Learning from others' mistakes

i started my 39g with half uncured live rock,half dry rock-because of price. i would have done all uncured live if i had the money. the diversity of live uncured is worth it to me i guess im kinda old school though...

 

Ive had the least headaches using all dead rock in the display. I place live rock in the sump, and get the benefits of both. My display doesn't get the unwanted hitchhikers such as bristleworms or bubble algae. But once you begin adding coral, I highly recommend removing any plug or rock that coral come glued to. My problem was bubble algae that was on the skeleton of a scolymia, and acan colony.

 

I use a man made live rock that is called Real Reef Live Rock. It's fully cured, and live. They seed it with a number of beneficial organisms including coralline algae, bacteria, and pods. But they guarantee it to be free of pests and since it's man made it's not destroying reefs.

I'm too impatient for dry rock... and the smell of uncured live rock is something I will never endure again. Plus I don't like the damage to our environment that live rock promotes.

 

This is my pukani dry rock after 3 1/2 months. It looks like premium live rock already.

 

Excellent example! Thank you for sharing.