Marco Rocks Review
- Thread starter inkblue
- Start date
- Location
- Philippines
Also, Marc... do you sell cement or any rock-scaping materials 
Live rock, live rubble and live sand is coming soon!
We do have about 1000 gallons of curing set up with 2 x 250 gallon refugiums on it.
The color is not quite what I want it to be yet but it's getting there.
Sorry Leslie,
I misunderstood your question.
For the most part the rock comes quarried dry reefs.
We do have about 1000 gallons of curing set up with 2 x 250 gallon refugiums on it.
The color is not quite what I want it to be yet but it's getting there.
Sorry Leslie,
I misunderstood your question.
For the most part the rock comes quarried dry reefs.
Also, Marc... do you sell cement or any rock-scaping materials
Hi Don,
I do have the full line of Boston aqua Farms products (their epoxy is great), 1/4" and 3/8" thread rod, washers and nuts. Just not listed as yet.
I still don't understand "curing dry rock"
Why do you relly need to do this? wont
bleach or drying the rock in the sun do the
same thing?
BTW, Welcome to MR
Drying the rock does not eliminate organic matter that has died in and on the rock. Reintroducing that matter to saltwater will cause it to deteriorate...raising ammonia and nitrite levels.
So Deanos, Are you saying some of the dead life will come back to life?
I know if you bleach dry rock it eradicates everything (no decay after).
then you just seed it with live rock or sand
Thanks for the welcome!
My way of looking at it is Curing and Cycling are two related but very different things.
Curing in short = making the rock safe for your tank
Cycling = curing with the addition of allowing and helping the rock become live with all of the desirable organisms we need for it to be a productive part of our bio system (filter)
Drying in the sun or bleaching if the rock were smooth and non porous might be fine but with super porous cavy knarly rock it would be impossible for there not to be any remaining trapped organics.
I find that after about a week of soaking most of it starts to release and you'd be surprised how much of it you'll see.
Adding rock to an established tank before this step (at the very least) is a very bad idea.
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Bleach is an oxidizer and will kill off and break down organic matter but the nutrients are still there.
Marco Rock, is basicly rock that was live, that has been allowed to dry out. There is still a ton of organics on the rock that will continue to break down when you "cure it".
- Location
- Staten Island
Just placed my order for 30 pieces not sure how many lbs...It was $1.50 each...Hope it's not rubble....
Hi Bob,
Thanks and sorry if theres some confusion on the site.
It looks like what you ordered would have been 30# at $1.50/ Lb (not 30 pieces)
no worries this is not rubble it's just regular Fiji premium and Tonga rock,
a bit more dense than our signature rock but nice still.
Thanks and sorry if theres some confusion on the site.
It looks like what you ordered would have been 30# at $1.50/ Lb (not 30 pieces)
no worries this is not rubble it's just regular Fiji premium and Tonga rock,
a bit more dense than our signature rock but nice still.
- Location
- Staten Island
When you say soak do you mean in saltwater with a powerhead or fresh ro???
Please elaborate....
That makes sense
I think that a refresher on the idea of "curing" rock is needed. I tried to keep it very simple, but if I am completely off base, I am sure someone who knows more than me will chime in.
Live Rock.
This is rock that has been taken directly from the water, and is allowed to remain wet during transport. It may have an number of organisms on it from, bacteria to algae, crustaceans, invertebrates, pods, mantis shrimp etc. etc. While many of these organisms are good, many are bad. Many of these organisms will die off during transport and when first introduced to your tank. The curing process allows all of these dead organisms to cycle. This can take any number of weeks to happen, and you will need to be guided by your test kits to see when it is done.
Base Rock
The best I can tell there are two types of base rock available. There is rock that was live and allowed to dry out, and rock that is mined from "land" that was not in the to distant past (geologically and otherwise) underwater.
Marco Rock, falls into the former category as it was allowed to dry out prior to shipping. This cuts down on shipping costs and storage costs at the distributors holding center. While all of the organisms (maybe with the exception of some bacterias and algaes) have died off, many have not had a chance to decay. Curing the rock allows everything to fully decay and cycle. Once again, it is test kit time. Curing this type of rock can take longer than Live Rock, as it does not/may not have a bacteria base to start off with.
Base rock that has been taken from a dry location, may still be nutrient rich and you will want to get rid of these nutrients . This usually involves "cooking" the rock. See below
"COOKING"
I hate the term and have to use it in quotes, as it is a misnomer that usually results in people sticking their rock in an oven. The theory/hypothesis goes something like this. "Cooking" rock, involves placing rock (live or base) into saltwater in a dark enclosed space with a small pump for circulation. No oven required. The goal, is to change the ecology of the rock from an algae driven system, which requires light, to a bacteria driven system which does not require light. The bacteria will use up nutrients that have "soaked" (again with the quotes) into the rock (such as nitrates and phosphates).
This can take a couple of weeks to months to happen. This will also result in the death of any and all photosynthetic organisms on the rock.
This can be done with both live rock and base rock.
Hope that helps, feel free to bash me if I am wrong or misguided.
Live Rock.
This is rock that has been taken directly from the water, and is allowed to remain wet during transport. It may have an number of organisms on it from, bacteria to algae, crustaceans, invertebrates, pods, mantis shrimp etc. etc. While many of these organisms are good, many are bad. Many of these organisms will die off during transport and when first introduced to your tank. The curing process allows all of these dead organisms to cycle. This can take any number of weeks to happen, and you will need to be guided by your test kits to see when it is done.
Base Rock
The best I can tell there are two types of base rock available. There is rock that was live and allowed to dry out, and rock that is mined from "land" that was not in the to distant past (geologically and otherwise) underwater.
Marco Rock, falls into the former category as it was allowed to dry out prior to shipping. This cuts down on shipping costs and storage costs at the distributors holding center. While all of the organisms (maybe with the exception of some bacterias and algaes) have died off, many have not had a chance to decay. Curing the rock allows everything to fully decay and cycle. Once again, it is test kit time. Curing this type of rock can take longer than Live Rock, as it does not/may not have a bacteria base to start off with.
Base rock that has been taken from a dry location, may still be nutrient rich and you will want to get rid of these nutrients . This usually involves "cooking" the rock. See below
"COOKING"
I hate the term and have to use it in quotes, as it is a misnomer that usually results in people sticking their rock in an oven. The theory/hypothesis goes something like this. "Cooking" rock, involves placing rock (live or base) into saltwater in a dark enclosed space with a small pump for circulation. No oven required. The goal, is to change the ecology of the rock from an algae driven system, which requires light, to a bacteria driven system which does not require light. The bacteria will use up nutrients that have "soaked" (again with the quotes) into the rock (such as nitrates and phosphates).
This can take a couple of weeks to months to happen. This will also result in the death of any and all photosynthetic organisms on the rock.
This can be done with both live rock and base rock.
Hope that helps, feel free to bash me if I am wrong or misguided.
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When ammonia & nitrite levels measure 0.
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