Enigma's 2012 Nano Contest Entry

[fishoholic]

The aquascape looks good, but should be seeded with at least some live rock. IMO dry rock takes 6 months to start to cycle and over a year before becoming fully live and having enough beneficial bacteria to support a reef system properly.

[Enigma]

I won't be putting any live rock in this system to start. Some live rock may wind up in it once corals are added: if the corals are on rock. I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to manage that. If corals can be removed from the rock easily, then I won't be putting any in.

I'm actually very "anti" live rock. While I did start my first system with eight pounds of live rock, and I still use that in the sump of my main display system, I try to avoid it when possible.

While it is true that live rock and dry rock are very different, if one is aware of the differences and is willing to compensate, dry rock can become very efficient very quickly. The difference is in that the bacteria needs to be added to a system using only dry rock, and quite a bit of it. The fuel for the bacteria needs to be added, too.

My NC12, by day 19, was processing a cube of mysis a day. It was so efficient that when I lost two clowns to brook (and never found their bodies) three days apart that there wasn't even a blip in the ammonia reading for the tank.

I'll be adding a lot of Stability and Microbacter7, and a lot of fuel to feed the bacteria. The ammonia in this tank will probably get horrifyingly high at some point, and the tank may start to smell pretty bad, too. The cycle may even stall at some point if the ammonia gets high enough to kill the bacteria. I'm guessing it should be just about cycled by the 23rd of November, though.

[fishoholic]

I know a lot of newbies that have had lots of issues with their tanks from using dry rock. Not many people have the patience to go slow enough with dry rock and their tank suffers because of it. Guess you can say I am anti dry rock, but to each their own.

[Enigma]

Dry rock certainly presents its own set of challenges. It's easy to use when one knows what to expect and is prepared to deal with the downsides, but if one doesn't know what's coming it can be incredibly challenging and frustrating.

[mrhasan]

Great aquascape Shelley. Really liked the way you came up with it

I myself used aquacultered live rock which is guaranteed to be pest free. But over the time, pest did find a way in my tank (aiptasia through frags) but they also have to drink lemon juice as soon as I find them.

I prefer dry rocks for not being pest-free (aquacultered LR are pest free too) but because I can choose my own preference regarding shapes of rock which is not always the case with LR and aquacultered are not really available through LFS.

[JDigital]

Coming along nicely Shelley! The rockscape looks great.

[fishoholic]

Any updates? It's been over a month since the last one, just curious how the tank is doing now.

[nanoreefnewbie]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Dry rock certainly presents its own set of challenges. It's easy to use when one knows what to expect and is prepared to deal with the downsides, but if one doesn't know what's coming it can be incredibly challenging and frustrating.

I personally know this