Today on BRSTV we have a quick product demo on Pukani dry rock.
I can personally bring home any of rocks we sell, there are tens of thousands of pounds
to select from and this is the one I personally choose for my own tanks almost every time.
Pukani is the lightest and most porous of all the rocks we sell which makes it the best
value, by far the easiest to manipulate for aquascaping, comes pest free and provides
high volumes of surface area for filtration, habitat for microfauna.
Pukani rock is crazy light and porous.
I guarantee the first time you pick up a piece you say "holy cow this is light".
This is result of the rock naturally being pretty low density, combined with incredibly
porous surface just filled with holes that transverse the entire structure of the rock.
To give you an idea of value we put forty pounds of standard Fiji in this tank and forty
pounds of pukani in the same size tank.
You can instantly see the volume rock you get with the pukani is significantly larger.
More or less this means you can buy fewer pounds of rock and save some hard earned dollars.
On top of that, dry rock is relatively cheap to begin with and doesn't require overnight
shipping.
In fact, if your order is over one hundred and seventy five dollars it ships for free.
The low density of the pukani also makes it the easiest to manipulate.
You can create all kinds of modifications with a hack saw, chisel or demmel.
One of my favorite modifications is taking a piece like this, what would otherwise never
balance, and creating a flat stable bottom with a hack saw.
This results in some stunning structures that would otherwise be pretty difficult.
Since the bottom is flat this is something that can even be siliconed directly to the
glass bottom of a new tank.
You can use a chisel and hammer too really mold it any way you like, including creating
an entire cave network right through the middle of the piece.
Notice the irregular way the chisel cuts its way through, it results in a really natural
look.
I typically use a nice narrow wood chisel and mallet for this.
The end result of doing this can be pretty stunning and result in structures which would
otherwise be impossible.
Rather than just lay two pieces on top of each other, you can also chisel or dremel
some curved edges off so the pieces fit together nicely, which not only allows for a nice stable
structure, but also looks much more natural and seamless.
In the joints you can add some thick aquascaping super glue like paleobond and it will be completely
stable.
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The number one reason I use dry rock in general these days is because I am in this for the
long hall and wet live rock will almost certainly introduce at least one unwanted pest, if not
many.
The difference between a one to two year successful tank and a five to ten is not letting it get
overrun with pests like Aiptasia, bubble algae, flatworms, fire worms, red bugs, parasitic
isopods or flukes that attack your fish and a whole slew of weird algae found in the ocean.
I start with dry rock and don't put anything in the tank I don't closely inspect for pests
and dip prior to adding to the tank.
It's likely something will sneak by at some point but I am sure I will avoid having to
deal with most of them.
Lastly this porous surface and internal network of holes serves as habitat for a wide variety
of critters in the tank.
Many of the anthias and chromis like to bed down in the crevices at night.
I have a dwarf golden moray which is constantly weaving in and out of the rock and I know
he enjoys the security he finds in all these crevices.
The internal network also provides a safe harbor for copepods and amphipods to safely
reproduce away from predators like fish.
These pods not only provide natural foods for the fish but I also tend to believe the
theory that this army of pods is constantly scavenging the surface of the rock removing
unwanted waste as well as likely grassing on the tiny bits of algae before it gets a
chance to grow and show up as nuisance algae we can see.
Curing pukani is a lot like curing wet rock since both come out of the ocean with some
organic material on the surface.
Difference here is wet rock comes with sponges, algae and other organics which are often in
a state of decay and it may take a while for the process to stabilize.
With dry rock all the organics are dead and you just need to wait for them to break down.
Either way the process is typically the same, soak the rock in heated saltwater with good
flow for a month or so.
This is best done in a dark container but can be done in the tank itself as long as
the lights are turned off.
Once the cycle is complete you should replace all the water in the rock bin or do a 100%
water change in the tank to get rid of the nutrients like nitrate and phosphate produced
during the curing process as the organics broke down.
Pretty much the same as you would with curing wet live rock.
There is no reason to start a brand new tank with any nutrients.
It is pretty common these days to jump start the cycle process with bacterial boosters
like Bio-Spira or Red Sea's reef mature pro kit.
Coraline algae will begin to populate the moment you add a source like a crushed up
rock, shell or coral base that has some .live coraline algae on it.
After that all you need to do is maintain calcium and alkalinity, with a particular
focus on alkalinity and it will cover most of the rock in no time.
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week.
If you have any questions for us or your fellow reefers checkout the comments area down below.