Did you start your system with live rock or dry rock and what were your experiences while maturing?

[Cpage101]

I started the original 55g with all live rock. when I upgraded to my 120G I used 100lbs of dry rock and added the 55lbs of live rock during the tank transfer. the dry rock did go through a short ugly stage but I think it was much shorter than my 20G which I used all dry rock. Dry rock IMO seemed to have an algae stage which was a nightmare but I got through it. Would love to hear others stories of the good and bad for our new reefers to understand there must be some bad before things are good

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

In the past I've only used live rock. This system was a mix of dry and really established live rock. The dry was soaked for a bit but still dealt with some ugly algae's. From everything that I've read or watched. it's kind of imperative to soak dry rocks for months, like 6-9 months to be safe. I've had some shelf rock cooking ion my frag tank and sump no for a few months, so hoping things will go smooth once I add them to the display.

 

[chadfish]

I started with dry rock and "live sand". I went through the typical stages: first brown diatoms, then green turf, then purple coraline. This process was arrested by dinos, which I'm still battling. Now the rock is covered with patches of black-ish algae, turf algae, GHA and I think I have some bryopsis. Coraline is growing on the walls and powerheads, but not the rock... go figure..

Other than the dinos, my experience has been great, the rock seeded and cycled quickly and was sustaining life in no time. The upshot is that I don't have many of the pests that others do. I quickly changed that with LR from Dong and Frank.

 

[srit1]

All the dry rock I used went through an algae phase as well. I am currently doing an experiment where I put dry rock into a dark part of my sump and just leave it there. I want to see if when I bring that into my tank if it goes through the same stages (I suspect it will not)

 

[Chris A.]

I started this tank with all dry bleached LR and it took almost 2 years to be able to get it stable enough to grow acros. It was my first and last time doing this, I’m going to skip the headache next time and just get LR from the ocean.

 

[highfive52]

All dry. Never again but the flip is getting pests. Don't know what's worse or better.

 

[PSU4ME]

Reused dry rock. Never again

 

[jfoahs04]

All live. I did dry once and never again. I can deal with the pests for the most part.

 

[nvmy22s]

This tank i used dry rock and dry sand. I've never had a system have such a bad break out of hair algae. I think if I had done more prep work and research being the first time starting a system like this I would have had a more positive experience. It's been a good learning tool if I have to find a positive, but doubt I will use dry again in future tanks.

 

[PSU4ME]

My ideal tank is KP rock, airport to airport, in water. Into the display where it sits, with cuc for 76 days to QT itself. Trap and pick as you want but it’s the best way to get an awesome biome going. Cost is higher but think of how much we bleed money. It’s worth it

 

[Ptreef]

90/10 dry/live good to go in 3 months... Still got dynos early

 

[MarkSzy]

I was planning on all dry for this new build but now some of your responses are scaring me. I planned on adding turbo start also, do you think if I just do live in my sump will be enough?

 

[chadfish]

I was planning on all dry for this new build but now some of your responses are scaring me. I planned on adding turbo start also, do you think if I just do live in my sump will be enough?

The fact is that live rock, especially from the ocean, is often just too expensive to use and not as available as it once was. If you can afford it, you’ll probably enjoy all the benefits and hitchhikers, but the dry rock works, it affords the ability to aquascape, and is cheap.

Mixing in just a small amount of live rock will give you the bacteria you need without a bottle. Just make sure you feed it well.

 

[Terry Martin]

2 years ago, I plumbed a new 170 gallon tank into an existing mature 250 gallon system and used dry (bleached for six months used rock from members); I thought that because there was mature bacteria in system it would colonize rock and be good to go quickly. Not at all. FOught all the usual crap for a full year before it settled in and could grow acros. 2 years in now, it's great but not what I expected.
I'm interested in the 90% dry, 10% live strategy. Anyone else heard about how that works?

 

[ChrisV]

I have done dry rock with a few chunks of LR to seed and all LR. Based on my experiences, I will probably only use all LR in the future, unless I find a secret stash of dry Tonga branch that would be worth the pain of seeding. Love that Tonga branch.

 

[jfoahs04]

I was planning on all dry for this new build but now some of your responses are scaring me. I planned on adding turbo start also, do you think if I just do live in my sump will be enough?

Going live in the sump and dry in the DT should help with the colonization of bacteria and potentially expedited the cycling process. I don't know if it'll help the tank find its balance any sooner which is the primary issue with going all dry. The time I went with all dry, it was one series of algae outbreaks after another for about a year. Maybe the live rock in the sump will help avoid/expedite that, but I'm not sure.

If it helps, European Aquatics has a "Live Rock" setup that's not connected to the rest of his systems and stocked with previously dry rock. I've used several pieces as part of my re-scaping. No livestock, no pests. It could be a happy middle ground.

 

[Ptreef]

2 years ago, I plumbed a new 170 gallon tank into an existing mature 250 gallon system and used dry (bleached for six months used rock from members); I thought that because there was mature bacteria in system it would colonize rock and be good to go quickly. Not at all. FOught all the usual crap for a full year before it settled in and could grow acros. 2 years in now, it's great but not what I expected.
I'm interested in the 90% dry, 10% live strategy. Anyone else heard about how that works?

Maybe it was 70/30. Moved some live rock and sand from my dead work tank which got nuked by an overfeed on covid shutdown. It definitely had very healthy algae and probably well fed bacteria. 20g became a 60g. Didn't lose any of the initial hearty corals. I lost 1 clown in what would be the qt period and had Dyno about a month in. Here's the tank at about 1 month. My documentation is pretty bad as I had a second child the week before I took this picture.

 

[this is me]

I don't think it really matters....
My tank was started with the rocks from my old tanks that have been dumped in the the woods with rain, sun, and snow for a couple months(Sure way to get rid of any pest ).
While I was waiting for the new tank to be built, I collected all the rocks and put them in a rubbermaid. Made some water with IO and place a powerhead and let them sit for about 4 months then started to use them in a temporary while still planning out the new tank. You can look at my post here.

Did Something Naughty Today

Oh Boy!

bostonreefers.org

This turned out to be the best prep process I ever did to start a tank. No green phase, no fish dying. I don't know if it's the extra time allowed for the rocks to cycle and process or the running of UV and large skimmer with very little bioload to clean out the rocks or the natural exposure to the outside environment or all the above.
I think if you give it enough time, nature will take care of itself. Even if you get the green phase, don't panic and let it phases itself out. Every fire will burn out, eventually.

 

[srit1]

^ Reading your thread from your new build months ago is why I put dry rock in my dark sump for future rock needs.

 

[MarkSzy]

Going live in the sump and dry in the DT should help with the colonization of bacteria and potentially expedited the cycling process. I don't know if it'll help the tank find its balance any sooner which is the primary issue with going all dry. The time I went with all dry, it was one series of algae outbreaks after another for about a year. Maybe the live rock in the sump will help avoid/expedite that, but I'm not sure.

If it helps, European Aquatics has a "Live Rock" setup that's not connected to the rest of his systems and stocked with previously dry rock. I've used several pieces as part of my re-scaping. No livestock, no pests. It could be a happy middle ground.

Were you running a UV when you did this tank?