Marco dry rock owners, please chime in.

[Reefahholic]

I'm getting conflicting information. Some people say the rock is clean and some say it's dirty.


I don't have "anything" in my DT yet? Should I throw the rock in DT or cook in 1/1, RO/DI-Vinegar bath, and soak in plain RO/DI for awhile after that.


Anybody care to elaborate about your rock and what you experienced? Would you buy it again or wish you would have went with something else?

[Mikez1207]

I would rinse then place in bucket to see if it leaches anything

[MarkGP]

I went with all (200 lbs) of Marco rock when I started my 125 fowlr a year and a half ago. Never had any algae problems or phosphate problems and I feed heavy. I would definitely buy again from Marco as I have bought his rock in the past for other tanks and no problems there either.

[jmacc702]

I have marco rocks too and although my tank is still cycling so its hard to tell if it leaches anything, I can say that the rock is phenomenal and will be using them for all my future needs. The pieces fit together so well!!

[Retired Reefer]

I've had it in mine for one year.It never leached anything All I did was rinse it in RO/DI water.

[gradth]

Hard to say if the Marco rock has been the source of my headaches. Had about 100 lbs in my tank for over 3 years now. Had a very bad hair algae issue for the first 8 months or so then it all went away and my tank thrived for another year. For the last year I have been battling phosphates like crazy. Lost all my sps, so I cant say. I do not think my current issues are marco rock related just because my rock is well over 3 years wet.

Did have some algae issues in the beginning though.

[Malign Reefer]

I have there sand and rocks and have not had any issues.

[dzfish17]

I have 450 lbs of marco rock (prime cuts) in my tank and it was very clean. I didnt wash it and dont have any algae problems in the tank (over 1 yr old).

[Andrew D]

I seem to be going against the grain here, but I ordered some a while ago and while I was seasoning it with tank water in a separate container I had an outbreak of bubble algae. No sure if it was my water or the rocks but I am leery of the stuff I have.

[Reefahholic]

Hmm...

I don't know what to think. See what I mean...conflicting information!

:))

[lilpatty19]

I have marco rocks too and although my tank is still cycling so its hard to tell if it leaches anything, I can say that the rock is phenomenal and will be using them for all my future needs. The pieces fit together so well!!


Ditto

[dzfish17]

I seem to be going against the grain here, but I ordered some a while ago and while I was seasoning it with tank water in a separate container I had an outbreak of bubble algae. No sure if it was my water or the rocks but I am leery of the stuff I have.

I think it was probably your water... have you had bubble algae problems before?

[thor109]

There is more to every story. Did they start and always use ro/di water. Did they add live rock. Did they add frags with bubble algae attached. I started a tank about 2 months ago 100# Marco with ro/di water. I also added 50# live rock. In 3rd week I had diatom bloom that quickly went away. So far so good. Only way to tell is put in tank and check for phosphates. I love it and will use it again.

[Reefahholic]

How long can a rock/rocks leach phosphate? Is it something that happens during the first week/weeks or can it happen and possibly happen later?

If that is the case, I don't want to take a chance of it reoccurring in my tank.

[Flame_Angel]

Never had any issues with their rock, other than forgetting to thoroughly rinse all the dust off the first time I used it. Talk about a mess! In regards to it causing water quality issues/algae, I'd be willing to be a majority of the problems people run into are being caused by their source water, or that they're mixing the Marco rock with existing live rock that already has algae on it.

[jwoyshnar]

Mine leeched phosphates for a long time, six months I believe. I had algae outbreaks but they only attached to the Marco rock. It eventually stopped at least I think it did. Not as noticeable now

[Reefahholic]

So dry rock can leach Phosphates for 6 months? Is this established??

That really sucks...

[gweston]

Marco rock is dry rock. It works. A lot of people have used it. Does it leech po4? Maybe. Does any rock leach? Maybe. If someone can show test results in a controlled situation that Marco rock, or any other rock, leeches phosphates, then I'll believe it. Rocks can leech. Yes. But many other factors, including tank husbandry also come into play.

There are way too many factors and differences between each persons set up to claim that it for a fact leeches detrimental levels of p04, or that the rocks were a specific cause for a po4 spike and resultant algal bloom. A does not necessarily directly lead to B.

Wish I had a better answer than that though.. its not such a straight shot answer.

Now, from personal experience. I just started a new system with Marco Rock. We'll see how it goes. I used established and well cycled liverock for my last tank. Not Marco. And yes. I had some algae blooms. I got a better skimmer, spot fed more than broadcast, added a sump, got new bulbs, and added a carbon/phosphate reactor. Problem solved.

[DHyslop]

Many tanks have nutrient problems. It's been my observation that most people that don't run GFO, dose organic carbon or have perfect husbandry will have occasional (or frequent) battles with nuisance algae and phosphate.

In these situations it is very easy to blame the rocks.

If you're really worried about Marcorocks go to their vendor forum and look at the tanks there, see if you think they have a lot of phosphates.

[BrklynArch]

I used 100lbs if Marco rocks didn't clean them or do anything special. Tanks been running for close to 5 months and I've had zero issues with it.

[Reefahholic]

guess I'll have to find our for myself. How long did it take them to get the rock out to you?

[echoreef]

I used all dry Marco rocks when I started my tank. Eventually, all the rocks were covered in cyanobacteria. If you are patience and want to take precaution, I would let the rocks cook in a dark covered plastic bin from Home Deport for a couple of months. Be sure to change the water in the bin every week or two. Make sure to have water circulation in there as well. I will be doing this for all new dry rocks introduced to my tank.

[TheGodParticle]

I have about 70lbs in one of my tanks. I've never had any issues with mine. Just rinsed off and put in. Marco rock is awesome and it makes it very easy to stick a bunch of frag plugs in it! Only issue I've seen is it's a coralline algae magnet... but hey who said that's a bad thing? I'd def. recommend using it.

[jprime84]

I just bought 50lbs of the stuff for my 75g I am working on. I let it soak for a few days because it can't do any harm, and I plan on running a phosban reactor anyways, so what's the risk?

[TL1000RSquid]

I started up a new nano a few months back with 22lbs of marco rocks, quick rinse in tap water then into the tank for the cycle. No problems with it yet, no phosphates.

[TheAquatard]

I got about 25lbs of marco rocks, just rinsed them off and put them in. The rocks were a little dusty but I couldn't spot any organic material on any of them. The tanks about 2 months old and there is a green haze on some of the rocks, but that's due to my fault.

The rocks are great, and mine haven't leached anything. Thats why I chose them over the BRS.

[sirreal63]

I am still using Marco Rock bought in 2007, I did give it an acid bath but it is also my understanding that it is a lot cleaner now than it used to be. If I were to do it again, I would still give it an acid bath just to remove the unknown. It is nice rock but has been on a terrestrial home for a long time, and any phosphates in the soil or from water peculating down will be on the rock. It just makes sense to clean any rock that has been buried on land for a long time.

[thor109]

Here's a pic. I started beginning of April and had a bad diatom bloom a few weeks in , now with 4 clowns 4 green chromis a sailfin a naso a blue hippo tang, diamond goby , lawn mower blenny a flame angle and cleaner shrimp. I only added a 120 g crab free cleaner pack from reef cleaners right after cycling.

[zeebies]

My experience with MarcoRock - all good so far. I'm preparing the rock now for my tank later. You can check posts 40, 51 and 72 on my build thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2113842&page=2

[jdpiii3]

I have over 400 pounds of Marco rock in my 400 gallon natural sunlit reef here is a current video watch it in 1080p

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZwwONujNdlk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[shaggy]

Good looking video...

[Reefahholic]

Nice tank!