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glinton

glinton

Member
I have been looking at this site for a few days now. From what I understand they sell Aragocrete (dry base rock) which you can buy from them and then seed it with live rock. Does this really work? Has anyone done this?
What about their "garf grunge"? Has anyone used it?
It seems like it could be a very cost effective way of starting a reef tank.
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
I can only speak for the aragocrete. Yes it will work, but, it takes a lot of time to culture your own live rock. be prepared for a long wait. I have cultured my own rock, and eventually did become encrusted with coraline, and boring worms started moving in, and feather dusters move on to them also.
It takes months to do this just for the coraline to cover them, and longer for other life to evolve onto it.
 
glinton

glinton

Member
How exactly do you culture your rock? Do you buy some LR and place it with the aragocrete? If so, will it look different from the aragocrete?
What about the garf grunge? What does it look like?
 
steamboat1569

steamboat1569

Member
The aragocrete that garf sells is already pre-shaped. There are some recipes out on the net where you can make your own. You just stick it in with your live rock, keep water quality good, and add calcium (test for it also) and keep levels at a good status.
Place a powerhead to blow around the rocks in the tank, and it will slowly start spreading.
As far as the grunge is concerned, I have heard that it has all the necessary bacteria to seed the substrate as far as bacteria is concerned, other than that, I do not know.
 
frankl15207

frankl15207

Member
I'm still hand picking the grunge out of my tank. Big disappointment. They threw in some free corals on my next order because of it. If you are going to add it, I suggest putting it in a refugium or pump and not on your sand bed.
 
javatech

javatech

Member
when did you get it. did it do anything for you everyone say's it's got a lot of life. for $5 a lb it better have something alive in it
 
glinton

glinton

Member
Thanks for the replies steamboat. I may try their rock.
Javatech-let me know what your grunge looks like when you get it in. Could you take some pics of it and let me see it? Are you ordering the rock too or just the grunge?
 
sal t. nutz

sal t. nutz

Member
Don't waste money on that. Find a local rock/landscape dealer and buy "Lace rock" It is LR without the life. It is aragonite volcanic rock just like LR but was never in the ocean. I can buy it from a local dealer here for .75 a lb. It will make the best LR of anything available. Very porous, and lots of interesting shapes.
 
glinton

glinton

Member
Great idea about the "lace rock." Do you have to do anything to cure it or prepare it before you put it in the tank?
I will call around and see if I can find anything around here.
 
sal t. nutz

sal t. nutz

Member
I soaked it in freshwater for about a day (by my LFS's recomendation) but I don't really think that even HAD to be done. I cycled my tank with it in there, so I wasn't worried about what it would do to my water. It started growing coraline quickly with only a small amount of real LR in the tank.
 
glinton

glinton

Member
When you say you cycled the tank, what exactly does that mean? Does cured live rock need to be cycled? I am trying to understand this before I go off and start my tank.
 
sal t. nutz

sal t. nutz

Member
The tank itself has to be cycled before adding and Corals, inverts, or fish. Do you unstand that, or were you just confused by the way I stated it?
 
glinton

glinton

Member
I understood what you said, I just didn't understand how to cycle a tank.
But I posted the question in the reefs section and got some good answers.
Thanks!
 
dburr

dburr

Active Member
I also didn't like the garf grunge. I got it twice, the 1st time it was ok, the second it wasn't so good. both times I had apts. that I had to pick out.
I did make my rock from that website. Its in my refug. try it, you may like it. you can shape it any way you want to. And I have critters all over it and thru it.
 
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