Torn about rock choice for first reef tank

[C12]

I am aware of the discussions on this topic and I don't mean to offend anyone by posting more on this topic but I really need to get this off of my chest and I need help weighing my options. I want to apologize beforehand if I mess up any terminology.

Anyway, I am trying to decide between Marco rocks dry, caribsea dry live, and live Florida ocean rock. (or if you have another recommendation, include that below)

Caribsea - I've heard good things about it from my lfs, and this was my initial pick, because it's on so many YouTube videos. Now, the downsides (from what I have seen) are the price and the supposed algae and dino outbreaks caused by it.
MarcoRocks - Marco rocks has really good reviews on BRS, and I love that it's pretty much sterile, it's the cheapest of the 3, and it seems to be the easiest to scape (and most attractive scape imo), but the downsides are the little bacteria (meaning longer cycle) and similar to caribsea I've read about algae outbreaks on the forum.
Live Florida Ocean rock - I've heard mostly good things about this rock, but I'm having a hard time getting around the steep price and the insane amount creatures coming in on that rock (both good and bad) and I don't know if I wan't to deal with that. The pros are the very short cycle, the minimal algae (from what I've read on the forum), and I guess the established look.

For a little more context, I am setting up a red sea max nano g2 cube (20 gallons), It's going to be mostly softies and lps, and I'm planning on a clownfish pair, obviously some sort of cleanup crew, and possibly a goby (or something along those lines). The tank has aio filtration (no sump). If I were running a sump I would go with dry rock in the tank and the Florida live rock in the sump, but for this situation, I just have no idea. Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Aaron75]

Your answer will most definitely be live rock 100%. I used live rock for my first nano and it was beautiful. The life, random creatures, wild corals are all amazing. I also dealt with Bryopsis, Aiptasia, a cool fleshy limpet that liked to eat zoas and a whelk. I used dry rock for my 2nd nano and it's been mostly smooth sailing. Makes it a lot easier to sculpt your scape and no pests. You also miss out on all the truly wild and random growth and colors. So it's really up to you, I'm not nearly as 1 sided as some are. In my opinion, can't go wrong either way.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Live rock

 

[C12]

Live rock

Wet live rock, or dry live rock? Also, I see you are from Roswell! 3.5 hour drive from here, but still kinda close!

 

[BristleWormHater]

Wet live rock, or dry live rock? Also, I see you are from Roswell! 3.5 hour drive from here, but still kinda close!

The ocean live rock, the dry live rock is dry rock, not live rock. I've been chomping at the bit to get ocean live rock for my tank, there's just so much stuff you can't get anywhere else on those rocks. It would probably be smart to have a plan for what yo do with your bad hitchhikers though. Maybe drive them to me lol.

 

[Kellie in CA]

Live rock straight from the ocean if it's in your budget.

 

[bradreef]

Do a Tampa Bay treasure box and bit of dry.

 

[Hemmbone20]

I did dry rock in my display and seeded my sump with live rock rubble from TBS. I had some pest issues early on (cirolanid isopods, poly clad flatworm, gorilla crab) but they’ve been irradiated by now and I’m glad I have the biodiversity of live rock.
You could do a combo like I did… get a majority of dry rock and a small 5lbs rubble box from TBS. Less space for pests, but still come wild critters and diverse nitrifying bacteria.

 

[BristleWormHater]

but they’ve been irradiated by now

You put them in the microwave???

 

[Fish Fan]

You can start your tank and be successful with any of those options, but if this is your first tank, and you're looking for easy, it's REAL live rock all the way.

That CaribbSea rock you're considering is artificially decorated to kind of look alive even when it's new, but it is just a dead, dry rock. It will come with the same amount of micro and macro life as the Marco rocks, which is effectively nothing.

A good, high quality live rock and sand will go a long way to not just minimize your cycle, but also make your tank more stable over the first year or so it's running.

*The best* real live rock option in my opinion is the rock and sand offered by Tampa Bay Saltwater. I started two small tanks using their rock and sand last year, and it comes us teeming with critters and beneficial microbes. Yes, you could get some bad hitchhikers, but I really didn't have much of a problem, except a couple gorilla crabs I trapped and removed.

This stuff isn't exactly cheap, but you don't need to buy enough to do your whole rockscape. You can use mostly the dry Marco rocks and add just a small amount of the maricultured live rock and sand from TBS. In time, the live rock will seed the dry rocks, and in 6 months or so it will all look like the same live rock.

Take a look at the TBS Treasure Chest packages. These are smaller amounts of their rock and sand, and great for smaller tanks or to seed a larger tank. If you have questions, reach out to them, the ladies that run the business are very responsive, and active members here too:

https://tbsaltwater.com/product-category/ups-rock-sand-critters/

You can also find good live rock if you have a decent LFS near you. This would not be quite as good as the ocean direct live rock, but it's much better than using all dry rocks. Again, you can use mostly dry rock with a few pieces of live rock to get your tank going.

