Moving to the salty side?

aquaroche.fr/en/our-decors-for-aquariums/xl-decors/

There are some fantastic pieces of aquaroche available, I prefer the natural look tho!!!!!

Thanks guys, seahorse were encouraging me to go for live rock. Would need about 20-25kg for the reefer at 18 euro per kg. I will defo look into the aquaroche would probably cost the same or maybe a bit less anyway. I know seahorse do the aquaroche but any other LFS do it or maybe online?

Thanks again guys your all very helpful.
Stephen.

See aquaroche is tempting isn't it!
I put a bit of live rock around the back of my Aquaroche bit and left it there to seed it.

Do you really need 20 kg of live rock?

Usually people mix up with dead rock to make it more affordable.
Now if I remember correctly, I did read, that if you add all live rock to the tank, there won't be enough to keep it all fed anyway. Some of it will starve and then this will add more 'bad stuff' (technical language) going into the tank water.
Please correct me if thats wrong.
And once you soak it in RO water for a week, is it still really live rock anyway?

Well done though for taking the steps to find out what you want first. It will save money in the end!!

Well I have 100kgs of rock in my tank 750L ish.

Live rock doesn't really stay alive as Jonlate said, most of it will die off and unless the lfs had it in a tank that's producing waste is basically dead rock. I wouldnt risk the pests as some are impossible to get out.

Also I will add live rock in sh was only 15 last may so wonder why it's gone up so much.

I would go dead rock if I were you and just colonise it yourself. A couple of pieces of aqua for scaping and away you go.

I've over 20kg in my little 180 litre
And thinking of adding more to start the seeding process for when I upgrade

Couldnt sleep last night, so did a bit more googling. Aquaroche looks like the way to go alright don't see a down side to it. Also thinking about using MarinePure blocks in the sump. Anyone using it here? Got the return pump yesterday, should have the rest of the kit and tank next week.

Stephen

Those blocks are supposed to be very very good!

I've never heard anything bad about them tho I did hear they are expensive

I use marine pure in my aquarium. They seem to work great, hard to tell as I didnt have a before and after view but for me they work really well.. I got 2 8x8x1 plates which I put in between the sump baffles, placement is important since depending on what is your intention they will do one thing or another (Denitrification or nitrification), I use it as nitrification.

They are also not very expensive and require very little maintenance.

I paid a little over 73 pounds for both, got it from marineculture.co.uk


Product Quantity Price
MarinePure 8x8x1 Plate (#MPP)
2 £69.98
Subtotal: £69.98
Shipping: £3.99 via Standard Postage
Payment Method: PayPal
Total: £73.97

I like my aquaroche type system, mine is not aquaroche, mine is korallentwelt which are very similar to aquaroche, I went for the entire backplate as well which complicates things a bit more but for the most part, simple rock formation aquaroche style are more than enough.

Prices varies, I dont know how much the aquaroche costs, but when I look into it I believe they were slightly more expensive so I went to korallentwelt, also because of their customer service and their flexibility.

I am sure both are equally as good

Carib Sea ACS00365 Prime Reef Rock 40lb www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003I5VQTS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_h5zmybP7JMHMG

Was thinking of buying this to create the shape I want for the new setup!
Think it should be enough with the rock I already have!

Bohrio wrote:

I use marine pure in my aquarium. They seem to work great, hard to tell as I didnt have a before and after view but for me they work really well.. I got 2 8x8x1 plates which I put in between the sump baffles, placement is important since depending on what is your intention they will do one thing or another (Denitrification or nitrification), I use it as nitrification.

They are also not very expensive and require very little maintenance.

I paid a little over 73 pounds for both, got it from marineculture.co.uk


Product Quantity Price
MarinePure 8x8x1 Plate (#MPP)
2 £69.98
Subtotal: £69.98
Shipping: £3.99 via Standard Postage
Payment Method: PayPal
Total: £73.97

I like my aquaroche type system, mine is not aquaroche, mine is korallentwelt which are very similar to aquaroche, I went for the entire backplate as well which complicates things a bit more but for the most part, simple rock formation aquaroche style are more than enough.

Prices varies, I dont know how much the aquaroche costs, but when I look into it I believe they were slightly more expensive so I went to korallentwelt, also because of their customer service and their flexibility.

I am sure both are equally as good

Thanks for the info. That was my plan also putting it between the baffles. Will get some today. Did you get the korallentwelt from their website? Cant find much info about it. The photos i did see looked really nice. Id say shipping would cost a good bit from Germany.

Stephen

Hammie, don't buy rock you haven't seen, it's a recipe for disaster. You have no idea of shapes, etc.
It did say from large to medium, but don't do it, please......

Stephen, (whose post this us!) glad to see you changed your mind, saved the environment, and thinking if getting man made.
I am really happy with my aquaroche and am glad to see Bohrio made an appearance with suggestions as well.

See, it pays to ask before you buy.

Just been looking up about the MarinePure.

Do you get any aluminium readings in your tank Alex? Any first hand experience?

There are pages full of reports that corals have died and that trition readings have been showing increased levels of aluminium, after using this.

Couldnt agree more Jon

It is not only as good as reef rock (real rock) but also good for the enviroment!

