Changing Established Tank

[michaelb14]

I am changing my 300 gallong aggressive tank in a FOWLR. I currently have some rock in the tank, but it is a mixture of ocen rock and rock that probably shouldn't be in the tank. I want to change to all live/base rock...
2 questions...
1. Is it ok to just get all dry baserock (basically scrap almost all the rock I current use). The tank has been set up for almost 2 years now without really any troubles (except consistent alge problems)
2. Is this rock any good? Hawaiin Base Rock The only thing that concerns me about it is it talks about the ph being in the high 7s to low 8s... but the stuff is cheap, especially when you look at the amount I need to purchase...
Thanks

 

[moby da goby]

Just my 0.02 opnion but why scrap your old rock? If it's been in your tank for two years with minimal problems you basically have live rock with all the goodies growing on it. If you were looking to add coralline algae then I would get some well encrusted live rock and place it on top. The coralline will spread. If you don't like the look of the old stuff use that for your very bottom layer and place new rock on top and whatever is alive and growing on the old rock will spread. It took a year for my rock to totally come to life and now I have fan worms, feather dusters and even a couple baby clams on mine.
Don't take me the wrong way but where I'm from it's damn expensive for base/live or any sort of rock remotely associated with aquariums and it's not worth it to import from the US or other countries. I can't even imagine scrapping established rock from an aquarium. That's what happens when you live smack in the middle of the prairies.

 

[michaelb14]

The issue for me is atleast half the rock is not base/live rock. It is all kinds of different rocks that I have collected (I am willing to bet that some of it should never be in a aquarium). So I want to get rid of all of that. hat will leave me with probably 50-75 pounds of base rock. I wouldn't call it live rock, because nothing is growing on it (it started out as dry base rock).
I just want o do things right this time. Tired of doing things half a$$...

 

[ed r]

The biggest problem I see in using dry base rock is that it will be hard to keep undesireable algae from growing quickly on it. If you start with real live rock, there are usually few trully bare spots. Wherever there is coraline algae growth or other stuff, the undesireable algae does not usually get a foothold. If your rock is cleaned well to remove problem algae, and kept shadowed by truly live rock, you may be able to keep it clear long enough for other things to develop. Regular use of a turkey baster can blow loose things that are just starting to cover bare rock, if needed. Good luck.