Real Reef Midnight Rock - Per Pound

Real Reef Midnight is the black run of Real Reef's aquacultured rock: greenhouse-grown rather than taken off a reef, lightweight, extremely porous, and finished in deep charcoal black instead of the usual purples and pinks. Coral colour reads far harder against black rock than it does against pale rock, which is the whole reason to scape with it. This is a limited short run. When the bin is empty it is empty. Sold by the pound, pick your own. Browse our other hardscape and saltwater supplies.

What Is in the Bin

Every Midnight style we carry goes into the same bin at the same price, so you can build a whole scape out of one pile without doing arithmetic in your head. Expect to find:

Stock of each style moves as people pick, so what is in the bin on any given day varies. Come and have a dig.

Why Real Reef Midnight

• Black all the way through. The colour is not a surface coat, so a chip or a saw cut does not expose a pale core.
• Nothing hitchhikes in. Cultivated rather than harvested, so no aiptasia, no bristleworms, no nuisance algae and no wild-rock die-off to manage.
• Porous right through, so it works as biological media as well as structure.
• No reef was stripped to make it. Real Reef grow it in greenhouses, which is the point of the whole line.
• Light for its size, so a pound of it builds more scape than a pound of wild rock.
• Limited run. Midnight is a short production colourway, not a permanent line.

Buying by the Pound

1. Pick the pieces you want out of the bin. Mix the styles freely, it is all one price.
2. We weigh them at the counter and you pay by the pound.
3. As a rough guide, a nano tank takes 5 to 10 lb, a 40 gallon around 25 to 35 lb, and a 75 gallon 40 to 60 lb. Real Reef is light and open, so you need less of it than you would of dense wild rock.
4. Bring a photo of your tank and we will help you pick a scape that works rather than a pile that does not.

Getting It Into the Tank

1. Rinse in RO or RO/DI water. It arrives clean, so there is no curing period and no smell.
2. Dry-scape it out of the water first. Black rock shows a line of superglue more than pale rock does, so take your time on the joins.
3. It is biologically sterile, so cycle the tank properly: add a bottled nitrifying bacteria and an ammonia source and let it run.
4. Coralline will take hold over the following months, and purple on black looks excellent.

Specifications

Every piece is different and the photographs show the range of styles rather than any one piece. What you pick is what you get.

Pairs With

• Real Reef in the original colour, also by the pound, if you want to mix light and dark
• Midnight by the sealed box: Rock, Shelf, Fancy Branch, Arches and Mini's
• Corals and salt mixes

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it dearer than the original colour?
Midnight costs us a good deal more per pound than the standard rock, and it is a limited short run rather than a line we can reorder indefinitely.

Can I mix styles?
Yes. That is the point of one bin and one price. Take branch, shelf and arches in the same handful if that is the scape you want.

Why is it pickup only?
All our rock is. Rock is heavy and awkward and freight on it costs more than the rock is worth. Collect it in store and we will help you load it.

Do I need to cure it?
No. There is nothing dying on it. Rinse it, scape it, and cycle the tank as normal.

Can I buy a full sealed box instead?
Yes. We can order any of the Midnight boxes in, linked above. A box works out cheaper per pound than hand-picking.