Pukani Rock

landlocked303

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Reaching out to see other's experiences with pukani rock is. For me, I've had two tanks in the past. The first, was set up with cured live rock from an LFS. There was virtually no algae growth on the rock for the life of the tank (3 years). My second tank I used dry pukani that I cured in a bucket for about 3 months. I'm constantly battling algae issues with this rock. I've been watching a lot of youtube channels (like CJ's Aquariums) and noticed that they are also battling algae outbreaks when using dry pukani. What's the deal? Is it just leaching out nutrients? Even with a 3 month cure I'm still having issues... Not overly thrilled with this downside to pukani. It's unfortunate because I love how light, porous, and easy to work with it is. But as of right now I will not be using it again... What do you guys think?
 

sureal00

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Dry pukani is a hassle to get it clean.I think you would have to put in a extra tank and do weekly water changes and skim alot after you give it a acid bath
 

bif24701

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Reaching out to see other's experiences with pukani rock is. For me, I've had two tanks in the past. The first, was set up with cured live rock from an LFS. There was virtually no algae growth on the rock for the life of the tank (3 years). My second tank I used dry pukani that I cured in a bucket for about 3 months. I'm constantly battling algae issues with this rock. I've been watching a lot of youtube channels (like CJ's Aquariums) and noticed that they are also battling algae outbreaks when using dry pukani. What's the deal? Is it just leaching out nutrients? Even with a 3 month cure I'm still having issues... Not overly thrilled with this downside to pukani. It's unfortunate because I love how light, porous, and easy to work with it is. But as of right now I will not be using it again... What do you guys think?

You need a Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker, and BRS high capacity GFO or LC (PhosphateRX) if you do it right. Measure the PO4 levels and if you have any detectable amount and algae growth run GFO or LC. Also some carbon dosing or cheato fuge/algae reactor wouldn't hurt. Pukani is the best rock, but you need to rid it of the PO4 right away so you don't have these problem. I added 50 pounds dry Pukani to my 180 and got a little outbreak but got on top of the PO4 right away and it went away on its own in about 4 weeks.
 

Pittsford_Pets

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I'm new to the hobby so I doubt this will help/is true. I heard Xenia "eats" phosphates so if you put some rocks in a tank with a bunch of Xenia would it work? Just a question
 
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landlocked303

landlocked303

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You need a Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker, and BRS high capacity GFO or LC (PhosphateRX) if you do it right. Measure the PO4 levels and if you have any detectable amount and algae growth run GFO or LC. Also some carbon dosing or cheato fuge/algae reactor wouldn't hurt. Pukani is the best rock, but you need to rid it of the PO4 right away so you don't have these problem. I added 50 pounds dry Pukani to my 180 and got a little outbreak but got on top of the PO4 right away and it went away on its own in about 4 weeks.

I completely agree. I started the tank running GFO in a fluidized reactor and it helped a bit but it was stripping too much and caused a weird imbalance that brought in dino's. I removed it and then had a GHA breakout. All the while I have been using a santamonica algae scrubber that CANNOT grow anything at all. It gets a brown slime at most while GHA grows only on the rock...
 
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landlocked303

landlocked303

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Is there reasoning behind this or is it just a fun saying?

There's nothing wrong about xenia. It just happens to grow quickly and can take over if your not careful. Most people isolate it on a rock somewhere by itself so that it doesn't spread to places they don't want. I actually believe that xenia is a really beautiful coral that gives lots of movement to the tank and it's really easy to frag!
 

XNavyDiver

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I started my tank back in April with about 75 lbs. of pukani. I had what I would consider a controllable gha outbreak. I just used about 20 turbo snails and they knocked it out in about 2 weeks. After that I dosed a small amount of p04 rx to get it down from .17 to .02 over about the next couple of weeks. I use gfo very intermittently to keep it there. I've since gave about 15 of the turbo snails back to the lfs. The pukani now is getting covered with coralline algae.
I have had a few left over rocks from the original aquascape sitting in the sump from the beginning and during the gha phase, it had the largest amount of it. I put 5 of the turbos in there and they made short work of it also, but I also help them along with a few manual harvesting sessions also.
So far so good, no signs of it coming back.
 

Bouncingsoul39

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Yes, dry dead rock (Pukani or otherwise) releases nutrients in the water causing all sorts of issues. My theory is that it causes Dinos among other algae outbreaks. BRS testing has shown that it releases nitrate and phosphate. What they aren't showing is whatever other organics that we don't have kits for that need to be considered.

I wish the hobby would swing back to using real live rock like we used to. The cost savings of dry rock are not enough to outweigh the amount you will spend fighting the issues and you also end up with little to no biodiversity in the tank. It's really a matter of effective marketing on the part of BRS and others. Fact is, dry dead rock is more profitable and easier to handle and ship than live is so that's what they push. Not what is truly best for the hobby and hobbyist.
All the little micro organisms, critters and life that is in real ocean live rock are one of the coolest things about the hobby and one could say they are responsible, in part, for helping keep a reef tank healthy and thriving. Besides those points, you've got to cure dead rock in bleach for a month, rinse it thoroughly before use. Back in the day I just opened a box of Walt Smith Fiji premium cured live rock fresh from the LFS and put it in the tank and bam ready to go. Not to mention that the rock had multiple shades of green and purple natural coraline algae on it, which helps combat nuisance algae and looks great compared to fake painted on stuff.
 

joec

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I was about to buy dry Pukani, but reading this thread is making me nervous. I've read all about curing it, acid bath, LC and all the rest, but it sounds like these treatment methods are just a shot in the dark, not necessarily definative at resolving PO4 issues.

Should I just buy the Reef Saver and eliminate a potential Pukani nightmare?
 

Rob77

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I am an acro guy some Xenia is like a weed.

It is fun to say.
not to hijack but I wonder how many have a ''my wife liked the wavy xenia story '' I know I do ..... its pretty but I couldnt give it away every week!
 

bif24701

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I was about to buy dry Pukani, but reading this thread is making me nervous. I've read all about curing it, acid bath, LC and all the rest, but it sounds like these treatment methods are just a shot in the dark, not necessarily definative at resolving PO4 issues.

Should I just buy the Reef Saver and eliminate a potential Pukani nightmare?

Pukani is by a very wide margin better Reef rock. All you need to do is cure it with something to remove the PO4 for about 4 weeks before adding it or just keep PO4 ultra low for the first 4-8 weeks while the system is maturing and before adding corals. Some just skip these steps and get trouble because they didn't address a high PO4 problem before all the algae started growing. All you need to do is test for PO4 and keep it low. Like <.02. If algae is growing there is too much PO4.
 
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