Pukani Rock and Phosphates

[Finatik]

I am about to set up a new salt-water tank and need about 80 pounds of rock. I was planning to purchase 80 pounds of Pukani Rock but I have recently read and heard that Pukani comes loaded with a bunch of old dead crabs, worms, fish and so on, and will leach phosphates into your tank.
SO HERE'S MY QUESTION: Since this will be a completely brand new set up, and there will be no live fish in the tank during the full 8-week plus cycle, will this still be an issue for me ??? or is this only an issue when you add it to an already established tank with live fish and corals ???

 

[Evan West]

I would say you will be fine to put it in the tank for the cycle period, monitor the phosphate levels as well as the typical nitrogen cycle stuff. At the end of the cycle if you are still having phosphate issues you can run gfo to help get rid of them......im no expert tho so......

#Reefsquad

 

[NanoDJS]

Is it pukani dry rock ? I usually get mine from people who get dry pukani run a tank for a few years , fight algae the whole time , then take the tank down and chuck the rock in a bucket until I stumble upon it years later , cycle it and never have problems .....but it leached already in that persons setup lol I would check CL for some well used dry stuff before getting "fresh" dry rock imho

 

[Evan West]

Is it pukani dry rock ? I usually get mine from people who get dry pukani run a tank for a few years , fight algae the whole time , then take the tank down and chuck the rock in a bucket until I stumble upon it years later , cycle it and never have problems .....but it leached already in that persons setup lol I would check CL for some well used dry stuff before getting "fresh" dry rock imho

Or if you LFS sells live rock and is reputable, consider getting it from them. But you will want to make sure its not teaming with apista and other pests, its a risk vs reward thing.

 

[Finatik]

Over the years, I've had 3 different salt water tanks, and I started each of them with live rock. From those experiences, I have come to the conclusion that I don't want to start another tank with live rock.
Why ??? Too many unwanted hitchhikers ! From aptasia, to fire...bristle & bobbitt worms, and all of the other surprises you get from live rock ! I've even bought rock that was "supposedly cured", but it still came home with unwanted guests. So I just want to try it a different way this next time.

 

[Diesel]

Using dry pukani is no problem but pre clean it before you stack it in the tank.
Soak it for a a day or two in water in a trashcan, just faucet water is good.
After that rinse with a good powerful stream from the hose and stack itbin your tank to let the cycle begin for 8 weeks.

 

[His & Hers. 240 Reef]

We dipped our dry pukani in muriatic acid before we put in our tank.

 

[BigAsh]

If you can wait, you might want to cure the Pukani for two to three months in a separate container before starting your aquarium. You can use a Brute trash can with a small submersible pump to circulate the water. Do full water changes a couple time a month and use a bacteria additive like MicroBacter 7. Leave the water in the Brute when you finally pull the rock out so it rinses a lot of the remaining "dirt" out of the rock.

 

[Finatik]

We dipped our dry pukani in muriatic acid before we put in our tank.

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but what is muriatic acid, and where do you get it ?

 

[taintstick]

I agree with diesel, and if you still scared, go to your local diy car wash and pressure wash it haha
You'll be fine, are you planning on using "live sand"?

 

[Finatik]

I agree with diesel, and if you still scared, go to your local diy car wash and pressure wash it haha
You'll be fine, are you planning on using "live sand"?

Yes... I'll be using live sand.

 

[Mandrew]

Over the years, I've had 3 different salt water tanks, and I started each of them with live rock. From those experiences, I have come to the conclusion that I don't want to start another tank with live rock

What I recommend is to get a trash can or tote, pick all of the visual debris off the rock when you get it and soak it in heated saltwater with lots of flow for a few weeks. The benefit to doing it this way instead of in the tank is that when you put it in the tank the phosphates were never introduced into your system at all to settle in the sand or anywhere else. That also prevents you from having to do what should be a 100% water change on your tank after the rocks have cured.

 

[Maritimer]

Shouldn't be an issue - decaying organics in the rock will produce the ammonia your bacteria need to cycle the tank. Should give you a good strong cycle.

It's how I started mine...

~Bruce

 

[taintstick]

Yes... I'll be using live sand.

Ok didn't know if you'd go the all dry route. Your still going to get critters over time.. I would suggest going longer on you acclimation with dry rock. Just my opinion

 

[His & Hers. 240 Reef]

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but what is muriatic acid, and where do you get it ?

