"GRUNGE" from GARF

[180gallonreef]

Has anyone here ever bought and used "GRUNGE" from www.garf.org. I plan to restart my reef here in the next couple of months, just curious if anyone knows anything about grunge by having used it.
thanks so much

 

[flyforfood99]

I haven't used that but I bought about 2lbs of "krud" from Premium Aquatics. It is just the crap off the bottom of their live rock tubs and it is LOADED with stuff. My brand new set up was covered in pods and all kinds of other creepy crawlys almost immediately.

 

[Woodstock]

Not I. What is its purpose? Why is it needed? I've never used it and have had a very successful reef.

 

[180gallonreef]

i guess the purpose would be to help seed your tank and give you some very beneficial critters you would not get otherwise from just buying bags of sand. the only reason i am curios is i have a 180 gallon tank that has scratches in it that i am going to turn into a sump/ refug in my basemant and build a starfire 180 with the return on one end. going to take a substantial amount of sand and rock. checking out grunge to help seed the new sand to have less of an impact on the livestock i have in my tank now

 

[boozeman]

I know what it is..but never heard anyone review it or say anything about it on any forum...wierd.
wow 180 is a big fuge

 

[Woodstock]

Sweet set up!!

 

[rDr4g0n]

when my live rock was shipped to me, it was shipped in water. at the bottom of teh bags was tons of silt. i put it all in a 5 gallon bucket and sifted through it. i found TONS of stuff in it, including about 5 serpent stars. my tanks is nearing 2 months old and ive already got copepods and amphipods everywhere because of that stuff.

if grunge is the same as what ive described, then it sounds good to me!

 

[Jorgens]

180g fuge. Am I jealous!!!! get on that man. I'm already think plans for my next house now.....:cry1:

Set it up!! w00t and of course pics.

 

[Mr Bojangles]

well I bought this stuff 6 years ago with my first 65g tank, and I would say pass on it. Basically is reef rubble that is covered with coraline and has all the standard bugs that you get. However they want you to sprinkle this stuff all over the place so your tank will have a bunch of little rocks all over the place that you will never be able to get all the way out. IMO I would get a cup of sand and a nice piece of LR and it will be the same.

 

[surfzone]

GARF Grunge i always thought it was used to seed dead rock or home made rock with the Coraline algae and other beneficial bacteria.

 

[sasquatch]

180gallon, Ive read about the grunge at Garfs, personally as a substrate I would be concerned about all the detrius it will hold, as a source of biologicals, I would contain it and let it seed the sand bed then maybe put it in the sump in an area of precleaned flow, grunge is the smashed up remains of their hand made LR, so your getting coraline algae and whatever is in their tanks, Im not sure how much wild caught stuff they deal with so would suspect the grunge is marginal for diversity. Steve

 

[prow]

garf grunge is good. but its not anything you can not get from a piece live rock. about 80% of you get will not grow, just like "fresh" live rock.

 

[BHinAK]

I bought 25 lbs when I started my tank and fug. Grunge(true) is small 1in or so rubble rock and such. Grunge (ultra) is smaller, p-gravel size or smaller kind of like the gravel put on roads in winter.
The idea is that it contains over 20yrs of variations of coraline algaes. Ultra can be mixed in the main tank its so small.

Sally Joe (one of the owners) gave me 10 free pounds with my order.

There is quite a bit of mud in there so you know what will happen.
There was purple growing everywhere quick during the startup time when my tank was first set up.
I think it was worth it.