Switching an established tank with LR to Marco rock

[ryangrieder]

What would happen if I switched my tanks lives rock out and replaced it with Marco rock? My tanks been established for quite some time, and I'm really wishing I did Marco rock in it instead of live rock.

Does Marco rock need to cure before entering a tank?
Is there a chance of spike if I switched it all out seeing my live rock holds most my bacteria?

 

[marrone]

For what I've seen and heard Marco rock needs to be cured. If you change all your live rock, for Marco live rock, you're not only going to have a spike but you're going to go through a cycle. So to change all your live for Marco rock at once wouldn't be a good thing.

The best bet would be to cure the Marco rock in a bucket, and once cured, you can add it to your tank. At that point, or in a short time, you can start to pull out the live rock.

 

[ryangrieder]

Ok cool, but will the Marco rock cure like live rock? Like have a smell to it or something

Reason being is that Marco rock seems to be so stable sitting together, has a nice look and feel, and seeing that it's white, it's going to be completely purple in my tank within 2-3 months.

 

[prattreef]

I can find no rational reason for ridding your tank of fully cycled established live rock for Marco rock. Starting a new system with Marco Rock as the base is another story. What is wrong with your live rock?

 

[ecchybridLE]

I would cure it in a separate bucket or tank with a piece of live rock and a fish. Make sure it cycles. Check params as it cycles. Then Pull your rock out slowly and add Marco in place of slowly. Check Params regularly and u should be good to go. I've had my Marco now for about two months , no purple yet but it will color up eventually

 

[ecvernon]

i have some marco rock in my display. When curing it in a bucket it did not get a really nasty smell, just smelled like seawater. Not like some shipped "fiji live rock" that I ordered in the past. I replaced one large Fiji live rock for a marco rock show piece. I first cured marco rock in a container for some weeks to be sure. Then I added it to my tank for a couple of weeks, next I removed the Fiji live rock with out cycle.

 

[albano]

I can find no rational reason for ridding your tank of fully cycled established live rock for Marco rock. Starting a new system with Marco Rock as the base is another story. What is wrong with your live rock?

+1...WHY?
are you thinking Marco dry or live rock? I've heard many stories about their dry rock having very high phosphates.


.

 

[ryangrieder]

Well it was one of those things where I have to catch and give away a few fish due to them getting too large and I feel bad, so I figured I'm going to have to pull most if not all my rock. And after that, I'd have to be setting up a whole new look. So...I figured maybe not all my live rock, but maybe half.

Stories on having high phosphates? Really? I'm going to look it up and see, I have not heard of that before and if that's correct, I do not want to deal with that. You know of any articles or threads saying this? I'd like to read it, because that may alter my decision a bit...

 

[albano]

Stories on having high phosphates? Really? I'm going to look it up and see, I have not heard of that before and if that's correct, I do not want to deal with that. You know of any articles or threads saying this? I'd like to read it, because that may alter my decision a bit...

:scratchch If I remember correctly, it was about 2 years ago, after MACNA in NJ...people that bought Marco rocks were having Phos. problems...
I believe their dry rock was mined in Florida (known for high phos.)...it is rock that has not been in the ocean for MILLIONS of years.



.

 

[ryangrieder]

last time i went to manhattan aquariums i saw they had a whole display of marco rock and it was really nice looking.

and i was also looking at CaribSea Primo Reef Rock russ has at saltwater critters.

 

[Josh]

You absolutely need to cure Marco Rock. When I used it my tank turned yellow for 3 days while it cycled. It smelled horrible, which was actually great if you think about it, I knew for a fact what was going on and when the smell was gone the water became crystal clear and ammonia tested at 0.

 

[AlA]

U don't need to cure the Marco key largo dry rock. U might see a small phosphate increase, but this rock does not need to be cured. But, if I was going to do what u plan on doing, I would def not do it all at once, I would gradually swap out the lr for the Marco

 

[akma]

I ordered marco live rocks and cured it for a month and then completely swapped out my original rock last week.

 

[Kendall]

First you need to understsand that "marco rock" is not a type of rock, just the name of the business. With that being said, he sells 2 types of rock, 1 is mined rock from florida, 2 is dried pukani rock from fiji that was harvested from the sea. Now he sells the pukani live, by letting it sit in tubs of water. No matter what you buy or where you buy it from, you need to soak it and test the water. Not doing so could lead to problems. I would also recommend buying from a different seller!!