Good luck!

 

[Hemmbone20]

You put them in the microwave???

ya I recommend microwaving your TBS rubble instead of a QT setup. Much faster.

 

[C12]

I did dry rock in my display and seeded my sump with live rock rubble from TBS. I had some pest issues early on (cirolanid isopods, poly clad flatworm, gorilla crab) but they’ve been irradiated by now and I’m glad I have the biodiversity of live rock.
You could do a combo like I did… get a majority of dry rock and a small 5lbs rubble box from TBS. Less space for pests, but still come wild critters and diverse nitrifying bacteria.

I do like this idea, a little bit of both worlds. I get that nice bacteria (unfortunately pests too), and I get to make a nice scape and it isn't crazy expensive. Thank you.

 

[Fish Fan]

You put them in the microwave???

I think maybe the OP meant irradicated lol!

 

[C12]

You can start your tank and be successful with any of those options, but if this is your first tank, and you're looking for easy, it's REAL live rock all the way.

That CaribbSea rock you're considering is artificially decorated to kind of look alive even when it's new, but it is just a dead, dry rock. It will come with the same amount of micro and macro life as the Marco rocks, which is effectively nothing.

A good, high quality live rock and sand will go a long way to not just minimize your cycle, but also make your tank more stable over the first year or so it's running.

*The best* real live rock option in my opinion is the rock and sand offered by Tampa Bay Saltwater. I started two small tanks using their rock and sand last year, and it comes us teeming with critters and beneficial microbes. Yes, you could get some bad hitchhikers, but I really didn't have much of a problem, except a couple gorilla crabs I trapped and removed.

This stuff isn't exactly cheap, but you don't need to buy enough to do your whole rockscape. You can use mostly the dry Marco rocks and add just a small amount of the maricultured live rock and sand from TBS. In time, the live rock will seed the dry rocks, and in 6 months or so it will all look like the same live rock.

Take a look at the TBS Treasure Chest packages. These are smaller amounts of their rock and sand, and great for smaller tanks or to seed a larger tank. If you have questions, reach out to them, the ladies that run the business are very responsive, and active members here too:

https://tbsaltwater.com/product-category/ups-rock-sand-critters/

You can also find good live rock if you have a decent LFS near you. This would not be quite as good as the ocean direct live rock, but it's much better than using all dry rocks. Again, you can use mostly dry rock with a few pieces of live rock to get your tank going.

Good luck!

love this idea, thank you for all of the info!

 

[BristleWormHater]

ya I recommend microwaving your TBS rubble instead of a QT setup. Much faster.

Works great for fish too

 

[Fish Fan]

love this idea, thank you for all of the info!

No problem at all!

I do like this idea, a little bit of both worlds. I get that nice bacteria (unfortunately pests too), and I get to make a nice scape and it isn't crazy expensive. Thank you.

This is a solid plan, a lot of reefers start their tanks this way.

 

[C12]

No problem at all!


This is a solid plan, a lot of reefers start their tanks this way.

One more question - once you get the rock, do I just put it in the tank? or do I do some sort of rinse? I would guess that rinsing and scrubbing it off would just kill both the bad and the good stuff, but not sure.

 

[splunty]

Aquaculture Live Rock

Hey! I’m sure this has been asked before but I wanted to know since I would love to use aquaculture Live Rock in the nano tank I plan to set up in the future. Question is, which is best: KP Aquatics, Live Rock n’ Reef, or Tampa Bat Saltwater? What has everyone’s experience with these brands...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Fish Fan]

And you get a lot of cool, beneficial critters with the live rock and sand that to me far ut weigh the issues with the bad hitchhikers. Depending on how much rock and sand you get, you'll spend weeks to months still discovering new critters that you hadn't previously found. I started my tanks last October, and just a week or so ago I moved a piece of rock and a small sea star came flying out. All this time, I had no idea he was in my tank lol!

One more question - once you get the rock, do I just put it in the tank? or do I do some sort of rinse? I would guess that rinsing and scrubbing it off would just kill both the bad and the good stuff, but not sure.

There is an acclimation process because the rock itself is efectively alive. When I ordered from TBS they had detailed instructions I followed and did pretty good. If/when I order more of their rocks, I may do a slightly slower acclimation to preserve as much life on the rocks as possible.

 

[Hemmbone20]

One more question - once you get the rock, do I just put it in the tank? or do I do some sort of rinse? I would guess that rinsing and scrubbing it off would just kill both the bad and the good stuff, but not sure.

I wouldn’t rinse the rock.. but if you’re really worried about pests you could always QT the rock for a few days and observe at night. I found most of my negative pests came out at night and I’d scoop them up. Since it isn’t even real livestock you could literally QT it in anything… bucket… Rubbermaid bin…