Live ocean rock, or not

[BoaConservationist]

I had GREAT luck with Marco live rock, GO FOR IT

at least this is MARICULTURED live rock (great job) , you can have that and any lil hitchiker you like, stop chopping the devastated reefs <3

 

[CHSUB]

to me, bottled bacteria is 1000x better than live rock chopped off a reef somewhere, when for the past 10 years we have been having back to back critical bleaches...

some people dont love the animals or process but just the look, sadly :(

but yes, find ampouled bacteria and you will cycle in 7 days to handle an adequate load, cycling time versus load amount. its all an equation.

To clarify, Tampa Bay live rock is mined rock placed in the northern part of the Gulf, off Tampa Bay. Not chopped off a reef somewhere. Live Rock is cool and works, pros and cons same as dead rock. Done both multiple times. However, in all cases bottled bacteria is worthless, a tiny coral from day 1 and a single fish and away I go!

 

[Subsea]

at least this is MARICULTURED live rock (great job) , you can have that and any lil hitchiker you like, stop chopping the devastated reefs <3

Chris,
I perused your other two threads and your points of view are strongly entrenched in your veterinary science background. As a marine engineer, a superintendent in municipal waste water treatment using activated sludge (bacteria at work) and 55 years of marine aquarium husbandry, I suggest you show a little less arrogance and learn something called “humility”.

As I learn more, I realize how much more there is to know.

I read your tank journal; get back when you can show us how much you know. Yes, I looked for some of the tanks that you linked in your signature.

Also, your first post reads like AI. Glad for your organization.

 

[RedReefer]

Live ocean rock. It’s your friend!

 

[billyocean]

Guess I could have just clicked on the tank thread badge for pics..lol. @BoaConservationist is this the first dive into reef tanks or a dive back into reef tanks?

 

[fandaga]

I recently ordered the package from TBS for a new 30 g tank started in September. I’m really happy with the outcome versus my other 2 year old tank with dry rock. The new tank was cycled almost immediately and corals look great so far. The older tank has never ending algae problems. I’m currently fighting dinos for the last few months. I even moved all expensive corals to the new tank, particularly my last surviving acro, a scoly that I’m trying to rejuvenate, my last 3 surviving torches that have been facing brown jelly issues, and an elegance. So far, I haven’t lost any corals in the new tank, and the elegance almost immediately expanded to twice its size. The corals that I added had some of the dinos on them. I didn’t even bother dipping them thinking that the live rock tank had enough biodiversity, microfauna, and critters that it could handle the nuisance dinos. So far that has proven true. Just yesterday I took video of a decorator crab that came with the rock cleaning dead tissue off a monti digi. So overall, I’m really happy with live rock. I don’t think I’d do dry rock ever again.

Video of decorator crab cleaning montipora:


Picture of new tank with live rock:

Some of the critters that came with the rock. At least 3 different types of sponges, cup corals, clams, and some macroalgae:

 

[X-37B]

at least this is MARICULTURED live rock (great job) , you can have that and any lil hitchiker you like, stop chopping the devastated reefs <3

Start all the systems you want with dead white rock no problem.
The US live rock of today is farmed, no chopping up the reefs.

Anyone who has been at this long enough knows it can be done both ways.

Why bottled bacteria in a dead rock start. Just use a piece of shrimp or some ammonia. Old school, lol.

With live, farmed rock, you can add corals within a few weeks.

Mix dead and live at 50% and the dead gets the uglies and in 6+ months you wont be able to tell which was dead.

Can your dead rock system go from zero to 8 months and look like my 15 at 8 months?

 

[Subsea]

Start all the systems you want with dead white rock no problem.
The US live rock of today is farmed, no chopping up the reefs.

Anyone who has been at this long enough knows it can be done both ways.

Why bottled bacteria in a dead rock start. Just use a piece of shrimp or some ammonia. Old school, lol.

With live, farmed rock, you can add corals within a few weeks.

Mix dead and live at 50% and the dead gets the uglies and in 6+ months you wont be able to tell which was dead.

Can your dead rock system go from zero to 8 months and look like my 15 at 8 months?

Kudos to your post.

Dead shrimp in tank has as much science & many more successes to back it up than BIB (bacteria in bottle).

