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Live Rock and dead rock

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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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    Posted: December 14 2003 at 2:21pm
A person from here on the forum has asked me about LR and what kinds are good. It seems at the moment like a good idea to post my opinion here for discussion, though I may regret it later!

Frankly and honestly, the different types of LR are somewhat meaningless to me.

You may have noticed the saying at the bottom of my posts. One of the reasons I have tried to promote this is because of the many tanks that start out with "amazing" LR and end up a year or two later with only a portion of the diversity of the original LR. This is not because hobbyists (including myself) did anything wrong or intentionally wrong, but merely because our small ecosystems cannot support the kind of life that existed on that rock in the wild.

Using a little LR mixed in with a load of stuff that I found in the desert, or made from cement and CaribSea, or took from a tank that someone else didn't have success with is my preferred way of creating a reef structure. I buy very little LR. I use pieces from other tanks including pieces of live homegrown Utah Rock!

I'm going rock and sand collecting this week if anyone wants to go with or have me bring some back for them.
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Marcus View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Marcus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2003 at 2:42pm
Mark, great topic and a chance for you and I to talk about Utah rock again.      Just teasing, no one wants to hear that whole debate again.

"One of the reasons I have tried to promote this is because of the many tanks that start out with "amazing" LR and end up a year or two later with only a portion of the diversity of the original LR. This is not because hobbyists (including myself) did anything wrong or intentionally wrong, but merely because our small ecosystems cannot support the kind of life that existed on that rock in the wild." I agree that sometimes the fresh rock has a ton of diverse life on it and it seems to "vanish" over time in our tanks. I also agree that is because our tanks are sometimes not set up to handle the life. However, I do not believe that they are incapable of handling it, just that they need to be tweaked or upgraded a little.

IMO, I like the Tongan rock the best. It seems that the Fiji rock all looks the same and that is what most people have in their tanks. Fiji rock is not bad by any means, I just like to be a little different. As to where Mark does not buy a lot of LR, that is all I will put in my tanks.

Another phrase that I do not use and have a hard time understanding is the term "base rock". What some people call base rock is still live rock and still serves the same purpose for biological purposes. Maybe base rock is more dense or not as aesthetically pleasing to look at, so you cover it up with other rock or whatever. I'm curious on what others think of the term base rock and maybe I have the wrong idea of what this is.

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ewaldsreef View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ewaldsreef Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2003 at 3:27pm
Marcus, to me the definition of base rock would be larger not nessisarly but possibly less atractive peices to be used on the bottom. Even your true live rock has these kind of peices. I think that this term means something a little differant to everyone and there for you cant come up with an exact definition. Maybe someone should write an according to hoyle dictionary for our hobbie

Mark, I am convieced that Utah sand and rock work and if you are on a budget it may not be a bad way to go. My preferance still lies with the real stuff. I am using the utah sand and it is working great except for when someone goes digging I get clouding in the tank.

You also said that much of the diversity dies off on the rock. I have seen several tanks were there is some very cool growth on it due to were the rock came from. Sspargur's tank comes to mind.
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mdawson8931 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mdawson8931 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2003 at 3:41pm
The majority of my tank is Utah rock. I think I have 3 pieces of store bought rock that I used to seed the rest. To be honest you would be hard pressed tell the difference now. I like the fact that most of my tank is 'home grown'.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote imaexpat2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 14 2003 at 6:03pm

Base Rock, it is live rock to be sure, its just my understanding that this rock is generally slab type, bulky pieces that dont have much in the way of shape or character.  Could be wrong but thats just the way I have interpreted what I have read and been told.  I havent ordered any so I could really comment on this from personal experience.  It is a interesting question that I would like to see some kinda standard definition put on.

I only started with 45 lbs of Kaelini, the other 200 lbs is all home made stuff.  I chose the Kaelini as opposed to Fiji pretty much for the same reason Marcus chose Tongan rock.  My home made rock is getting pretty tough to tell a difference in.  Its got all kinds of sponges, tube worms and three different shades of Coralline algae growing on it.  I am not really much of a Save the whales kinda guy, but I do believe in conservation, and not raping natrual resources.  I really do support the "Zero Impact Reef Tank" promoted by GARF.  I think its a fantastic idea and concept.  So far 60 of the 160 pounds of sand, 45 of 245 pounds of rock and 4 of the 30 corals I have got, came directly from the ocean instead of aquacultured.  Its not quiet Zero Impact but I think thats pretty good....considering many tanks I have seen.

I would however...like to get a few pieces of some other kinds of live rock.  I would kinda like to boost the Bio-Diversity if possible in my system.  I am a bit hesitent about ordering any more though.  If I do I want to get some that will add some different types of coralline algae to my system and possible a few benefical hitch hickers too.  I kinda want to set up a couple of small tanks and use a few pieces of Jakarta, Marshal Island, or Carribean rock.  I havent seen any of this rock and have always wondered just what it looks like compared to what I got now.  So far the only rock I have seen is Fiji, Kaelini, Tonga Branch/Base and Vavau(sp?).  Like Marcus said, just about everyone has Fiji.  I have seen some Tonga Branch and it was okay looking, maybe I just saw a bad batch.  The Vavau(sp?) didnt look much different than Fiji.

Whats everyone else take on this and opinion of Live Rock varieties?

300 gal. Frag System
300 gal. Live Rock Vat
240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
75 gal. Softies only Tank
65 gal. LPS/Softies
24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef
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