Marine pure block vs live rock

[jamo130788]

Hello All,

I have had some bad experiences with liverock carrying all sorts of weird things so i was thinking about moving exclusively to a block of marine pure. Has anyone tried this and if so what were the results?

 

[GugsJr]

Why not start off with dead rock and do a fish less cycle out turbo start

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[ultimatemj]

Marine pure, Sera Siporax, etc are all good biomedia, and considered more efficient (less space more bacteria) hosts than "regular live rock". Be it dead/bleached aragonite or "live rock" aragonite.

I'm a fan of Seachem Pond Matrix, which is as good as anything out there and can be found fairly cheap (because its not marked up for salt water market). I think i paid $27 for the 4L bucket, which easily supports 100gal reef with a high bio-load.
View attachment 25326

I put it in a "vegetable bag" in the sump, and when I do water changes I "bob the bag up and down" like a tea bag to clean off the media and then siphon out detritus. Works great!
View attachment 25323

Side note: When I started this tank I made the mistake of reusing the sandbed out of a FOWLR and the nitrates were "off the scale" high (probably around 200ppm!). With some bottle bacteria and pond matrix it was way down within a 4 to 6 weeks...and now, even with an "overloaded tank" I struggle to have enough nitrates! Probably have too much of it in my sump LOL
View attachment 25324View attachment 25327

 

[jamo130788]

Why not start off with dead rock and do a fish less cycle out turbo start

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

The tank is already up and running - I am just adding a new sump so I figured that now is the time to make changes

 

[jamo130788]

Marine pure, Sera Siporax, etc are all good biomedia, and considered more efficient (less space more bacteria) hosts than "regular live rock". Be it dead/bleached aragonite or "live rock" aragonite.

I'm a fan of Seachem Pond Matrix, which is as good as anything out there and can be found fairly cheap (because its not marked up for salt water market). I think i paid $27 for the 4L bucket, which easily supports 100gal reef with a high bio-load.
View attachment 25326

I put it in a "vegetable bag" in the sump, and when I do water changes I "bob the bag up and down" like a tea bag to clean off the media and then siphon out detritus. Works great!
View attachment 25323

Side note: When I started this tank I made the mistake of reusing the sandbed out of a FOWLR and the nitrates were "off the scale" high (probably around 200ppm!). With some bottle bacteria and pond matrix it was way down within a 4 to 6 weeks...and now, even with an "overloaded tank" I struggle to have enough nitrates! Probably have too much of it in my sump LOL
View attachment 25324View attachment 25327

Thanks for the pointers- While I am not partial to any biomedia from a functionality standpoint, I do like the marine pure because its a single block and doesnt need a bag or anything.

 

[ultimatemj]

Thanks for the pointers- While I am not partial to any biomedia from a functionality standpoint, I do like the marine pure because its a single block and doesnt need a bag or anything.

Not sure what "not partial to any biomedia" means...

The benefit of the bag of Pond Matrix over a Marine Pure block is the block has pores that get clogged and require you to remove it completely to clean it every so often...or it ends up no better than a piece of live rock...arguably worse. The Pond Matrix doesn't get clogged, just collects detritus like dust settling...shake the bag and all the detritus is in the water column to be siphoned out. Easy and effective~

 

[ssky]

Marinepure works. I had it in my sump. Yes you are right, they are aesthetically pleasing and works wonder. Try to get the 4 inch thick brick not the thin one. Also they easily crumble so handle it gently

 

[coral49]

I've had the 4 inche block in my sump for 5+ years with no issues. All water flows through it without any clogging, it is very fragile and will crumble with touching it frequently. Works great no issues

 

[ssky]

Here you go another proof. A lot of ppl claim that it leaches Aluminum but it was never proven. I see no issue