 

[RyanN]

This is TBS rock and until this evil weed algae showed up I was very happy with it. Had lots of different macros and sponges but now I'm battling this algae and the tank just looks like garbage. I'm not saying it's because of the rock but this red evil algae definitely came from the rock. Hydrogen peroxide and kalkwasser were worthless against it. I'm now treating it with boiling water in a syringe. I might get some more rock from them for another tank but if this ever shows up again I'll just remove the rock.

 

[njmaddreefer]

I’m considering ordering live rock from the keys to assist in seeding a new tank that I’m setting up. Good or bad idea, would love to hear someone’s experience.

I used this rock and started to get Dynos one month later after a nutrient dance.

Turned down the lights a bit and the dynos just melted! About 1 month later started getting coralline. This rock is good stuff!!!! I only used 10 lbs of it in my sump in a 180 gallon system. I think it really helped my biome!

 

[apac]

Get the live rock. The calcium carbonate rock will help massively as a water cleaner/filter. It will also help limit/battle problem algae’s and bacteria’s such as the dreaded dino’s and Cyanobacteria. Think of live rock as a magic ingredient in your tank.
Live rock is just dead coral, but teaming with diverse living organisms. It is not detrimental to the environment by collecting it off shallow sea beds.

 

[W31Olds]

FYI, I just received a 40lb order from TBS and suggest you hold the rock in a separate tank for a while. So far I have Barnacles, a Brittle Star, and at least 3 Anemones (Maybe Pests), and some Feather Dusters. I also have a 2.5 smasher shrimp, pistol shrimps that I have yet to see, and the latest problem that I noticed is dozens of little crabs that are probably pests that I'm not sure how to get rid of. The Tank is a 40 gallon breeder setup for holding purposes. You need to shine a light in your Tank at night as they are nocturnal. Maybe the smasher will wipe them out before I rehome him.

 

[Subsea]

This is TBS rock and until this evil weed algae showed up I was very happy with it. Had lots of different macros and sponges but now I'm battling this algae and the tank just looks like garbage. I'm not saying it's because of the rock but this red evil algae definitely came from the rock. Hydrogen peroxide and kalkwasser were worthless against it. I'm now treating it with boiling water in a syringe. I might get some more rock from them for another tank but if this ever shows up again I'll just remove the rock.

Where is Holland? I did not know that TBS sent rock to Europe.

 

[CHSUB]

FYI, I just received a 40lb order from TBS and suggest you hold the rock in a separate tank for a while. So far I have Barnacles, a Brittle Star, and at least 3 Anemones (Maybe Pests), and some Feather Dusters. I also have a 2.5 smasher shrimp, pistol shrimps that I have yet to see, and the latest problem that I noticed is dozens of little crabs that are probably pests that I'm not sure how to get rid of. The Tank is a 40 gallon breeder setup for holding purposes. You need to shine a light in your Tank at night as they are nocturnal. Maybe the smasher will wipe them out before I rehome him.

Yes, full of hitchhikers, but that is part of the diversity. I recently removed a stone crab that destroyed an expensive coral but oh well that is a reef tank.

 

[OSFF]

Lol...I do know that mature rock at the minimum is basically an instant cycle. Dry rock and "sterile bottle" bacteria isnt going to provide any kind of time frame like mature rock. I can't quantify that in a paper cuz im no scientist....but I can absolutely tell you its a fact from experience. I'll never start a tank with just dry rock again.

I had the exact same experience after 14 years in the hobby. Live rock is far superior to dry rock.

 

[slingfox]

I started my reef tank with dry Marko Rock and ran it for two years. Lots of ups and downs. Some very challenging situations faced.

I reset the rank with 100% ocean rock. It has been running for four months and has been a much smoother ride. Single best decision I made since joining the hobby.

Take a look at my tank thread. Take a look at others on the board and come to your own conclusion.

Here is my rockscape three months in. This level of maturity and stability is not possible with dry rock u less you are a true reefing god.

 

[ctylermast]

I used this rock and started to get Dynos one month later after a nutrient dance.

Turned down the lights a bit and the dynos just melted! About 1 month later started getting coralline. This rock is good stuff!!!! I only used 10 lbs of it in my sump in a 180 gallon system. I think it really helped my biome!

The stuff that i

I started my reef tank with dry Marko Rock and ran it for two years. Lots of ups and downs. Some very challenging situations faced.

