Agreed, I don't know how they deal with the issues. I guess some don't. I'd never do this again though, just not worth the grief I'm dealing with. This is supposed to be relaxing :)

Thanks Doug. I'm sure it will, just needs some extra coaxing -lol

I found it easy to use , our new setup has no live what so ever as well I encountered no algae blooms or readable nitrates or phosphates and Still don't:)

I did start carbon dosing vinegar the day water was filled and tank is running with all kinds of corals and fish......guess I got lucky:)

No acid wash , bleach , 3 mths in the dark etc. Just plain old husbandry and a little bacteria help .

No water changes yet since initial fill and still on my first batch of gfo

I do read of issues all the time though with it so there must be some merit to it for sure:)

Your vinegar dosing from day 1 probably helped. And what "bacteria help" did you use? You also probably had a good skimmer, so P04 didn't have a chance to form in the water.

Sorry to hear about the losses Brad.

The natural bacteria the system grew :)

It did and the skimmers rated prob double , the key was staying on top from the beginning as well while the tank has fish their bioload I'd consider small as they are small fish:)

Other than that it's a normal running reef:)

I'm thinking of vodka dosing, and maybe vinegar in the tank. I've stayed on top of things as best I can with all the other stuff going on, and overall I've done well. I had lots of GHA, and that's all gone, and the rock is mostly bare. I have feather dusters growing, and sponges in the sump, so it's getting there, and I'm sure if I'm patient enough, things will work out.
Dosing foz down again, as stopping saw PO4 rise again, so I'll probably keep that going for another few months. NO3 is less than 3ppm, so manageable, and I'm reducing my water changes to 25% bi-weekly going forward. Give things a chance to settle in.
Just trying to keep fish alive for now, tank is overall nice, and maybe I need Wayne to take some close ups :) PO4 is inhibiting growth I suspect, but things are growing.

Argh
Sorry to hear I'm not the only one with issues

Sorry to hear about your troubles Brad. I know of lots of people having trouble with dry rock from all sorts of different sources. Some of my clients have dry rock in their tanks too, and the tanks are terrible to maintain. It seems like it takes 8-12 months just for it to look half decent. I'm with you - I'd rather just pay more and enjoy the tank now. Looking at that last pic you posted and the age of the tank, I'm guessing you have at least another 3 months battle ahead. At least you have real lights over it! ;)

I have some old, old live rock that's been cooking in vats for years - some of it like 6 years. Sometimes the barrel is only half filled with (very salty) water. It has a MaxiJet, no heater. Over the years I have added this to my tanks, removed it from tanks, it's like the rotating rock bin. Even using this old, lifeless, white rock is so much better than the dry rock. Probably because instead of being "dead" it is "sterilized". Haha!

Mindy, ya, I would guess another 3 - 6 months. However, I've now lost all my fish and am considering not doing this anymore