Dipping live rock

[don.ald]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Further, Buying new rock is tough, as most LFS that I know of don't have new rock, they have used rock that they buy from people shutting down. So unless you're ordering a fresh box, you may get worse rock than you took out.

Funny, this how most of us start out in the hobby. And this old rock isn't cheap!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by don.ald

Funny, this how most of us start out in the hobby. And this old rock isn't cheap!

Oh, I know. My first big tank, a 150g, had almost 250 pounds of rock. Essentially a sewer with corals. Brown corals always had nutrient problems. Once I moved away from the rock pile look and used minimal rock, my tank has never been better.

[jason604]

I got more rock cuz I just got a bunch more sps and ran out of spots to glue them to due to my lack of LR in my display. I tossed them In the sump because I ran out of time last night to rearrange my whole tank plus I put my new pieces in a low light area temp to adjust to my LEDs. The rocks look pretty clean. I guess I can take them out n put in new salt water and blast them hard with a power head a few days then test nitrate n phosphates again before putting it in permanent spots.

[toytech]

Isnt most live rock older than 3 years? How do you know how longs its been in the ocean for . I agree that live rock will build up with crud if you don't have the right fauna to keep it clean but I don't think it expires . If you where really worried about it you could bleach the old rock to dissolve the organics then cure it/ re seed it , but maybe that's just me an im too cheap to throw something away that cost me 4$ a lb .

[don.ald]

Originally Posted by toytech

Isnt most live rock older than 3 years? How do you know how longs its been in the ocean for . I agree that live rock will build up with crud if you don't have the right fauna to keep it clean but I don't think it expires . If you where really worried about it you could bleach the old rock to dissolve the organics then cure it/ re seed it , but maybe that's just me an im too cheap to throw something away that cost me 4$ a lb .

I agree, most of us don't throw it away. And my rock is the old crud from the LFS here it costs more than $4lb.
The rock from the ocean is old but it is treated by Mother Nature and doesn't exist in a glass box in artificial salt water.
IMO

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by don.ald

The rock from the ocean is old but it is treated by Mother Nature and doesn't exist in a glass box in artificial salt water.
IMO

Exactly. Anyone that's ever been swimming around a reef knows the force of flow that the rock gets flushed with. This just doesn't compare to flow in a sump.
I agree that tossing rock out isn't for everyone, and there are things you can do to extend the life of rock. Minimize blockage in rock scaping, allow lots of flow all around the rock. Blast it weekly with a baster or small power head. Make sure you keep nutrients low so that no algae covers the rock, blocking the pores.

As for the OP adding more rock for more coral. Sometimes you just have to accept you have no more room That's exactly how I ended up with a 150g with 250 pounds of rock. Added more rock, got more coral. Repeat. When I tore that down, I was so disgusted with what was under the rock, I swore I'd never build like that again. I have a much nicer tank now than I did then.

[jason604]

My rock work only goes up to half of my tank so I think I need more for higher light demanding sps =). Each water change I stick my turkey blaster in between the base n blast all that junk out. Here's a pic to justify.

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Exactly. Anyone that's ever been swimming around a reef knows the force of flow that the rock gets flushed with. This just doesn't compare to flow in a sump.
I agree that tossing rock out isn't for everyone, and there are things you can do to extend the life of rock. Minimize blockage in rock scaping, allow lots of flow all around the rock. Blast it weekly with a baster or small power head. Make sure you keep nutrients low so that no algae covers the rock, blocking the pores.

As for the OP adding more rock for more coral. Sometimes you just have to accept you have no more room That's exactly how I ended up with a 150g with 250 pounds of rock. Added more rock, got more coral. Repeat. When I tore that down, I was so disgusted with what was under the rock, I swore I'd never build like that again. I have a much nicer tank now than I did then.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by jason604

My rock work only goes up to half of my tank so I think I need more for higher light demanding sps =).

No, I'd say your rock is plenty high enough. You need room for the corals to grow.