Old Ways vs New Ways of Reefing

[Troylee]

If you wanna by pass the uglies on dry rock here is my suggestion and it’s never failed me! Give the rock a muratic acid bath for a hour or so “plenty of threads how to do it” rinse it well and let it dry out over night and add it to the tank with the live rock and it will be purple in 6-8 weeks without ever seeing any uglies! I’ve done this on my current display with about 150 pounds and not a spec of algae!

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

I too miss the "old days" of rock from Fiji, Tonga, Marshalls, etc. That stuff was fantastic even with the shipping times and the wet newspaper. My tanks never had any of the issues that I see with the newer tanks. I recently just put up a 60 cube after a long hiatus and started with a bit of dry old "live" rock that I had laying around and a new order of Australian live rock from Jason @PristineMarineAquariums. I must say that the Australian rock although expensive just might be my favorite rock yet. It's super lightweight and VERY porous unlike the iron weight Tonga of times past. It shipped well and arrived fresh smelling and right into my tank. Water is crystal clear this morning and everything is doing fantastic. If I had a bigger tank I'd be buying more in a heartbeat. IMO, nothing beats the diversity of true live rock, yes you can add bottled bac, but that's only a handful of strains compared to what is actually in live rock.

Love seeing ocean rock!

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

Yeah the lack of biodiversity-particularly the microfauna and bacteria is the biggest missing piece of the "new era" of reef keeping. I used to love seeing all the amphipods scramble around at night on the rock and in the sand bed.

The issue I have now with what I see from TBS rock is that they are just round pieces of rock that can't really build a scape with interest. I would personally get a few pieces of their rock to essentially seed the dead rock if I was building a newer tank. I would let that stuff sit in a tank/vat in garage with some low level lights as if a tank for like 8 mos to a year and then consider moving that into a display.

I would like to just get some sand from a scuba diving friend to toss into my tank. I would have no worries about what it would bring in. I have found you just aren't going to be able to avoid "pests" no matter how much you try and minimize risk.

Funny story about ability for things to live from circa 2001. I had a friend who went to Florida from Louisiana and was at the beach. He brought back a "live" sand dollar he found in a cup of sand and water. I told him thanks, but figured it was likely dead after the temp changes and no oxygen etc over the long drive. I told him it probably would not make it but let's see. I just took it out and tossed it into the tank with ZERO attempt to temp correct or balance salinity differences.

Lo and behold that thing lived in my tank for years. I was shocked to say the least. It was pretty awesome to have an actual living sand dollar in the tank. I still have its skeleton after it died some years down the road.

Love it! I hear similar stories here and other forums about using different things found at the local beach to establish biome with success.

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

If you wanna by pass the uglies on dry rock here is my suggestion and it’s never failed me! Give the rock a muratic acid bath for a hour or so “plenty of threads how to do it” rinse it well and let it dry out over night and add it to the tank with the live rock and it will be purple in 6-8 weeks without ever seeing any uglies! I’ve done this on my current display with about 150 pounds and not a spec of algae!

Part of what I’m going to do in creating my test process includes acid washing vs not

I feel the combination of clean dry rock and ocean biodiversity might be the recipe for success.

A Better Way to Create Your Reef Aquarium Biome? - TEASER

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

First simple step is done in trying to take dry rock and load it with the diversity of ocean rock. The basic tank has been setup, the ocean rock has been received, and it's been cycled.



Next I want to examine the dry rock and different curing methods. I want to test the idea that acid cured rock does a better job avoiding the uglies. We know that acid curing helps to reduce phosphates, but I've also seen comments that some people can't get coralline or other beneficial bacterias to take hold on regular dry rock. I've started a test where I will add a piece of dry rock out of the box, a piece of dry rock soaked in diluted vinegar, and a piece of dry rock soaked in diluted muriatic acid. By adding the three different pieces of rock to the same system, it will be interesting to see if the rock all appears the same over an extended period of time.

 

[mfinn]

I want to test the idea that acid cured rock does a better job avoiding the uglies. We know that acid curing helps to reduce phosphates,

If I remember correctly, the use of muriatic acid was used primarily on old rock that had been in a system for a long time, then dried.
The idea because it was in a system for a long time, was it probably soaked up a lot of phosphate.
The acid bath was brought to use because it would strip the outside layer of rock off where much of the phosphate was bound up in.
While it didn't get all of it, it was supposed to help.
This started decades ago before mined dry rock was as prevalent in the hobby.

I'm not sure how it went from acid bath to acid cure, and how it is associated with dry rock such as marco rock

 

[Devisissy]

Watching my dad back in the 70-80's that crap was near barbaric. Animals suffered. New all the way.

 

[Garf]

muriatic acid

So many uses, lol. Cleaning stuff, killing stuff, emergency kalk overdoses.

 

[mfinn]

So many uses, lol. Cleaning stuff, killing stuff, emergency kalk overdoses

Oh yeah.
I was referring to just the part about the OP and using it to "cure rock"

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

If I remember correctly, the use of muriatic acid was used primarily on old rock that had been in a system for a long time, then dried.
The idea because it was in a system for a long time, was it probably soaked up a lot of phosphate.
The acid bath was brought to use because it would strip the outside layer of rock off where much of the phosphate was bound up in.
While it didn't get all of it, it was supposed to help.
This started decades ago before mined dry rock was as prevalent in the hobby.

I'm not sure how it went from acid bath to acid cure, and how it is associated with dry rock such as marco rock

yeah not sure when it became curing, but done before cycling.

BRStv Investigates: What is the best way to cure dry live rock?

Today on BRStv, we have a brand new episode of our series, BRStv Investigates. In this series, we explore popular reefing theories, products, methods, and what the manuals are missing, with a focus on putting them to the test! There are many different methods for curing rock out in the reefing...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

So many uses, lol. Cleaning stuff, killing stuff, emergency kalk overdoses.

Great stuff lol

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

Oh yeah.
I was referring to just the part about the OP and using it to "cure rock"

Not sure when it became “curing” either. Just the terminology used today.

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

Watching my dad back in the 70-80's that crap was near barbaric. Animals suffered. New all the way.

Not sure what’s barbaric or dying during the process. It’s a curing process of dry rock before cycling. Some people also use it on old live rock that has sense been dried out.

 

[Garf]

Great stuff lol

I didn't even mention regenerating cation resin just in case the youngsters burnt there dainty little fingers, lol.

 

[Devisissy]

Not sure what’s barbaric or dying during the process. It’s a curing process of dry rock before cycling. Some people also use it on old live rock that has sense been dried out.

I'm talking about the treatment of animals not the love rock which was ripped out of the reef by hand.

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

I'm talking about the treatment of animals not the love rock which was ripped out of the reef by hand.

Live ocean rock today is aquacultured. I get mine from the Gulf of Mexico. TBS is probably the most popular, but others like Gulf Live Rock are good too. That’s where I got the rock for my testing.

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

I didn't even mention regenerating cation resin just in case the youngsters burnt there dainty little fingers, lol.

lol them be facts

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

Three types of rock have been added to the cycled live rock system.

No zip tie - Dry rock rinsed in RODI water

White zip tie - Dry rock cured in vinegar and rinsed in RODI water

Black zip tie - Dry rock cured in muriatic acid and rinsed in RODI water.

It’ll be interesting to see how the uglies develop on 3 different rock types in the same system.

 

[Paul B]

Love seeing ocean rock!

How many rocks do you want to see?



I will let you have this big one for cheap. Shipping not included.

 

[RealReefHobbyist]

How many rocks do you want to see?



I will let you have this big one for cheap. Shipping not included.

lol

Not exactly porous but full of life!