Living Rock: Does the same thing happen in freshwater?

pensiveone

pensiveone

New member
Hi Folks.

I'm curious; does the 'living rock" effect of bacteria infusing he rocks in saltwater aquarium occur in freshwater as well? For example, if i set up a 10 gallon aquarium with say 10 lbs of porous stone, would it also infuse with the bacteria and help filter the water? I assume this is what happens with under gravel filters and gravel beds in freshwater. IF so, why has it never become popular in freshwater aquariums?
 
SkullV

SkullV

New member
It does happen the same way. I haven't done anything freshwater since I was a kid so I don't really know "live rock" never got popular in freshwater.
 
tinman

tinman

Well-known member
its kind of same process .. but in freshwater you don't need to have rock ..it can pretty much colonize on anything .. gravel, driftwood, aquarium decorations, filter floss and prettymuch everything and takes comparitively lesser time to colonize. you dont need to have a certain type of rock or things for bacteria to colonize in freshwater which is why it never became soo popular in fw hobby.
 
Pufferpunk

Pufferpunk

New member
There is MUCH more to LR in SW: pods, worms, etc, that eat detritus. But the bacteria works the same. Different bacteria species though.
 
pensiveone

pensiveone

New member
Very interesting. I may have to experiment and find out if it works the same way in FW. Maybe just add some porous rock to a small tank and mimic the cycle as in SW and see how rapidly it occurs. I actually have a small 2.2 gall tank I am planning to set up in my bedroom. Have to decide if it will be fresh, salt or brackish. Maybe I'll try it and find out...

Tangent question: Would living rock "survive" in a brackish water tank?
 
Pufferpunk

Pufferpunk

New member
No, it will not. You have to slowly raise the SG from FW-BW, for the bacteria to survive. What BW fish are you considering? Not much can fit in a tank that small.
 
pensiveone

pensiveone

New member
Pufferpunk said:
No, it will not. You have to slowly raise the SG from FW-BW, for the bacteria to survive. What BW fish are you considering? Not much can fit in a tank that small.
Click to expand...
Maybe a few bumblebee gobies with a glass shrimp or two. May also consider Opae Ula shrimp from hawaii as I hear these are very easy to care for.
 
SkullV

SkullV

New member
Just join the Betta club! I have the light from my Evolve 2 you can have, should be fine for low light plants in that tank.
 
pensiveone

pensiveone

New member
I thought of a Betta, and have not ruled it out, but I was hoping to do something a little different with this tank.
 
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