POLL: Live Rock or dry rock

[Eckolancer]

Ceramic cool built shaped rock no sand. Easy to clean.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

Ceramic cool built shaped rock no sand. Easy to clean.

I didn't have good luck with some Ceramic rock at all . All it grew was some weird turf algae and very little coraline . Never again.
I plan next time to use real reef rock , some live and some dry dead rock . Wait ...I did that last time but the dry was ceramic .

 

[quickreefer]

This is an outstanding suggestion. :thumb: I do the same thing to "seed" my QT prior to use. Although personally, I allow one full month for the bacteria to collect.



You can do this, but the downside is you also get whatever pests/hitchhikers/diseases come with the LR. And I'm not so sure how safe it is to dip a rock. Porous rocks readily absorb copper and other chemicals, so I'm thinking the same holds true for whatever they put in coral dips.



Never heard of "purple loon" before, and using Google yielded no relevant results. Buyer beware...

Look up Caribsea life rock

 

[streetrodder]

it was suppose to be purple rock LOL my fat fingers and auto correct got it confused lol

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Voted! LOL!

 

[NanaReefer]

Dry.

 

[Orangezuk]

Started the hobby using Live Rock. Set up 2nd & 3rd with Dry.
Moved the homestead and went down to one tank so starting with Dry again, albeit all the stuff I had stored for the last year.
New route, just one a 16gal nano tank so I may have to try some of the "man made" options now

 

[Sm51498]

I used a mix of dry rock and live rock for my old systems but my latest 40b build I used Tampa Bay Saltwater live. I'm never going to use anything else again. this stuff is so freaking nice. there are pests don't get me wrong, but crabs a mantis shrimp are easy to catch with traps. I have 5 or 6 porcelain crabs, pistol shrimp like crazy, Tunicates, sponges, feather dusters, pods galore, coraline algae and even corals. only 5 bucks a pound plus some rather expensive shipping but SO worth it. no cycle and a tank full of amazing things to look at. 100% worth it.

 

[HB AL]

When I go fishing at Catalina Island and want to pick some up, I bring my hammer and chissel and jump off the boat and get some. Let it roast in the sun for months and hose it off and it's ready to go, can't beat the price!

 

[Christopher B Keyes]

I have always used like rock. And yes, it has been the florida farmed rock. From the florida diver I believe. I have had excellent results with it. I did have one piece come with a hitchhiker. A mantis shrimp. He turned out to be a welcomed member of the tank though. I would buy it again, absolutely! The hitchhiker was only one in about 250 pounds that I have ordered from him.

 

[Christopher B Keyes]

I have always used like rock. And yes, it has been the florida farmed rock. From the florida diver I believe. I have had excellent results with it. I did have one piece come with a hitchhiker. A mantis shrimp. He turned out to be a welcomed member of the tank though. I would buy it again, absolutely! The hitchhiker was only one in about 250 pounds that I have ordered from him.

I would howerer, be into man made of bare rock for a base. You can get the aquascape just how you like it without the fear of a die off from working with live rock that is already stressed! I would say the beat of both worlds is just that. A lot of bare rock and some live rock mixed in

 

[Branespikin]

Ceramic rock! Leave the rock in the ocean!

 

[N4sty T4te]

I used Dry rock in my setup, and have been very happy thus far. You can order kits online to seed Coralline, Worms, etc. I got mine from IPSF / http://www.ipsf.com/
Long term there is no real downside to dryrock. It will eventually be the same. I will say that live rock does have a magical quality to it through, I miss looking in the tank and seeing new stuff everyday.

I think the real deciding factor should be how much you have invested in the system. For a smaller less expensive setup like say 60 Gallons or smaller I'd probably go live rock. For a larger more expensive setup like the 200 Gallon I just setup a few months ago I'd go dry rock every time.

 

[Pat's Reef]

I used all live rock, from several different area stores when setting up my 29 mini-reef. One store carried live rock which was shipped in water and the bio-diversity was simply amazing. Two of the smaller pieces turned out to be oysters. And one chunk was full of small bi-valves which have reproduced and spread through the tank. Several varieties of live sponge, crown worms, fishing worms, several types of fire worm, small keyhole limpets, half-shell snails, mini brittlestars, and one bright read triton were also bonuses. The only real pests I have ran into were aiptasia and mojano

 

[Pat's Reef]

I used all live rock, from several different area stores when setting up my 29 mini-reef. One store carried live rock which was shipped in water and the bio-diversity was simply amazing. Two of the smaller pieces turned out to be oysters. And one chunk was full of small bi-valves which have reproduced and spread through the tank. Several varieties of live sponge, crown worms, fishing worms, several types of fire worm, small keyhole limpets, half-shell snails, mini brittlestars, and one bright read triton were also bonuses. The only real pests I have ran into were aiptasia and mojano

anemones that came in on corals I purchased at later dates.

 

[N4sty T4te]

I used all live rock, from several different area stores when setting up my 29 mini-reef. One store carried live rock which was shipped in water and the bio-diversity was simply amazing. Two of the smaller pieces turned out to be oysters. And one chunk was full of small bi-valves which have reproduced and spread through the tank. Several varieties of live sponge, crown worms, fishing worms, several types of fire worm, small keyhole limpets, half-shell snails, mini brittlestars, and one bright read triton were also bonuses. The only real pests I have ran into were aiptasia and mojano

My point exactly, killing off some aiptasia in a 29 isn't to bad. In a 200 where you can hardly reach the bottom of the tank is a different story.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Id go with dry rock but make sure you soak it first and test for phosphates to see if you need to cure them. Ive ordered dry tonga rock before and it took 2 months of water changes in a bucket to get it free of phosphate.

 

[Bill Bolton]

I despise dry rock. It will never, ever be a reef. I don't even like cured rock. Since my first reef in 1989, I have always used rock straight from the importer, then set up and cycled my tank. The benefits are that you get actual reef critters.....crabs, snails, corals, sponges.....the only 2 things that were pests were a mantis that I caught after about a week......and a small octopus that was caught and put into his own tank after 2 days.
These tanks set up with dry rock, and the other newer trends don't look natural. They look sterile and fake....unlike a real reef.

 

[Andrew Mc]

IMHO live rock is a critical element, if not the critical element to one's enjoyment of reefing. I've mixed Keys, Gulf, Fiji, Vanatu and other Pacific rock so as to establish the greatest diversity of life possible.

Good quality Florida farmed rock will provide a myriad of discoveries for the months and years to come and will teach you more about the marine reef ecosystem than any textbook ever could. The same holds true, although to a lesser extent, for air shipped pacific rock. What the pacific rock lacks in life, it makes up for in form and structure.

Of course there will be issues with the unknown and known pests that come aboard, however that's what makes you a better and smarter reefer who can handle the diversity that heads their way. Sure, you'll lose some battles and maybe even some of your livestock. Such is the way of the wild.

I would as soon use dry rock as I would a bleached coral skeleton.

Don't cheat yourself out of the experience of a lifetime. All live rock.

 

[Mark Gray]

Dry rock for me now, years ago I used live rock and it was alive and cured and had pests to I just set up a tank with BRS dry rock love it will never use Live again the only think I miss is Bristle worms and I will buy some.