Starting a reef from dryrock.

[Salt2Death]

It's a common misconception that you need live rock to "seed" sand beds or other dry rock.
I never used anything but old LR I "cooked" witch is much simpler than the big 4-6 week soaking and sun backing event always listed. (Boil water and soak rock, scrub off with soft non metallic cleaning brush, rinse often and repeat until bone white. Then 24-48 hours soaking in water/ high vinegar concentration with power head and heater on high. Make sure you reposition the rock every so often. After the vinegar bath rinse the rock repeatedly. Let dry, then use or glue as you please.
Bam....
After you have you sand and rock setup in the tank, water running and all leak checks done. Now drain your water, mix up your salt water and let the system run until its not cloudy and add the nitrifying bacteria!!! To fully seed the system like I said add Cheeto Algae to the sump and your system will seed and flourish as pest free as posable!

(Test water often still, also water changes often as system is new)

!!!!!!PROTIBIO!!!!!!!






Sent Via The Pirate Ship...

[Reef Supplies]

We're seeing more and more people starting systems with dry rock, we CANT keep it in stock. Pest free and cheaper. You must however have patience and let the cycle take it's course.

Ray

[reefwars]

maybe in the first 6 mths or so youll go pest free but it will get through over time, in order to stay pest free you have to be willing to qt ANYTHING that hits your tank for minimum weeks on end and then to not buy anything while you qt each and every individual thing.......theres very very few people who are willing to do that.


qt is for making sure the coral is healthy and to see if it has immediate health problems or pests.......if you want to guarantee you have no pests come in you would have to qt the first piece of livestock.....then weeeks later add 1 more thing and qt that.....then weeks later you wouldhave to add 1 more thng to your qt tank.....everytime you add something you put something in your display.

the only other way is too add it all at once into your qt tank and hope you get all the possible pests.


if your not doing this then there is a chance of pests getting through for sure.


fwiw dips dont kill half of what we think it does , so unless you know how to kill it all, its going to be tough.


either way i hope you do get to be pest free, i will be the first you to commend all the hard work for sure

cheers

[FitoPharmer]

Originally Posted by reefwars

maybe in the first 6 months or so youll go pest free but it will get through over time, in order to stay pest free you have to be willing to qt ANYTHING that hits your tank for minimum weeks on end and/or then to not buy anything while you qt each and every individual thing.......theres very very few people who are willing to do that.

So true. If you don't QT your corals the only benefits to dry rock that I see are the price and ease of styling. And even if you do QT for months there is zero guarantee it worked like you hoped since some problems are very hard to spot and can take a long time to develop to noticeable or plague proportions. Also, what are the reef pests you are trying to prevent? GBA, GHA, Caulerpa, aiptasia, mini stars, hydoids, bristol worms, flatworms, and brittle stars. These pests would require at least a month in QT with very careful attention. Some would require 3 or more months to be sure.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by FitoPharmer

So true. If you don't QT your corals the only benefits to dry rock that I see are the price and ease of styling. And even if you do QT for months there is zero guarantee it worked like you hoped since some problems are very hard to spot and can take a long time to develop to noticeable or plague proportions. Also, what are the reef pests you are trying to prevent? GBA, GHA, Caulerpa, aiptasia, mini stars, hydoids, bristol worms, flatworms, and brittle stars. These pests would require at least a month in QT with very careful attention. Some would require 3 or more months to be sure.

exactly , some stuff is going to be easy to keep out some stuff is going to be next to impossible.

less chance of pests from the startup...most definately

pest free forever...that depends on you and has nothing to do with your liverock

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by reefwars

exactly , some stuff is going to be easy to keep out some stuff is going to be next to impossible.

less chance of pests from the startup...most definately

pest free forever...that depends on you and has nothing to do with your liverock

Every pest in my 40 has come in on corals. My "pest free" 40 didn't even last a month.

I'm going to try to hit six weeks pest free with my NC24.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Every pest in my 40 has come in on corals. My "pest free" 40 didn't even last a month.

I'm going to try to hit six weeks pest free with my NC24.

its next to impossible to keep "all" pests out , the hiding places in liverock are too many so if say someone buys a coral it needs to be removed from it base, and then qt.

depending on what you want or dont want will depend on how long you qt.


for examle brittle stars are easy to kill, nudis,flatworms and red bugs for exaample not so much.


and the worse thing is even if you do go months or even a year pest free......once that one gets through its all a lost cause then anyways, alot of pests do not need a mate to reproduce so one is often enough to get the pop going

your qt tank would need more work then your display tank will , i think its a better practise to familiarize yourself with pests of all kinds and learn how to deal with them and what methods are best for you.



pests are bed yes but its not the end of the world, the trick is to jump on something the minute its noticed and to approach it the right way....most times its us who wins in the end.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Reef Supplies

We're seeing more and more people starting systems with dry rock, we CANT keep it in stock. Pest free and cheaper. You must however have patience and let the cycle take it's course.

Ray

pest free .....maybe at first.....yes


cheaper....i dont think so i see liverock for $2-$3 and even less all the time, last time i checked at the store dryrock was more expensive than that, maybe in quebec but out here in calgary liverock is as cheap as dry rock......so i dont see the plus side???

[Reef Supplies]

Originally Posted by reefwars

pest free .....maybe at first.....yes


cheaper....i dont think so i see liverock for $2-$3 and even less all the time, last time i checked at the store dryrock was more expensive than that, maybe in quebec but out here in calgary liverock is as cheap as dry rock......so i dont see the plus side???

You might find some LR on sale for $5 here but most of the time it's right around $8 for quality rock. So, yeah dry rock is deff. cheaper here.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Reef Supplies

You might find some LR on sale for $5 here but most of the time it's right around $8 for quality rock. So, yeah dry rock is deff. cheaper here.

thats like home too liverock is 15.99/lb .....if your lucky you can get someone to sell out at 6-8$ but thats a steal of a deal then. so it does depend on what the market is like.

the op is from calgary though so price wont be much of a comparrison.