live rock?

kurens

kurens

Member
my favorite beginner's corner:)

i got 3 rocks from previous owner,can anybody tell me if they are live rocks?
i ordered 80lbs "dry" rocks to save some $$ from www.marcorocks.com and would like to mix it.
Two on left are all green(owner doesn't have any lights on tank)...algea?
How to clean it?
 
mr_z

mr_z

New member
i believe that if its been out of the water for a while its all dried out. clean them well go to your lfs and buy a pound or two of live rock
 
fastrc

fastrc

New member
Since dried out rock isn't live rock anymore you should probably boil it to kill any dormant creatures hiding in rock,Like Mr_z said go and buy some live rock from LFS or find someone that you trust and get some.
Welcome to site!
 
Smitty

Smitty

Premium member
+1 to both answers...but if you got the rock from out of your friends established tank, and kept it wet until you put it into yours, then it should still be considered live rock.
 
P

P.Olsen

New member
It is now base rock in my opinion but that does not mean it cant be used. I am not a believer in making rock live after it has died, some people do but either way you can use that as base rock and eventually it will look just like live rock. My pers belief on LR is that the life form in the rock can never be reproduced in a aqurium regardless of size. It takes years and years for those life forms to happen in the ocean and to me this is the only "real" live rock. Most rock purchased in LFS for the past 15+ years is cultivated rock, it is what they call "seeded" meaning that base rock (like what you have) is exposed to live rock and in time the life forms tranfer to the base rock making it also live rock but what you have is base rock with external life and not the internal life or real live rock.

There are a lot of poeple who debate this and as many people think seeded LR is no diffeent the actual harvested LR, but I am not in that camp.....

That being said, we cant exactly keep plucking LR from the ocean or there wont be any left so I dont disagree with the cultivated rock at all, it's just is not the "real deal" nor does it have all the benefits of real LR.
 
kurens

kurens

Member
fastrc said:
Since dried out rock isn't live rock anymore you should probably boil it to kill any dormant creatures hiding in rock,Like Mr_z said go and buy some live rock from LFS or find someone that you trust and get some.
Welcome to site!
Click to expand...
Are you guys saying that my 80lbs base rock will never be live??
 
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P.Olsen

New member
kurens said:
Are you guys saying that my 80lbs base rock will never be live??
Click to expand...
I say no, it will look like LR, it will become covered in coraline, external growth may occur but there will never be life in the rock again, nless it ends up back in the ocean for a very long time anyway. Others say yes, like anything in this hobby or life in general for that matter there are at least 2 sides
 
mr_z

mr_z

New member
+1 p.olsen the truth is never good :-( lol but it will still be good for your tank
 
scotty

scotty

Member
live rock's basic definition is having the bacteria cultured deep in the rock. there is NO way that only takes a month, usually when the cycle is complete. In theory, no your base rock will never be the same as live rock harvested from the gulf, or fiji, or wherever.

It will, however, get seeded by the bacteria, and get coralline on it, but you will never see the random plant growing out of it every once in a while, a neat new limpet, which is why people spend 10-20 bucks a pound for live rock.

the plus side to that, you wont get isopods, you wont get fireworms, you won't get rock crabs, you wont get 4 urchins, you won't get aptasia's, you know exactly what you have in your tank because you put it in there. so there are pluses and minuses to both.

i went the 50/50 route, and got a fantastic amount of life, and i didn't need to mortgage my dad's house.
 
jcarlilesiu

jcarlilesiu

Active member
I have to disagree with pretty much everybody here.

Live rock is refering to the organisms and bacteria residing on the rock that is seeded either from the ocean or from being exposed to a healthy aquarium.

No rock is actually alive, internally or externally (with exception of the organisms living ON the rock).

Live and base rock is actually dead coral. Once the coral dies, there isn't something still living inside of the rock.

Thus, a person could take 80 pounds of base rock and seed the tank with a single piece of live rock to introduce beneficial bacteria as well as things like coraline algae and eventually all of the base rock will become live.
 
xtlosx

xtlosx

New member
scotty said:
live rock's basic definition is having the bacteria cultured deep in the rock. there is NO way that only takes a month, usually when the cycle is complete. In theory, no your base rock will never be the same as live rock harvested from the gulf, or fiji, or wherever.

It will, however, get seeded by the bacteria, and get coralline on it, but you will never see the random plant growing out of it every once in a while, a neat new limpet, which is why people spend 10-20 bucks a pound for live rock.

the plus side to that, you wont get isopods, you wont get fireworms, you won't get rock crabs, you wont get 4 urchins, you won't get aptasia's, you know exactly what you have in your tank because you put it in there. so there are pluses and minuses to both.

i went the 50/50 route, and got a fantastic amount of life, and i didn't need to mortgage my dad's house.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with your approach. I actually picked up about 30 lbs of live rock (great porous rock with random growth but not completely pink\purple looking) to make the base for my tank. I then added about 4 lbs of some really killer $12\lb Fiji liverock (covered in light green, purple, pink, partial orange at times) rock, and letting everything seed... The other rock is now starting to pick up nice pink patches all over, and as you said, I'm not mortgaging my house to get rock :)

Midwest Coral Farms actually had the nice not so pinkish live rock for $2.50\lb, worked out GREAT!
 
WeePee

WeePee

New member
i agree with jake as well, since thats what I dide using 15 lb or live rock and 35 lb of dead rock on my old tank.
 
jcarlilesiu

jcarlilesiu

Active member
I reread what was wrote.

It is true that base rock seeded with live rock will never be exposed to the huge array of species found in the ocean. As such, our aquarium won't be exposed to those organisms. In this regard, our live rock is not the same as the oceans.

However "live rock" refers to the nitrifying bacteria live on the rock and as such base rock can be turned into live rock.

Sent on tapatalk for Android
 
WeePee

WeePee

New member
the rock in this photo is the Reef Saver dead rock purchased from BRS.


it can purple up amazing well
 
C

ColorMeCorals

New member
It is my understanding you really don't get true wild live rock . Different types of rock are dumped in the ocean in special areas and locals to get cultured. After a certain period of time it is harvested as live rock. Thats pretty much what Premium Fiji live rock is but it does come from Fiji. Rock is rock . The life in and on it is what make it live rock. You can make rock live by putting it in an aquarium but you will not get all the organisms that are in the ocean . Pros are you can control pest this way. Cons you will only grow the life that is already established in the aquarium . You pay for the size and shape in the grading along with color. Base rock is just as live as premium but not as pretty because it all comes from the same ocean culture locations. People like dry rock because of price and no pest. Used rock from unknown sorces can be risky because if from a fish only tank they may have used copper or other chems that can leach out and make you scrach your head trying to figure out whats wrong with your reef tank.
 
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