding, but seriously, both are great vendors and wish they could play a bigger part in our hobby when setting up a tank.

 

[Snoopdog]

I also notice density issues with this manufactured rock. According to the guy that sold me my tank the rock he bought was Liferock, from Caribsea. I have no idea if that is what is truly in there but it is garbage. Now it does have cool shapes, you can make all kinds of neat arches and ****! But that is all I see are cool shapes. This rock is as dense as cement, not porous. I am slowly adding KP Aquatics rock to it. So far I have three or four pieces in there and more curing. I hope it will be enough, time will tell.

 

[Creggers]

Who knew this would be more popular than my build thread LOL.

I tested levels Friday - today and I can safely say that the cycle completed today as I'm looking at a undetectable Ammonia test. I never saw a spike in Nitrite and still read Nitrates at zero - but I have Chaeto in the sump so that could speak for the lack of Nitrates.

I'm going to continue to test until I see some Nitrate as I've been throwing some reef roids and rods pods in there to feed anything that may be alive crawling around. Only doing this once per day, I'd prefer to be feeding plankton but I didn't get a chance to hit the LFS to pick some up


I've done my nightly run to check for any hitchhikers that only come out at night and noticed something really interesting. From what I could tell it may have been spaghetti worms, but it also appeared to migrate around the tank. When I shined a light on it, it quickly moved to another area without any light. It almost looked like an octopus. I've also stopped trying to count the brittle stars and I'm just going to go ahead and say every rock has multiple arms coming out when the lights go down.

 

[Snoopdog]

Who knew this would be more popular than my build thread LOL.

I tested levels Friday - today and I can safely say that the cycle completed today as I'm looking at a undetectable Ammonia test. I never saw a spike in Nitrite and still read Nitrates at zero - but I have Chaeto in the sump so that could speak for the lack of Nitrates.

The only thing I had was ammonia, and plenty of it!

 

[Creggers]

The only thing I had was ammonia, and plenty of it!

Yeah I never got over .5ppm - I let the test sit for another 15 minutes after my post and it slightly changed colors so there's still a little in there but I'd feel comfortable saying the cycles completed

 

[Snoopdog]

Yeah I never got over .5ppm - I let the test sit for another 15 minutes after my post and it slightly changed colors so there's still a little in there but I'd feel comfortable saying the cycles completed

You were probably curing in a larger container. I have more rock than water, makes water changes easier though.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Who knew this would be more popular than my build thread LOL.

I tested levels Friday - today and I can safely say that the cycle completed today as I'm looking at a undetectable Ammonia test. I never saw a spike in Nitrite and still read Nitrates at zero - but I have Chaeto in the sump so that could speak for the lack of Nitrates.

I'm going to continue to test until I see some Nitrate as I've been throwing some reef roids and rods pods in there to feed anything that may be alive crawling around. Only doing this once per day, I'd prefer to be feeding plankton but I didn't get a chance to hit the LFS to pick some up


I've done my nightly run to check for any hitchhikers that only come out at night and noticed something really interesting. From what I could tell it may have been spaghetti worms, but it also appeared to migrate around the tank. When I shined a light on it, it quickly moved to another area without any light. It almost looked like an octopus. I've also stopped trying to count the brittle stars and I'm just going to go ahead and say every rock has multiple arms coming out when the lights go down.

We talking mini brittle or full size? Need more pics!

 

[Tired]

It is not impossible you got an octopus in that rock, though it's very, very unlikely. I'd stop feeding reef roids for a couple days, then put a big chunk of meaty food in an open area and watch with a red light (most marine animals can't see red light) to see if anything comes over to it. You'll probably see lots of pods and things. Try not to move much around it, they might feel the vibrations of you moving.

 

[shred5]

It is not impossible you got an octopus in that rock, though it's very, very unlikely. I'd stop feeding reef roids for a couple days, then put a big chunk of meaty food in an open area and watch with a red light (most marine animals can't see red light) to see if anything comes over to it. You'll probably see lots of pods and things. Try not to move much around it, they might feel the vibrations of you moving.