I reset the rank with 100% ocean rock. It has been running for four months and has been a much smoother ride. Single best decision I made since joining the hobby.

Take a look at my tank thread. Take a look at others on the board and come to your own conclusion.

Here is my rockscape three months in. This level of maturity and stability is not possible with dry rock u less you are a true reefing god.

what kind of hitch hikers did you find, anything that got your corals too bad. I’m just asking for more or less Curiosity . What page did you order from?

 

[njmaddreefer]

I used this rock and started to get Dynos one month later after a nutrient dance.

Turned down the lights a bit and the dynos just melted! About 1 month later started getting coralline. This rock is good stuff!!!! I only used 10 lbs of it in my sump in a 180 gallon system. I think it really helped my biome!

The stuff that i

I started my reef tank with dry Marko Rock and ran it for two years. Lots of ups and downs. Some very challenging situations faced.

I reset the rank with 100% ocean rock. It has been running for four months and has been a much smoother ride. Single best decision I made since joining the hobby.

Take a look at my tank thread. Take a look at others on the board and come to your own conclusion.

Here is my rockscape three months in. This level of maturity and stability is not possible with dry rock u less you are a true reefing god.

what kind of hitch hikers did you find, anything that got your corals too bad. I’m just asking for more or less Curiosity . What page did you order from?

I ordered mine from Unique Corals website, but it shipped out of the keys exactly how you mentioned.

Rock had mainly sponge, coralline algae, and a bunch of stars, and microcrustations. Possible it had aptasia, but I don’t mind…it’s impossible to avoid in my opinion.

Pictures below tell the full story of how alive the rocks were.

 

[v!kas]

live is great, but there is a luck factor that you dont end with nasty hitch hickers/disease

 

[slingfox]

The stuff that i

what kind of hitch hikers did you find, anything that got your corals too bad. I’m just asking for more or less Curiosity . What page did you order from?

The only hitchhikers on the Australian ocean rock that required some effort to keep under control are (1) zoas, (2) palys, and (3) two bright green plate coral. The zoas and palys I had to manually scraped down and for some I also squirted on Aptasia-X (alternative is concentrated kalkwasser). For one plate coral, I fragged from the rock and a small piece survived which I remounted onto a frag plug. That piece has rounded into a perfect small circle which I hope means it will live. For the other plate coral, I thought it was a paly so I scraped it down and then realized it was a very small plate coral (mistake on my part). There were some snails and limpets which I could have left but I didn’t add them to the tank out of caution. There was some patches of macroalgae which came with the rock but I scraped that off manually since I didn’t like the look of it.

I also have experience with ocean rock from KP Aquatics and Tampa Bay Saltwater. Those came with a lot of hitchhikers, none of which caused any trouble whatsoever. Most hitchhikers whether macro algae or small inverts which don’t survive anyways. What I did for those rocks was put the rocks into a high salinity bath which causes much of the inverts to come out of the rockwork (one of the sellers has instructions on how to do this). Then you can eliminate whatever comes out if you feel like it. I remember some bristleworms or other type of worms coming out which I kept out of the tank. Some small shrimp also came out which I added to the tank. I am pretty sure those shrimp got eaten.

I have a Copperband, two wrasse, and a Hawkfish which help keep the pest population under control since no amount of high salinity dip, inspection and scraping can catch everything.

In summary, I have ordered ocean rock from Australia (least hitchhikers but also smallest obvious life on the rocks) and the two major ocean rock sellers in Florida. I have had no notable issues with hitchhikers. I actually wish more hitchhikers could survive in captivity!

Other hitchhikers include coralline algae, feather dusters, small clams and mussels which survives for very long periods of time (a year or more) in my tank. Sponges are also common but much of that dies off in the display tank. The areas where sponges have survived are usually low light areas under the rock where they don’t bother anything.

If you want the least hitchhikers then Australia ocean rock is by far the cleanest. It is also the highest porosity, looks the nicest from a rock structure perspective (in my opinion), and most flexible for aquascaping due to the growth structure. Main downside is it is the expensive since it is imported from Australia.

In terms of “blooming with life”, the ocean rock from Tampa Bay is visually the most appealing but most of what makes it look super nice early on will die off in our tanks. I therefore prefer the Australian ocean rock purely due to its underlying branching structure and high porosity.

In my tank photos above, that is only 28 pounds of Australian ocean rock in the 5 foot display tank.