[odie]

Title says the major question. Looking at setting up a 75 gallon and was thinking about using dry rock to avoid getting any none welcome guests. Now if I get plenty of dry rock and add live sand (bought in a bag) will this in time be as good as regular live rock? If so how long?
Pros? Cons?:banana:

 

[jenglish]

A bag of live sand is a waste IMO. Base rock will become live rock but the amount of time I can't say. I would get a single piece of live rock that seems clear of bad hitchhikers to try to get pods and bristleworms but you may not want these.

 

[Jnicho]

Live sand in a bag is a gimmick, don't waste your $$$...if you get something very light and porous like marcorocks and seed with a few choice pieces of good live rock you can do this...you won't be able to add livestock as quickly as it will take time for the dry rock to grow the benificial bacteria...otherwise this is a very good and ecomonical way to start a tank.

 

[Invader]

What do you think about using dry rock and adding the Bio-Spira
http://www.instantocean.com/sites/InstantOcean/biospira_splash.html
I am in the same situation with a 75 gallon tank. I have about 40 lbs of dry rock and I plan on adding about 15-20 lbs of live rock with the hope of turning the porus dry-rock into flurishing live rock

 

[odie]

Looking to have a more controled tank etc.

Dont mind bristleworms or bristlestars. Just want to avoid the sand sifting stars as I suspect them to be munching on my zoas in my nano. Was thinking about setting up with dry rocks and a few live rocks with no sand. Check the glass for unwanted critters etc.

Could one just use dry rock and then do water changes from an established tank and add that to the new tank with dry rock? Or even add sand after it was sifted to collect critters.

Does saltwater bacteria grow and reproduce as fast as freshwater?? I read once that freshwater bacteria will double in 24 hours under the right conditions.

 

[Romaro]

I definately recommend using base rock in addition to live rock. That's how I started my tank. Just space out your live rock as much as you can to make sure the base gets exposed to the live as much as possible. I started with 40 pounds of base and 25 of live. Seven months later MOST of the base rock is full of life. I upgraded tanks and added another 35 pounds of base to become live.Just be sure to be very patient with adding fish. I waited three months to add my first fish. Even now I only have two. Good luck!

 

[Jnicho]

What do you think about using dry rock and adding the Bio-Spira
http://www.instantocean.com/sites/InstantOcean/biospira_splash.html
I am in the same situation with a 75 gallon tank. I have about 40 lbs of dry rock and I plan on adding about 15-20 lbs of live rock with the hope of turning the porus dry-rock into flurishing live rock

Another bottle of snake oil IMO...adding some established LR will do the trick all by itself...good porous dry rock will be colonized with bacteria in time.

Looking to have a more controled tank etc.

Dont mind bristleworms or bristlestars. Just want to avoid the sand sifting stars as I suspect them to be munching on my zoas in my nano. Was thinking about setting up with dry rocks and a few live rocks with no sand. Check the glass for unwanted critters etc.

Could one just use dry rock and then do water changes from an established tank and add that to the new tank with dry rock? Or even add sand after it was sifted to collect critters.

Does saltwater bacteria grow and reproduce as fast as freshwater?? I read once that freshwater bacteria will double in 24 hours under the right conditions.

There are some Asterina stars that munch zoa's although I've never had a problem with them...I've used lots of different LR from many different sources...the two biggest problems I've dealt with are flatworms and a mantis shrimp.

Water contains very little, if any, of the bacteria that you need...it's contained deep inside the pores of the rock...I think you would need some type of established rock to "seed" the dry rock.

I don't know what the reproduction rate is for SW bacteria, but I do know it has a documented rate...I don't think it is as fast as what your thinking with FW...that's why everyone says add livestock slowly, so the bacteria has time to reproduce and "catch up" with the increased bio-load.

 

[lagrew]

the bacteria in a bottle stuff is crap, i used it once just to see, and it didn't do anything.

 

[odie]

whats the consensus on marcorock such as this?
http://www.marcorocks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=62

 

[Hop]

whats the consensus on marcorock such as this?
http://www.marcorocks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=62

It is OK stuff. There isn't an abundance of variation out there for base rock. Speaking from 405lbs of experience (not me, the amount of dry rock I used in my 450 gallon tank). You will want to soak the base rock overnight in a vinegar and water solution of at least 1:1 (or muriatic acid and water with a 1:3 ratio). From there you will want to cook the rock for upto 12 weeks checking each week with a po4 test kit until the levels reach zero. During this cooking, you should seed the live rock with about 20% live rock. Then you can add this to the tank and have 0 cycle and the cooking will drive the po4 out of the rock and give you a nice starting point for your tank

Skip the live sand, it is just loaded with po4 and most of the "live" is dead when it gets to your tank.

 

[odie]

Hop. This stuff isnt a regular dry live rock but a calcium based rock.
they say it is more porous and pre cycled.
Same rules apply?
http://www.marcorocks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=62&HS=1

 

[Hop]

Odie, yes, absolutely. it will save you MASSIVE headaches down the road

 

[Jnicho]

I can't speak for the cooking part as I've never used marco myself...I do know a number of people who have ordered from them and they were very happy with what they received, and commented on it being surprisingly light and porous.

 

[odie]

Odie, yes, absolutely. it will save you MASSIVE headaches down the road

Sweet I got the HOP seal of approval.

 

[Hop]

:lol: Thanks, but rumor is I'm an idiot

It's good stuff, it just needs a little TLC and it will save you a lot of cash

 

[goof1552]

Cooking?

I know this asking a question about an old thread, but when you say cooking -do you mean letting it sit in your tank for 3 months? OR do you mean something different... like actually raising temp or something? Confused..... thanks

 

[Fat Tony]

Its an actual process to purging the rock.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f164/how-to-cook-your-rock-66551.html

You can speed up the bacterial process by raising the temp to about 88-90* to increase the metabolism of the bacteria that actually is the driving factor of the cooking process