I cannot speak for Aquaroche since I have never used them. I went for korallentwelt because I liked dealing with them, Torsten (the owner) was very patient and responsive, he asked me for a diagram of my project, and then built it for me (backwalls and structures) and then send me pictures, to make sure I was happy, I asked him to make a few changes and he did, took more pics and send them again, this went of for a while until I was happy with the result. Then he posted it to me, loaded it all up in a pellet (including the special silicone, filter material, backwalls, structures and filling paste) and shipped it out to me, it weighted over 100Kg and cost about 70 euro if I remember correctly, it was with me in 1 week. Excellent IMO.

If I remember correctly korallentwelt is made out of calcium and magnesium (mostly) and it mimics the real reef rock out there, see attached pdf that Torsten wrote and explains the whole cycling process etc, I find it to be a very interesting read even if you decide not to use his stuff. (nevermind this the document is too big to attach!)

Anyway, I am sure both will be a good option, so go for the ones that you can acquire easier, I am sure you wont regret it, mine cost more because I went for a custom made reef with backwalls and also filled up the entire aquarium with the special paste.

As you are only thinking of using loose structures you dont really need to worry about them leaching anything, just washed them a few times before you put them in and cycle the tank as normal, using a phosphate remover (which should be common practice anyway!)

Fish love this stuff! if you have question let me know, you can even come over and have a look at mine (although it is a bit dirty atm lol).

Jon, there were reports of marine pure leaching aluminum but they were all false, the reason why this happened was because, being marine pure relatively expensive (although I dont think they are that expensive if you consider its benefits), people decided to buy cheap copies from ebay and similar sites, this product was just a cheap copy of marine pure and they were packed with stuff that was not good for the aquarium, see below

Very interesting guys. Mad to think there is counterfeit aquarium products on the market. Be careful on ebay guys! I went ahead and bought 2 MarinePure Plates and 10 MarinePure Single Squares just cus they were on sale and it made my cart total a nice rounded number! On my shopping list next is Agent Green for phosphate and might try ATM Colony? Anyone use it here to cycle a tank? Gets good reviews online? All sound a bit too good to be true tho.

As for the rock, i have decided to go for the man made type, probably Aquaroche as i like to be able to see first hand what's going to be on display for hopefully many years in my tank. I never really though about the environmental side of things but its just another reason to go for the man made stuff on top for the no pests.

The lads in seahorse were talking about the triton method. I already knew a little about it but did not know there was a new type where you don't need a refugium its called CORE7 and comes in 4 parts. Anyone here using this method? I know there are a few people on the other fish keeping forum using it with very good results. The triton testing is something that really interests me anyway so would be interested to get your thought on it.

Stephen

Maybe test out the ATM Colony in a small temporary quarantine setup...With 1 or 2 smaller less expensive fish....In fact a quarantine tank is probably a must have anyway in a Marine situation....Kill 2 birds with one stone Stephen....The last thing you need is to setup a beautiful expensive Reef only for something like Whitespot to destroy it....

Just ask Alex (Bohrio) what he went through....I think it nearly broke his heart...

Yeah man, a quarantine tank is a must IMO, I mean, I have one made that I have never used but yeah, it is handy to have, the reason why I didnt use it when I had whitespots was because I couldnt catch the achilles! most ofther tangs will get inside the trap I bought but the thing is that, by the time the achilles would go in, at least 2-3 tangs and my foxface would be in already and I didnt want to close the trap while the foxface was inside, could have ended up badly.

But the point is, quarantine everything that goes inside your tank, corals AND fish, hence the quarantine tank!

Havent lost anything since the ich outbreak but it could have been very bad, I guess I just got lucky... I havent added anything either, will start adding more corals once my algae scrubber is in. I am not into the triton method, nothing wrong with it but I guess I just like to go for a more natural approach, hence the scrubber

Almost forgot about the quarantine tank thanks for reminding me! Is 70l big enough? Have one sitting here empty. What kinda of a setup should i go for? Would i need fancy lights and skimmer on it? Or just bare bottom with a lump of rock and a HOB filter?

Stephen

I would just use an empty tank with a few pvc joins and elbows, no skimmer, some LEDs for corals and a power head. Hang on filters are ok but they will need to be removed if you are fighting an outbreak since parasites can grow inside...

Quick update. Tank arrived today Also got the skimmer, some test kits and a few bits and bobs. I will post pix over the weekend.

Stephen

Enjoy

Looking forward to pics!

Enjoy the weekend of setting up the tank, look forward to seeing the pics

Hey guys, Quick update. Made some progress over the last few days. Tank almost ready for water, just need to do some wiring and sort out the sump. Still waiting on one of the wave makers should have it next week. Here are some pix.

Hey, that rock work looks great.
You would find it really hard to do that with live rock, and there is plenty of place for the fish to swim around and at the same time to place the corals you want.
Wish my tank was bigger now.

Love it Stephen
Looks really really good! Looking forward to seeing it running now!
Lights look fantastic! They are a good step up from the primes!

Thanks guys, that rock layout is totally different to the first layout! The lights are only on at 20% in that pic. Very powerful almost painful to the eye on 100% lol.

Excellent....Looks terrific!

Looks incredably, love to see when fully up and running

Update, got some work done this morning on the power side of things. Still waiting on one wave maker. Other then that im ready for water. Oh have ordered new RO filters, DI resin and a second RO membrane to run in series with my existing one. Should improve output and cut down on wastewater.

Any progress or any idea when you'll be getting the tank wet?