Gulf rock arrived, but looks mostly dead. Any opinions?

[jabberwock]

That stuff is nasty. I don't understand why people buy it. Sure if you want a pest tank it is great. But hard pass from me.

Nah, ocean live rock or bust. Amazing stuff.

 

[rennjidk]

That stuff is nasty. I don't understand why people buy it. Sure if you want a pest tank it is great. But hard pass from me.

I used to think that way, but after fighting uglies for 3 years I've come around. I'll skewer a few gorilla crabs and mantis shrimp if I don't have to deal with GHA, bryopsis, dino, and chryso outbreaks every other month.

 

[BeanAnimal]

It does look good. But you are likely the rare example. Pretty much every time someone posts they got a mantis shrimp or aiptasia etc in that rock. Hard pass.

Most people used to "cure" it in holding bins with a skimmer for a few weeks to keep die-off manageable and pic out the bad hitchhikers. When we got imported rock from Fiji, Tonga, Marshal Islands, etc. it was often days on the dock or in pools of water in to the sun, etc. It just had less live macro inverts, but still came with die off and aiptasia, etc.

It certainly has its risk with regard to importing unwanted life, but it is a faster way to stability for many people.

If the "old" pacific LR was still available I would take that any day over gulf maricultured rock, but choices are pretty limited now. Sadly, I had 5 gallons pails full of fiji and tonga lumps and rubble.. I think it all went into a dumpster several years ago on accident when cleaning a storage area.

 

[RedReefer]

Nope, probably one of the best things you can do for a new tank to Jumpstart your biome.

lol

 

[Jekyl]

@LiverockRocks

 

[steveschuerger]

The only time I had hair algae take over a tank is when I tried to use dry rock for the majority of the build. Never again. As far as hitchhikers, I have 3 nice rose corals from ironically GLR shipments. And from my last delivery from them I have a small Mantis that I kept in the main tank. Eats the occasional snail but hasn’t bothered any of the fish in 6 months that it’s been there. I suppose it helps I feed generously with frozen.

 

[JoJosReef]

I used to think that way, but after fighting uglies for 3 years I've come around. I'll skewer a few gorilla crabs and mantis shrimp if I don't have to deal with GHA, bryopsis, dino, and chryso outbreaks every other month.

Yup. My dry rock tank = me ripping out GHA, blackouts, siphoning, etc, for years. Aiptasia came in through frags.

My ocean rock tank = yet to have GHA problem, never had dinos for more than a day or two in localized spot. Aiptasia came in through frags. Bubble algae has been the most persistent "problem". Caught a few gorilla crabs. Didn't cost me more than a few days loading pieces of shrimp into little glass vials before leaving the office. No mantises. Some interesting worms, none of them harmful.

There are some horror stories of people that got cirolanid isopods. So I'll give any doubters that.

But, I don't think people have perspective on the difference in the amount of work between setting up a dry rock tank vs. ocean rock tank.

 

[liddojunior]

Doesn't reef rock and corals in certain areas get exposed to dry air and sun depending on tide conditions for periods of time? So they probably dry out quick in hot sun yet everything seems to survive and thrive as the tide rolls back in.

I’m pretty sure tide pool corals are really different than the ones in the hobby. And not a lot of things actually get exposed at tide pools. Most life are in the little pools of water that probably have huge fluctuations of salinity.

 

[Lavey29]

I’m pretty sure tide pool corals are really different than the ones in the hobby. And not a lot of things actually get exposed at tide pools. Most life are in the little pools of water that probably have huge fluctuations of salinity.

From internet site:

Yes, corals are exposed to sunlight outside of the water during low tide. Some species, like Acropora, can be completely exposed to sunlight for extended periods of time. Most corals can tolerate being out of the water for a few minutes, depending on the species.

 

[steveschuerger]

The live rock we get from Florida/Gulf is maricultured from Federally licensed zones off the coast.

 

[JoJosReef]

Most people used to "cure" it in holding bins with a skimmer for a few weeks to keep die-off manageable and pic out the bad hitchhikers. When we got imported rock from Fiji, Tonga, Marshal Islands, etc. it was often days on the dock or in pools of water in to the sun, etc. It just had less live macro inverts, but still came with die off and aiptasia, etc.

It certainly has its risk with regard to importing unwanted life, but it is a faster way to stability for many people.

If the "old" pacific LR was still available I would take that any day over gulf maricultured rock, but choices are pretty limited now. Sadly, I had 5 gallons pails full of fiji and tonga lumps and rubble.. I think it all went into a dumpster several years ago on accident when cleaning a storage area.

Local guy was selling old Marshall Islands and Fiji rock from the 70s that was in his garage. I bought enough for my new build and then some. Wish I had bought the lot. These rocks are amazing.

Added that to my tank with the TBS rocks and BOOM, we're off!

 

[rennjidk]

Here's an updated pic now that the water has cleared a few hours, and my first hitchhiker.

Found this nem surfing around the sand bed (guessing lightbulb?)

 

[corosato]

that bleached coral might come back, I had a bleached one come back from them.

 

[jabberwock]

Here's an updated pic now that the water has cleared a few hours, and my first hitchhiker.

Found this nem surfing around the sand bed (guessing lightbulb?)

That hitchhiker looks tired... What is it?

 

[tzabor10]

I never said I expected them to be drenched, just not dry to the touch.

If I'm paying $200 for a literal box of rocks, they can spare the $0.30 worth of paper towels and take 3 minutes to individually wrap them. That would keep them plenty moist for the 18hr trip. I don't think that's being unreasonable.

I am so very embarrassed for what I paid for my rock.

 

[rennjidk]

That hitchhiker looks tired... What is it?

My best guess was lightbulb nem. Could be a corkscrew, could be aiptasia. My peppermint will probably eat it either way. It committed an aiptasia genocide on the last rock in the tank. I mean like 200+ heads in about 3 weeks. Never saw another one after.

 

[corosato]

Mine was all individually wrapped in soaked paper towels and that was only a few months ago. I *DID* have a lot of anemones I had to zap but the sponges, tunicates and corals survived and have done well

 

[rennjidk]

Mine was all individually wrapped in soaked paper towels and that was only a few months ago. I *DID* have a lot of anemones I had to zap but the sponges, tunicates and corals survived and have done well

I can't speak to other experiences. This was my first time ordering with them. Other reviews I read had them hit or miss, so I took a gamble to save some money. We'll see how it turns out with time.

 

[X-37B]

150lbs of GLR. Tank is 5 weeks today. I had it shipped to the door, 4 boxes.
I removed a few dead bivalves and some of the red and orange sponge.
Their is alot of life on the rock
Counted 16 bivalves.
One piece of hard coral was smashed but is regrowing already.
I have added 12 hard corals, 4 today, and all are doing well.
Overall this rock has been exceptional, imo.
I wil always use live rock as it allows a fast start withoiut the ugly phase.

 

[rennjidk]

Here's a follow up shot from today. I tore off all the large bi-valves and cleaned up a good bit of dead macro. I decided to leave a large empty clam shell attached as it was occupied, which I found hilarious.