Agreed, although highly unlikely it is I have known people to get a octopus before in live rock.. It would also be unlikely it is size of a spaghetti worm.

 

[Larry L]

I don’t remember why dry rock became so popular, other than the price.

I think a lot of initial appeal of manufactured rocks was because all of the old-school live rock was actually collected off the reef, so there were concerns about sustainability and preventing reef damage. Plus the shipping is expensive, especially for rock traveling halfway around the world like from Fiji to the USA. But now we have folks like KP Aquatics and others that are mariculturing quarried coral skeleton, so you get all the benefits of the "liveness" without as much environmental impact.

 

[Creggers]

Spoke too soon about the cycle being over - looks like Ammonia picked back up to .5ppm

I just fed the rock for the last time until the cycle completes. I've been emailing back and forth with KP about some of the Coralline bleaching that I've seen. He let me know that the salinity of the water the rocks are pulled from is around ~40 this time of year. This could explain the extended cycle I'm experiencing as well as the Coralline spots. I've also noticed that some of the sponges are dying off which is to be expected. This is undeniably adding to the cycle time as well.

Uploading a new video of the tank to give you guys an update on the rockwork. I saw on one of the pencil Urchins yesterday slithering his way outta the rock work last night but I couldn't get a photo. A bunch of fetherdusters have been poking out as well - I pretty much see something new everytime I look in the tank .

 

[Snoopdog]

Coralline bleaching that I've seen.

Mine did too.

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

Spoke too soon about the cycle being over - looks like Ammonia picked back up to .5ppm

I just fed the rock for the last time until the cycle completes. I've been emailing back and forth with KP about some of the Coralline bleaching that I've seen. He let me know that the salinity of the water the rocks are pulled from is around ~40 this time of year. This could explain the extended cycle I'm experiencing as well as the Coralline spots. I've also noticed that some of the sponges are dying off which is to be expected. This is undeniably adding to the cycle time as well.

Uploading a new video of the tank to give you guys an update on the rockwork. I saw on one of the pencil Urchins yesterday slithering his way outta the rock work last night but I couldn't get a photo. A bunch of fetherdusters have been poking out as well - I pretty much see something new everytime I look in the tank .

I live in Florida and am planning on renting a van, putting a bunch of plastic bins in the back and running down to pick up a bunch of this rock and bring it back to the Tampa Bay area in water once my new tank arrives. Awesome to hear you've had a good experience!

 

[MPCReefer]

I live in Florida and am planning on renting a van, putting a bunch of plastic bins in the back and running down to pick up a bunch of this rock and bring it back to the Tampa Bay area in water once my new tank arrives. Awesome to hear you've had a good experience!

Same here!

 

[Creggers]

I live in Florida and am planning on renting a van, putting a bunch of plastic bins in the back and running down to pick up a bunch of this rock and bring it back to the Tampa Bay area in water once my new tank arrives. Awesome to hear you've had a good experience!

That'd be the dream - my only wish is that I had a chance to choose my rocks myself from a bin in their store. I'd probably would have made an effort to stay away from the urchins as I think I'll need to rehome them at some point. I'm still up in the air whether or not I care that I didn't chose the shapes of the rock. At the end of the day I think it looks more natural not choosing specific sizes. I also think all the rage about a cool aquascape pre coral is pointless after 18 months of growout as the coral will be the focal point.

 

[Creggers]

Found a new hitchhiker tonight. Posting in the ID forum but I’ll throw it up here as I’ll try to get pics at night. Gonna set my LED to run the reds from 12-1am so I can sneak around and try to find some neat stuff.

lemme know if you all recognize this - no identifiable head and moved exactly like an earthworm.

 

[Snoopdog]

Found a new hitchhiker tonight. Posting in the ID forum but I’ll throw it up here as I’ll try to get pics at night. Gonna set my LED to run the reds from 12-1am so I can sneak around and try to find some neat stuff.

lemme know if you all recognize this - no identifiable head and moved exactly like an earthworm.

Peanut worm?