Is Marco Rock premium shelf rock the best dry rock?

[CDavmd]

Marco, reefsaver and reefcleaner are terrestrial rock from the ancient reef. They do not leech phosphate. The phosphate issue is with pukani and any rock from the sea that is dead. Unless treated with acid bleach etc the dead organics deep inside the rock will take months to breakdown hence the phosphate issue.

 

[gcarroll]

What problems though? Every problem you 'can get' from using LR from an old tank, or using real dead rock, you can also get with Macro Rocks (or any of the other man-made rock). If people start to re-use Macro Rocks on future tanks, you can still get all those nasties, they don't just go away because you system is new.

I'm speaking from a price point perspective. If you were to say, the man-made stuff is just easier and I just like it; fair enough. But if your paying a premium at $8.99/lbs what are you getting for that money? Because not getting pests with Macro Rocks, you can also assure with Dead LR for $1/lbs.

Sorry, was speaking of those that complain of dry rock leaching phosphates.

As for my choice of live rock, I chose what I chose because I like the look. It certainly has a different look that the $1/lb dry rock out there. Personally, I just didn't want to be like everyone else on this build. It my dream and I am trying to keep it as unique as possible. So that is the premium that I am getting.

 

[shred5]

Marco, reefsaver and reefcleaner are terrestrial rock from the ancient reef. They do not leech phosphate. The phosphate issue is with pukani and any rock from the sea that is dead. Unless treated with acid bleach etc the dead organics deep inside the rock will take months to breakdown hence the phosphate issue.

Marco leaches phosphates, it may not leach as much as pukani but it does. I just cycled some in a bin and it had high phosphates for a few months . It took pretty many water changes to get rid of them and they are now in my live rock bin..

I did a bleach and vinegar bath before. Every tank I have used 100 percent dead rock there have been issues. They can be over come but I have had less issues with real live rock. I believe it is a diversity issue because never had issues with live rock like this..

That is why I use partial live rock and partial dead rock now.

It can be overcome it just depends on how much effort you want to put in. U have seen incredible tanks dead rock only. I have done some, it just initially harder.

 

[CC13]

Sorry, was speaking of those that complain of dry rock leaching phosphates.

As for my choice of live rock, I chose what I chose because I like the look. It certainly has a different look that the $1/lb dry rock out there. Personally, I just didn't want to be like everyone else on this build. It my dream and I am trying to keep it as unique as possible. So that is the premium that I am getting.

That is absolutely a fair statement. If you can justify the cost, then 100% its worth it and there is nobody that can say otherwise.

And you are absolutely right, people that buy dry rock need to fully know and understand that 99% of the time, if they don't bath it first in acid/bleach, their tank is going to be an algae bloom for a year until it comes out.

 

[CC13]

Marco leaches phosphates. I just cycled some in a bin and it had high phosphates for a few months . It took pretty many water changes to get rid of them and they are now in my live rock bin..

I did a bleach and vinegar bath before. Every tank I have used 100 percent dead rock there have been issues. They can be over come but I have had less issues with real live rock. I believe it is a diversity issue because never had issues with live rock like this..

Bleach only kills surface organics. Acid will take the first couple mm of LR right off which ensures the unwanted stuff are for sure removed. Or you can use Prime which is a P04 remover.

 

[CDavmd]

Bleach only kills surface organics. Acid will take the first couple mm of LR right off which ensures the unwanted stuff are for sure removed. Or you can use Prime which is a P04 remover.

Seachem prime is a chlorine reducer ( reduces chlorine to Cl- ions) and sequesters ammonia. Where have you found that it reduces phosphate levels?

There are other products that do this like GFO, Aluminum oxide and lanthanum but not prime which is a water conditioner.

 

[gcarroll]

That is absolutely a fair statement. If you can justify the cost, then 100% its worth it and there is nobody that can say otherwise.

And you are absolutely right, people that buy dry rock need to fully know and understand that 99% of the time, if they don't bath it first in acid/bleach, their tank is going to be an algae bloom for a year until it comes out.

I agree when you are talking about dry live rock like pukani. My dry rock is mined. And I will not bleach nor acid bathe my rock. And I will not have an algae bloom for a year! You can take that statement to the bank!

 

[shred5]

So Greg how many pounds did you get and what size Aquarium?

 

[CDavmd]

I agree when you are talking about dry live rock like pukani. My dry rock is mined. And I will not bleach nor acid bathe my rock. And I will not have an algae bloom for a year! You can take that statement to the bank!

