CaribSea Life Rock

[Tuffloud1]

Can this rock be added directly to my mixed reef tank that has been up and running for 2 years or does it need to be cured?

I got 2 separate answers from Marine Depot.

1 customer service agent said to add directly to tank in small increments but not all at once.

The other person said that there will be no die off and it can be added directly to the tank all at once.

[FirstContact]

It's man made so there is nothing thing to die off. I imagine the only reason to cure it would be to make sure it doesn't affect pH too much when added to the tank.

[GimpyFin]

It can be added directly to the tank. It also has spored bacteria in it that starts to cultivate once it's added to the tank.

[Tuffloud1]

It's man made so there is nothing thing to die off. I imagine the only reason to cure it would be to make sure it doesn't affect pH too much when added to the tank.

Caribsea said that they use real base rock that is mined out of Florida, apply a paint and coat with dormant bacteria.

So basically it is reef saver rock that is painted and has bacteria added.

I'm just concerned that adding it to an existing tank will alter my water chemistry.

Has anyone added this to a mature tank?

[albano]

Caribsea said that they use real base rock that is mined out of Florida...

Sounds like it is mined out of Florida...not taken from the ocean, last time it was in the ocean was 1 million BC...give or take 100 million!

[FirstContact]

Caribsea said that they use real base rock that is mined out of Florida, apply a paint and coat with dormant bacteria.

So basically it is reef saver rock that is painted and has bacteria added

Did not know that!

[Tuffloud1]

I'm just going to rinse it in rodi water and put it in. Hopefully it won't alter anything.

[solidcore]

Never heard of it

[albano]

I would expect high phosphates from any Florida (land based) rock

[reefsftw]

I don't know about their rock but using their live sand is the biggest PITA I've ever encountered in my years of reefing. Even after thoroughly rinsing, just touching it clouds the water like crazy.

[CafeReef]

I don't know about their rock but using their live sand is the biggest PITA I've ever encountered in my years of reefing. Even after thoroughly rinsing, just touching it clouds the water like crazy.

Why would you rinse live sand? Seems like a waste of money.

I think there are two types. I bought the baserock life rock and agree, it looks to be your typical florida rock. But if you buy the branching life rock, it is man made. Flatish on one side and skulpted on the other. From everything I have read, there is no need to cure, simply put it in. But like anything in this hobby, moderation of all things is key. I would do it a rock or two at a time to be safe.

[Tuffloud1]

Never heard of it


Why do people feel the need to post about how they don't know about something?

[Tuffloud1]

I would expect high phosphates from any Florida (land based) rock


Why?

[Tuffloud1]

Why would you rinse live sand? Seems like a waste of money.

I think there are two types. I bought the baserock life rock and agree, it looks to be your typical florida rock. But if you buy the branching life rock, it is man made. Flatish on one side and skulpted on the other. From everything I have read, there is no need to cure, simply put it in. But like anything in this hobby, moderation of all things is key. I would do it a rock or two at a time to be safe.

Did you start the tank with the Life Rock or add it to a mature tank?

[Tuffloud1]

I don't know about their rock but using their live sand is the biggest PITA I've ever encountered in my years of reefing. Even after thoroughly rinsing, just touching it clouds the water like crazy.

I believe most sand will cloud the water for a time. After 2 years, my Caribsea sand still clouds if I sift my hands through it enough. It clears fast though.

Definitely not a PITA for me.

[CafeReef]

Did you start the tank with the Life Rock or add it to a mature tank?

I actually havnt started it yet. But it will be with 90% life rock and 10% live from my existing tank.

Read as much as I could on the product and people really seem to have no issues at all using life rock outside of dust causing the tank to be somewhat cloudy until it settles

[cougareyes]

I pulled all the rock from my 30g, at least 30 lbs; it was covered in bubble algae I just could not win the battle. I replaced it all at once with life rock and had no problems. I did have additional biological filtration with seachem matrix in my back chambers. It was completely filled with mostly lps; chalices, euphylias, and even a derasa clam, a 2 dwarf lionfish.
I also added a 40 lb box to a 90g when I did a transfer and had no issue.

[Salty150]

I hope it is better than Walt Smith's Reef Rock 2.1.

A lot of people are complaining that the purple paint easily chips off the rock and floats around their tanks.

[Bent]

My Carib sea rock leeched

[dkeller_nc]

Why do people feel the need to post about how they don't know about something?

Because they need a higher post count to gain access to the selling forums? :lol:

[Salty150]

Because they need a higher post count to gain access to the selling forums? :lol:

LOL...

Some people do it so they can subscribe to the thread to learn more about it...

[albano]

Some people do it so they can subscribe to the thread to learn more about it...
You don't need to post to subscribe !
Click on 'thread tools' on top of thread...

[Tuffloud1]

My Carib sea rock leeched

How can you be sure that the Life Rock in particular was leeching phosphates?

I'm assuming you are referring to phosphates.

[Tuffloud1]

I pulled all the rock from my 30g, at least 30 lbs; it was covered in bubble algae I just could not win the battle. I replaced it all at once with life rock and had no problems. I did have additional biological filtration with seachem matrix in my back chambers. It was completely filled with mostly lps; chalices, euphylias, and even a derasa clam, a 2 dwarf lionfish.
I also added a 40 lb box to a 90g when I did a transfer and had no issue.

Great to hear! Thanks for the info. :)

[Tuffloud1]

I added 20 lb to my existing rock in my 120 gallon system and so far so good. Corals/fish all happy.

It was EXTREMELY CLOUDY at first. My skimmer and felt filter pulled it all out overnight.

[Bent]

How can you be sure that the Life Rock in particular was leeching phosphates?

I'm assuming you are referring to phosphates.

Yes. I'm sure it was because I was curing it at the time. The po4 in the brute can was off the charts.

[cougareyes]

Yes. I'm sure it was because I was curing it at the time. The po4 in the brute can was off the charts.

Caribsea Life Rock needs no curing, there is no die off. I have it in 2 tanks, 210g(200lbs) and 90g(80 lbs) with zero phosphates.

[Bent]

Caribsea Life Rock needs no curing, there is no die off. I have it in 2 tanks, 210g(200lbs) and 90g(80 lbs) with zero phosphates.

It's not the die off that is the issue.

It's a known fact that most rock dug from the ground can be loaded with organics that need osmosed out. Just because your batch did not leech any po4 does not automatically blanket over to every other piece of rock shipped from them under that name.

[albano]

As I said before...
I would expect high phosphates from any Florida (land based) rock

Florida is a leading producer of phosphate in US

[Tuffloud1]

I spoke with a Caribsea rep and he stated that the rocks are mined and that they process before they apply the paint and bacteria, meaning they thoroughly blast the rocks clean.

I think anything from the earth will have phosphates in it. It's kind of in everything.

I guess what I'm getting at is......oh well!

How would anyone be certain that any rocks they are putting in their tank won't "leech" phosphates? Don't buy rock that was dug out of Florida? Is that the solution?

I used all reef saver dead rock from Florida and a little Pukani and I have never been able to even register any phosphates.

[BULGARIA]

I just put 40 pound of rock into my 2 year old 165 gallon reef aquarium and BOOM my Skimmer went crazy overflowing for tree days now . No ather problems so far corals look good fish ok will see want else... can go wrong. I will test water perimeters tonight will post later if someone interested

[Ou8me2]

I'm not sure why people would pay that price for dry, painted rock? I buy my dry rock from reefcleaners.org and they treat it for phosphates. I could get probably double the rock vs this stuff for the price. In a month or so my rock can be purple too. :wavehand: