Why did you not use live rock?

[-XENOMORPH-]

7 years ago, I seem to recall reading articles or (opinions) promoting the dry rock and bottle bacteria and live sand.
I unfortunately did that to create aquascape etc., and would 100% Pay the money for live gulf rock or tbs live rock next time. The dry rock method definitely stalled my cycle and increased the dirty stage time. Having gone thru it and survived…. I’m just saying, next time… I’m paying to have live rock shipped in water. That’s just me.

 

[tsharpe291]

I used dry rock when I set up a new tank, I wanted to build my own scape like many people do.
also wanted the pest free tank. in the last 20 years all I ever knew was live rock and was intrigued by the thought of creating my own scape with dry rock and mortar.
that was five years ago. if I had to do it again I would definitely go with live rock.
much more pros than cons with live IMO.

 

[MegabiteOG]

I'm not patient or brave enough to go the route of starting with all dry rock. I'm humbled by those of you that do and have success.

 

[gkprevite]

I used dry natural reef rock from retired reefer. I cooked it for months with bottled bacteria and 1 piece of live rock. By the time I set my tank up the rock was seeded and ready to go. Definitely gave me a head start and minimized the uglies. If I could do it again I’d do it the same. Live rock is nice but I’ll settle for natural rock any way I can get it.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I've only used live rock in my tanks. And I do not plan on changing. As for cost, yes, its expensive, but that only outlines what we already know. This is an expensive hobby. Period.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

I thought I was buying live rock. It was sold as such by the LFS. It was just wet dry rock. Wet just long enough to acquire Aiptaisia and Vermetids. What a rook! The shipped real live rock make this stuff look like a bargain. I bought on price, not value. So I paid the price and got no value except for the lesson.

 

[taintstick]

everyone great takes on this. I myself am getting back into the hobby after almost a decade. Maaan how things have changed… I however will doing a mix of live and dry rock. I am patient enough to let the tank do its thing but keep a close eye. Dry rock for the display and live rock in the sump, so that I can make a good aquascape. I want to fill the sump with live rock, more than what would be needed. I will be doing TBS live rock and possibly their sand or Fiji pink… I do worry about the critters, but being in the sump I think I would be ok…right? Any takes on this mix method, say 60% live rock 40% dry…?

 

[taintstick]

Was even thinking about putting both rocks in separate tubs to run for a couple months and use the water from live rock to add to the dry to help the process, then add to the tank when stable…

 

[oakcityreefer]

As a brand new reefer I didnt want to deal with any hitchhikers. So I used dry rock in the display. That gave me time to figure out my aqua scape. I used TBS rubble rock in the sump. That way I could isolate any pest but also get the biological boost from live rock. Over time I moved all the snails and hermits to the display but left the pithos crab and bristle star in the fuge.

 

[Greg360]

I used live rock and it was great, loved all the life right away but struggled with getting the scaping just right. Building anything tall is beyond what i could figure out. Had to deal with a couple mantis shrimps but still worth it. I think the next time I'll go with a combo of both.

 

[DanATL]

When I came back to the hobby after almost 20yrs I was surprised by the shift to dry rock. I went with dry rock 4 years ago because of 1/reduced availability of live rock at the LFS's and 2/hitchhikers. I was also surprised I could not get a yellow tang for $25 but that is another thread!

 

[jeep and goose]

I use a mixture to save on money and to create more interesting aqua scapes I like to incorporate lots of coral skeletons too which is primary what reefs are made of, I don’t have any from the ocean currently though. All my rock comes from other reefers cause it’s cheap. I think hitchhikers are an overblown issue. You can get the basic reef “stds” from other people’s tanks, the stuff from the gulf might have mantis, crabs or worms but those all are manageable

 

[jjvanb]

Everyone that starts with dry rock only,have you ever started a tank with real live rock? The reason I ask is the most common excuse I hear is either price or hitchhikers. Price has already been mentioned several times already. For me it wasnt a concern. I also think the hitchhikers are blown out of proportion exponentially.

 

[jjvanb]

Growing up in s Florida.. and seeing the tiny life on the rocks when I went snorkeling has always fascinated me. In some ways the live rock and its web of micro life is more interesting than the corals..I would never start a tank without it. There is so much more diversity of life on a reef than most hobbyists keep in their tanks, live rock gives us the privilege to observe a tiny slice of this. The fact that it helps stabilize our systems is a bonus.

 

[56longroof]

As someone who has never tried live rock, I think from now on I will set up new tanks using it. Dry rock is such a pain to mature a tank with. So many issues it seems, dino's, cyano, weird types of algae and can last for over a year or more before things settle down. As much as I have spent on everything else, I don't see the price of live rock being exponentially more than some of the other big ticket items on a tank. My only question/concern I have with live rock is creating a nice looking scape. Maybe I will utilize a mix of live/dry with leaning more towards live rock. I'm sure others have gone this route as well. Anyone have any pictures of what you have done utilizing both to create a scape?

I did 2 islands in my tank. I epoxied base rock together to create a hollow dome and stacked the live rock on it. I wanted to keep water flow through the rock and give fish places to hide and swim around and through.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I am starting my first tank ever with dry currently. Mostly because I wanted to build the aquascape.

That said the tank will be seeded with a couple pieces of LR in the display from my other tank, I also have ceramic media sitting in 3 friends tanks that will go in the sump to be used to also seed this new tank. I may make an order to GLR for a small amount of ocean rock / sand also.

Once things are stable, 30-45 days, I will take another rock from my other tank, turn off the flow and scrape as mush coraline as possible off the rock into this tank because I know the white rock is going to bug me.

 

[CHSUB]

There is so much more diversity of life on a reef than most hobbyists keep in their tanks, live rock gives us the privilege to observe a tiny slice of this

I agree with this statement. However, I disagree with many other reasons for live rock, including controlling the uglies or stability. Live or dead, I easily get the same results.

 

[c4haskett]

I did 2 islands in my tank. I epoxied base rock together to create a hollow dome and stacked the live rock on it. I wanted to keep water flow through the rock and give fish places to hide and swim around and through.

That looks good, I really like it. What company did you go through?

 

[Paul B]

When I started my tank in 1971, there was no live rock. There was also no dead rock so we used dead coral skeletons. Every year we went to a diving location so I used to collect rock and bring it home on my lap on the plane. I couldn't bring it live because it stunk so I had to bleach it in the hotel. It still stank.

But every year since then, I have been putting rocks, mud and seaweeds in my tank from the local New York beach mostly for the pods and bacteria. No problems yet.

 

[hart24601]

It's been about 15 years since I used live rock in a system. Perhaps bad luck but always had some real problem hitchhikers and have been very happy that dry rock has become the 'norm'. I see 0 reason to ever go back to live rock for myself. If others like it than that is great, but it sure isn't going to make or break a tank, just take longer and have less pests.