I’m setting up a new tank and ran across this issue when trying to decide what rock to put in the tank. I had a rough time last time with LR because it introduced bubble algae into the tank that became a serious problem. Starting over I figured dry rock would be a no brainer. Then I ran across forums talking about dry rock leaching phosphates into the tank for 6+ months after set up. I’m hoping to get some opinions here which one is better.
If it were me I’d go dry rock for sure. It’s cheaper you can get what you want easily and you decide what goes in the tank. Live rock can be bound with phosphates too. IMO phosphates are easy to remove just use Gfo and wc and it’ll be gone. I think of rock as a sponge if the p04 in the rock is high clean water wil remove it. If p04 is high in the water it’ll soak into the rock. Just keep removing it and the rock will be clean.
+1 on the dry rock. It takes much longer to cycle and look good, but it’s worth the piece of mind.
Check out these videos if you haven’t seen them already:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BdOqC_6ykU&list=PLCF8D9F804B3DFA95
I ordered some shelf pieces from BRS with very specific pieces in mind and they sent me exactly what I wanted. You just have to leave your comments in the comment section when you check out.
hmm ok and was GFO enough to remove the leaching phosphates? did anyone give the dry rock an acid bath, ive been seeing threads about it on RC but not sure if its a good idea.
I bought the Pukani from BRS on three separate occasions, it’s great rock, but needs some work before you use it. First remove as much of the dried organic matter as possible, place it in a container to soak overnight to rehydrate more of the remaining organic matter, then hose it off. Place it in a solution of 50/50 vinegar/water for a day, with a PH. Remove it and hose it off again. Place it in some freshly made SW, and let it cure for a while, check for PO4, do WC’s etc. This method took me less that two weeks to get it ready to place into an existing DT.
When I set my tank up long ago I fed a lot and just had a sump and skimmer that’s it. I had an algae outbreak and learned about p04 I tested with a cheap kit and it was maxed out 4.0 is as high as it was. I then searched the Internet. I found out about cooking live rock etc. I made fresh se and put one of my rocks in it tested 12 hours later and p04 was through the roof. I added a reactor with gfo and a lot of circulation within 6 months my po4 was at 1 now it’s 0-.06 every time I test. Now if I add rock I do the same method as above less the vinegar and siphon tank water into a bucket with a power head for a week or two then in the tank it goes. I use vinegar to remove the outer layer of rock especially if its encrusted with old coralline algae this opens up all the little holes in the rock so it can fill up with denitrifying bacteria.
so i ended up getting the pukani rock from BRS. At this time all the rock is sitting in a bucket with some salt ater. Wouldn’t the vinegar eat away the rock since it’s so acidic?
i wouldn’t soak that in vinegar but rock that is encrusted with old coralline algae i would, to dissolve the outer layer and open all the pores up
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so i ended up getting the pukani rock from BRS. At this time all the rock is sitting in a bucket with some salt ater. Wouldn’t the vinegar eat away the rock since it’s so acidic?[/quote]
I have considered this rock for a future project. Are you happy with what they sent?
[quote=“snupa, post:7, topic:6470”]
Wouldn’t the vinegar eat away the rock since it’s so acidic?[/quote]
Just the outer layer that holds the remaining organic matter and most of the PO4. Many people use muriatic acid in a stronger solution mixed @ 10% by volume, full strength vinegar is 5% by volume, so you’re diluting that to 2 1/2% by mixing it to 50/50, RO/DI water/vinegar. The chemical reaction that occurs between the rock(a base), and the vinegar(an acid), is that it will quickly neutralize the acid, which is why you need to make a fresh solution if all your rock doesn’t fit in one container.
You don’t need to do this, you can do as mentioned, and let it leach out on its own, but if you go that route, that means using a lot of GFO($$), salt mix for WC’s($$), and a lot of time.
Yes I think I’m pretty happy with the rocks they sent. I’ll post some pictures in a bit. Definitely very light and some huge pieces. I’m looking forward to shaping them so I can get a nice aquascape going.
Thanks for the advise on the muriatic acid I think I’m going to try that to prevent the constant PO4 leak.
Are you cutting and chiseling the rock like in the video? Does anyone have experience doing this?
Yea pretty much. I got some extra rock with the order so I can have some to play around with… not much experience with it so far but we’ll see how it goes :-)###
on a different note does anybody here live in newark and would like to sell a bit of clean LR to seed these guys? GolfC
here are some pictures of the stand that was finished last week and the tank was just drilled and overlfow / return installed