Pukani rock vs Figi rock!!!!

[waxhawreefer]

I'm on week three of my cycle, this time I'm using 75 pounds of pukani from BRS, my last two times even though I used less rock because my tanks were smaller my phosphates were measurable but last I checked with my Hanna checker it was .58,, wow, never would have thought it, ammonia is zero, nitrites are still 25ppm, 40ppm nitrates, so gfo to the rescue!! But my water is still cloudy, not sure if it's from my high phosphates or not, in the beginning I added a bottle of bio-spiro and seeded a brightwell aquatics block in my sump with nitrobacter 7, just getting alittle antsy about putting in some fish from my smaller holding tank!! Thx

 

[Greg Chapman]

Did you cure the rock before hand?

 

[waxhawreefer]

No I don't usually!

 

[BlueCursor]

Just do a 100% water change after nitrites have dropped to 0.

 

[waxhawreefer]

Just do a 100% water change after nitrites have dropped to 0.

I was hoping to avoid that, but I might have to

 

[blkhwkz]

I love the pukani rock but it is known to leech phosphates like crazy. I put my 75 pounds in a muriatic acid bath and then in salt water with a heater in the garage for 10 weeks. Dosed lanthanum chloride every other day and water changes every few weeks. Since putting the rocks in the tank, had no phosphate issues during cycle or after. You're going to probably go through a lot of GFO trying to keep the phosphates down for awhile.

 

[jason_mazzy]

can use the lanthanum chloride in a filter sock method

 

[waxhawreefer]

I love the pukani rock but it is known to leech phosphates like crazy. I put my 75 pounds in a muriatic acid bath and then in salt water with a heater in the garage for 10 weeks. Dosed lanthanum chloride every other day and water changes every few weeks. Since putting the rocks in the tank, had no phosphate issues during cycle or after. You're going to probably go through a lot of GFO trying to keep the phosphates down for awhile.

Thx for the info, I figured as much, I'm going to post a video below , I would love ur take on it, thx

 

[waxhawreefer]

 

[waxhawreefer]

Couldn't load the video for some reason, but not sure what's causing this thick cloudy water?? Maybe bacteria?? The high phosphates?? Or a combination of the both, as I wrote before, I used bio-spiro, and some nitrobacter 7, thx again

 

[jason_mazzy]

I made the same mistake of adding bacteria. my water turned white. there are lots of nutrients in that rock. so. let it be white for about 6 weeks and that bacteria will murder the nitrates and phosphates. then 100% water change. Now that worked for me until: I overfed one time. Boom instant bloom again. I let it run for a few weeks and used aeration, skimmer, and microbubbles to add o2 for the few inverts in the tank. weeks went by and nothing helped. eventually dosed a bit of h202 (peroxide) and the water cleared up. 100% water change again and 6 months later no issue.

 

[waxhawreefer]

I made the same mistake of adding bacteria. my water turned white. there are lots of nutrients in that rock. so. let it be white for about 6 weeks and that bacteria will murder the nitrates and phosphates. then 100% water change. Now that worked for me until: I overfed one time. Boom instant bloom again. I let it run for a few weeks and used aeration, skimmer, and microbubbles to add o2 for the few inverts in the tank. weeks went by and nothing helped. eventually dosed a bit of h202 (peroxide) and the water cleared up. 100% water change again and 6 months later no issue.

Thx for the info, I thought it might be bacteria, love the rock but hate that it's giving me grief, never experienced this with figi rock that I used before, maybe I should have used that fake rock but I thought natural is the way to go!

 

[Even Further]

BRS Pukani is great rock. But everything I've read says it takes more prep work, and a longer curing process before adding it to a DT. Specific to this rock, the best practice I've read is to pre-clean (gently pressure wash to get into crevices), and a long cure while monitoring phosphates (to address leaching).

 

[waxhawreefer]

BRS Pukani is great rock. But everything I've read says it takes more prep work, and a longer curing process before adding it to a DT. Specific to this rock, the best practice I've read is to pre-clean (gently pressure wash to get into crevices), and a long cure while monitoring phosphates (to address leaching).

I never read that but I usually soak then blast with a hose, scrub, repeat the process, then after it dried I came up with my scape and glued together two large mountains and into the tank, filled with sand then water, just honestly never thought my phosphates would be .68-last I checked!! I even dosed some pods to get my population going, hope with my upcoming massive water changes that I will have some left!!

 

[bif24701]

BRS Pukani is worth the work. Once you pick it up and compare it to reefsaver or any other rock for that matter you will instantly know why.

Pukani is lighter and much much more porous. The rock isn't heavy until its wet. I recently purchased 50 pounds and got 3 XL beautiful rocks. They were easy to move dry but I had to move them once to catch a fish and the weight a ton from all the water they can hold. Pick up a Pukani rock that's been wet for a while and pull it out of the water, water will continue to drain from is for a long time. Pukani has a Matrix of pores similar to MarienPure and contributes to controlling Nitrates in the same way.

 

[bif24701]

I never read that but I usually soak then blast with a hose, scrub, repeat the process, then after it dried I came up with my scape and glued together two large mountains and into the tank, filled with sand then water, just honestly never thought my phosphates would be .68-last I checked!! I even dosed some pods to get my population going, hope with my upcoming massive water changes that I will have some left!!

Rinse, repeat, and in the tank my 50 pounds went into an already established 180. Cause little to no issues. It will have some organics but nothing a good rinsing or scribing if needed can't fix. You should already be monitoring PO4, so just keep an eye on it and if/when it starts to rise add some GFO or Phosphate RX, DONE.

 

[waxhawreefer]

Rinse, repeat, and in the tank my 50 pounds went into an already established 180. Cause little to no issues. It will have some organics but nothing a good rinsing or scribing if needed can't fix. You should already be monitoring PO4, so just keep an eye on it and if/when it starts to rise add some GFO or Phosphate RX, DONE.

Yes my phosphates are really high, so I'm gonna try to get them down, after my nitrites are at zero- large water change , hopefully it comes down and stays down!!

 

[jason_mazzy]

Let those bacteria chow down. Run a skimmer and dose some vitamin c every day and that water will stay white and you will pull skim.

Once the work is done you will be very happy with the rock. I love it. Was it a pain to cycle, yes. Would I do it again and again? Yes, I would.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Go buy some NOPOx and dose that according to the directions. It will fuel the bacteria and help them eat all the NO3 and PO4. I'd also dose Brightwell's Microbacter7 it seems to be REALLY good at digesting the solid material/detritus than other bacteria in a bottles that I have tried. I would also take a powerhead with a hose on the end of it and blow all the stuff out of the holes in the rock every few days until junk stops coming out. It will take awhile. Once all the stuff is gone out of the rocks they will be beautiful. Expect cyano/algae if you have the lights on during this process. probably best to leave them out until the nutrients come down.

You're pods will be happy, they love feeding on the bacteria film that forms. You will likely have a soup of pods before you know it. My tank went through the same thing. In the long run you will be happy, you will have a very well established and powerful bacteria colony and a huge pod population.

 

[bif24701]

Yes my phosphates are really high, so I'm gonna try to get them down, after my nitrites are at zero- large water change , hopefully it comes down and stays down!!

Phosphate RX is the best way to quickly remove phosphates and cost is low. Just don't over do it.