No, it's not a dumb question. It's an acid used a lot for cleaning swimming pools and such. I got it at Home Depot in the lawn and garden section. It boils and dissolves all that gross stuff you are trying to avoid introducing into your tank. Be cautioned it is highly caustic! Be sure and wear protective eye goggles and gloves to avoid skin and eye contact. Also, you will need to neutralize it with baking soda once you are done. Try googling how to do it. That's how we got our info to do it. There may also be a YouTube tutorial. And then, as I'm sure you may know, you'll have to add live bottled bacteria to start your cycle since it is dry rock. Hope that helped[emoji4]

 

[Diesel]

Be carefull with MA is it also breaks down your rock if you put too much in there.
Per se the rock is build up from calcium and that is what dissolves by the use of MA.

 

[Idoc]

I am about to set up a new salt-water tank and need about 80 pounds of rock. I was planning to purchase 80 pounds of Pukani Rock but I have recently read and heard that Pukani comes loaded with a bunch of old dead crabs, worms, fish and so on, and will leach phosphates into your tank.
SO HERE'S MY QUESTION: Since this will be a completely brand new set up, and there will be no live fish in the tank during the full 8-week plus cycle, will this still be an issue for me ??? or is this only an issue when you add it to an already established tank with live fish and corals ???

I'm basically in the same boat as you! I purchased 50lb Pukani from BRS. I hand picked off all the dead/loose debri I could see with pliers and scrubbed the rocks with a stiff plastic bristles. I wasn't concerned with starting my bacterial cycle yet since I planned on aquascaping the rocks completely dry first, so I soaked my Pukani in dechlorinated freshwater in a Rubbermaid tub keeping the temperature around 82 degrees and using a couple of powerheads...I did this for about 6 weeks. During that time, I did several water changes...the first week it smelled rough while the debri decayed. I was testing the water routinely to see what was going on with the decay process...ammonia obviously went through the roof. It did start to leach a bunch of phosphates, so I put a bag of Phosguard in the stream path of one of the powerheads and that cleared out the phosphates pretty well when changing the Phosguard about every 4 days. I also regularly scrubbed the rocks with a plastic bristle brush before a water change just to break off any remaining surface junk. After about 6 weeks, the phosphates were leveling off and remaining very low...although still present...so I stopped the cure process and let the rock completely dry out. I'm in the process of playing with the aquascape now.

I think I would do this process again. Some said I could have put this directly into my tank and cured/cycled at the same time, but I'm glad I didn't. From everything I've read, there is going to be a fight with the algae during the cycle anyhow, so hopefully my process has reduced the phosphates present enough to keep that somewhat under control...I'll probably still keep a bag of Phosguard in the sump during the cycle to help control any additional phosphates present. I might as well...my LFS guy sold me a huge container of it...I think I got taken there a little, lol.

 

[Idoc]

As for the Muratic Acid wash... I don't think I would recommend it with the Pukani. The reason...I just acid washed some rock that came with the tank I purchased from a guy. I only kept the rock in the Muratic acid (10:1 ratio) for approx 40 min and it really ate away quite a bit of the rock. The Pukani is such a beautiful rock, I would hate to see its surface destroyed from the acid...hence the reason I chose not to do it with my Pukani but rather follow the procedure I mentioned in the message above!

But if you do go the Muratic acid route...definitely use some gloves and eye protection...no matter how carefully you pour the acid into the water, it will still splash up a bit.

 

[jhatfield]

When I ordered pukani (40lbs) about a year ago it came with an incredible variety of dried creatures on it. Lots of sponges, complete brittle stars, etc.. I ended up soaking it for a couple months in fresh water since I had to delay the start of my tank for other reasons. After a couple days of soaking it absolutely reeked for a few days and then went odorless for the rest of the time it was soaking. If it were in my house during that time there would have been serious trouble with wife and kids.

It does seem to release a ton of phosphates which I got rid of with lanthanum chloride followed by a round or two of vinegar soaking. Again I had all the time in the world to soak this stuff. Both the phosphate release and the stink were temporary and shouldn't be a deal breaker if it were tossed directly into the display tank.

 

[Andrew Bias]

No, it's not a dumb question. It's an acid used a lot for cleaning swimming pools and such. I got it at Home Depot in the lawn and garden section. It boils and dissolves all that gross stuff you are trying to avoid introducing into your tank. Be cautioned it is highly caustic! Be sure and wear protective eye goggles and gloves to avoid skin and eye contact. Also, you will need to neutralize it with baking soda once you are done. Try googling how to do it. That's how we got our info to do it. There may also be a YouTube tutorial. And then, as I'm sure you may know, you'll have to add live bottled bacteria to start your cycle since it is dry rock. Hope that helped[emoji4]

It is otherwise known as HCL or hydrochloric acid. It is far from caustic intact it is so far acidic that it is considered a strong acid. You can find it at most home improvement stores and some pool supply stores. Be very careful as if you use too much it will eat through almost anything, including skin and bone. Just be very cautious and wear gloves and goggles.