My experience as well. I have setup other systems and nanos with dead terrestrial rock and did not have algae blooms for a year!

Add bacteria, pods, a few snails, Keep the lights off while your system matures for a few months and no issues.

Here is just such a system I set up at work.

I currently have a rock bin filled with Marco becoming live and I have not seen phosphate levels higher than .14 using a Hanna checker. It’s been cooking for 7 weeks.

 

[CC13]

Seachem prime is a chlorine reducer ( reduces chlorine to Cl- ions) and sequesters ammonia. Where have you found that it reduces phosphate levels?

There are other products that do this like GFO, Aluminum oxide and lanthamum but not prime which is a water conditioner.

I apologize you are correct. Seaklear is what I used not Prime.

 

[CC13]

I agree when you are talking about dry live rock like pukani. My dry rock is mined. And I will not bleach nor acid bathe my rock. And I will not have an algae bloom for a year! You can take that statement to the bank!

haha Pictures or it didn't happen!!

 

[gcarroll]

So Greg how many pounds did you get and what size Aquarium?

About 200 lbs total. The tank is 62" x 36" x 27". Rockscape is 16' tall. All pieces touching the bottom are Prime Cuts and there is on piece of normal Maro Rock (seen in pic) to bolster the right side.

 

[CherBear811]

I do worry about the porosity of fabricated rock. To some extent, you lose some of that in live rock as well (I use and prefer pukani and was able to cherry pick rock from the LFS I worked at - though we did not get discounts on anything we bought within a week of arriving as I recall) as the rock is encrusted in coraline, but it still seems that there is a lot of access to the inner core on pukani to foster a really stable nitrification system vs fabricated rock which seems it would be very solid. Also, price wise... because pukani is so porous, 10 lbs of it is going to be a bigger piece of rock than 10 pounds of fabricated solid rock, no?

Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea of using shelf rock perhaps in addition to pukani, just wondering....

 

[shred5]

I do worry about the porosity of fabricated rock. To some extent, you lose some of that in live rock as well (I use and prefer pukani and was able to cherry pick rock from the LFS I worked at - though we did not get discounts on anything we bought within a week of arriving as I recall) as the rock is encrusted in coraline, but it still seems that there is a lot of access to the inner core on pukani to foster a really stable nitrification system vs fabricated rock which seems it would be very solid. Also, price wise... because pukani is so porous, 10 lbs of it is going to be a bigger piece of rock than 10 pounds of fabricated solid rock, no?

Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea of using shelf rock perhaps in addition to pukani, just wondering....

According to BRS Pukani is no longer being exported. Whats in the channel is it.

 

[CherBear811]

According to BRS Pukani is no longer being exported. Whats in the channel is it.

I have a lot of it from my years of reefing. Not enough to do a 300 gallon tank, lol, but enough for tanks in the 4' foot print I can work with as a renter.

 

[DHill6]

Waiting on delivery of Vida Rock grotto and branch for a Reefer 170. It’s not supposed to leach anything since it’s fired clay. I had ordered Reel Reef Rock that was wet and it’s caused nothing but problems with different algae’s. One was so aggressive I had to chisel it out of the rock. Hopefully Vida Rock is my answer for this particular tank.

 

[Kjeldh]

The Prime Cuts are somewhat unique and can offer a more stable base structure

 

[pelphrey]

Emarco is great cement! Used it nearly 2 years ago on my build!

 

[CC13]

I do worry about the porosity of fabricated rock. To some extent, you lose some of that in live rock as well (I use and prefer pukani and was able to cherry pick rock from the LFS I worked at - though we did not get discounts on anything we bought within a week of arriving as I recall) as the rock is encrusted in coraline, but it still seems that there is a lot of access to the inner core on pukani to foster a really stable nitrification system vs fabricated rock which seems it would be very solid. Also, price wise... because pukani is so porous, 10 lbs of it is going to be a bigger piece of rock than 10 pounds of fabricated solid rock, no?

Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea of using shelf rock perhaps in addition to pukani, just wondering....

I have probably 300-400 pounds of Pukani from over the years along with a ton of Fiji rock that is just absolutely beautiful.

Pukani 100% leached P04 there is no questions. When I would buy it, it would take a long time in plastic garbage cans to get rid of the Phosphates to remove itself from the rock. It is one of my favorites for how porous it is.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I used Marco in my sps build and love how the flatter surface allows for better scape of frags. I also think the flatter scape is very natural looking.
I have had no issues with PO4.