What rock to use?

PotatoPig · Jul 9, 2024

DEL 707 said:
Dry Reefrock 9 – 12Cm/ 1 kg – S&R Aquatics

www.sraquatics.co.uk

This is what I was looking at.

I was talking to another place that said they sold dry reef rock, but they said it was man made.

I'm getting hugely confused with all these types of rock.

So that’s dry rock. They’re a little evasive about exactly where it came from - there’s dry rock that’s been mined from ancient long dead reefs that haven’t seen water in millions of years: and there’s dry rock that’s basically made in a lab. My gut is this is the latter, as places that sell mined rock usually highlight that as it’s often seen as a selling point.

Anyway - no need to “cure” but you will need to “cycle”. This means adding bacteria and some sort of ammonia supply for it, then letting it stew in the tank for a week or two, testing to make sure the ammonia is being processed into nitrites and the nitrites are being processed into nitrates. Fish stores and aquarium supply sites all sell bacteria and cycling products.

Gumbies R Us · Jul 9, 2024

DEL 707 said:
Dry Reefrock 9 – 12Cm/ 1 kg – S&R Aquatics

www.sraquatics.co.uk

This is what I was looking at.

I was talking to another place that said they sold dry reef rock, but they said it was man made.

I'm getting hugely confused with all these types of rock.

You can either do dry rock or live rock.

Live Rock: Comes straight from the ocean, and already has an established micro biome on it. Meaning, when you put it in your tank, it will cycle your water almost immediately. You'll pay more for live rock, but it can skip some of the ugly phase associated with dry rock.

Dry Rock: Either man made, or rock that might have been considered "live" at one point, but it is now dead. Dry rock is cheaper, you can get more unique looking shapes, and you avoid hitchhikers. However, dry rock will not cycle your tank, meaning you will have to use some source to introduce bacteria into your tank (Dr. Times One and Only as an example). Not to mention, dry rock will go through some ugly phases with algae and will take longer to be "established" in a tank vs. live.

It is overwhelming at first, I was the same way. As you learn, it will become less overwhelming, and you will start to learn what works best for you.

DEL 707 · Jul 9, 2024

Been giving myself headaches, thinking about all this rock.

I'm gonna keep it simple, going to go to my LFS and pick out the rocks I want.
They stock, Marco rock, D-D rock and Caribsea.

Unless any of those brands leech something harmful, I don't think I can go too wrong.

PotatoPig · Jul 9, 2024

DEL 707 said:
Been giving myself headaches, thinking about all this rock.

I'm gonna keep it simple, going to go to my LFS and pick out the rocks I want.
They stock, Marco rock, D-D rock and Caribsea.

Unless any of those brands leech something harmful, I don't think I can go too wrong.

They’re all going to be about the same. Go with the rock sizes and shapes that suit you.

Some of them are painted a purplish color that makes a tank look more mature and hides early algae.

One thing when setting rock up in the tank - put the rock in before any sand. You need the rock to bear on the bottom - because a lot of fish and inverts burrow and if you put the rock on top of the sand they’ll undermine it causing the rock to shift and perhaps crush the burrowing critter.