Curing Dry Rock

[dz6t]

I want some dry rock from Marc after hearing all the good words. Is there a place that I can buy them without driving down to cape? Thanks

 

[ScottM]

Yeah, are they just rock or dead live rock (used to be alive)?

what makes marcs rock VERY Different from all the other "dry" rock out there is marc's is true Fiji rock. Most, if not all the other "dry rock" out there for sale is Florida or Caribbean rock and not Fiji. (hirocks.com, gulf view, TB....)Fiji is very different rock. its ultra light, porous and the skeleton structures often create great shapes.
also the dry rock weighs alot less than wet rock. figure water weighs 8lbs per gallon. that adds up.

i will say a word of caution for dry rock. its dead. don't expect to get a tank up and running with a bioload on dry rock.
there is no benificial bacteria living on the rock to act as a biofilter for your system. nor is it protected from growing unwated algae across its surface.
so if your going to start/run a tank on dry rock, make sure you have enough "live" rock to handle your systems bio load or its going to result in a bad day.

 

[dz6t]

Thanks Scott. Need to get some of Marcs dry rock. Let me know who has some to spare. I can't drive dwon to cape with a 3 year old screaming at the back.

 

[Daragon]

Ok, so now the dry rock has been in the tank for 3 weeks. How do I know when it is considered Live Rock?

 

[~Flighty~]

Has it had a bio load? I think the rock is "live" (and don't forget the sand in the system) When it has the denitrifiing bacteria in it, so the amonia and nitrogen is processed before it reaches detectable levels. Without the "food" of a bioload, this isn't going to happen and any system will lose its processing ability.

 

[Daragon]

What do you mean, has it had a bio load?

 

[Chris A.]

Did it cycle?And yes it has.Remeber how you had an amonia spike?If you don`t have it anymore it`s becouse of the bacteria taking care of the bio-load.

 

[~Flighty~]

A bioload is any source of ammonia . It could be fish waste, uneaten food, decaying dead stuff. Some people put a coctail shrimp in a tank as a source of Bioload. As it dacays, amonia, nitrates, and nitrites are produced in high amounts and this feeds the denitrifiing bacteria so that the levels of these bacterias are large enough to take care of the amonia produced by fish poop and uneaten food once you add livestock. Thats the whole point of a cycle and getting your rock and sand to be "live", so that the fish poop doesn't poisin the fish.

 

[Daragon]

Ahhh.... Yes, it has bio-load. It has 5 fish in there now along with hermits, snails, brittle star. Plus the daily feeding.