Thread: Live Rock
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Old 10-17-2005, 12:10 AM
Van down by the river Van down by the river is offline
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I'd agree with Johnny Reefer and untamed. Keeping the rock in a garbage can for a week or two is a complete waste. you will get huge die off and will end up with bare rock. You will kill all the coralline and it will eventually turn white. The rock would be better off in a system with lights, filtration, and strong water movement. Leave it at the store until you are ready for it. If you are just looking for base rock, post a request for old live rock. You can pick it up from other reefers and then put some fresh stuff on the top layers.

Quote:
As long as the water is kept moving, with a pump, and the waters heated it will stay ALIVE. It will only loose some coralline algae with has nothing to do with the use of live rock anyways.
Fresh rock will start to crash if it only has heated moving water.Water changes and filtration are also required to remove excess nutrients. Coralline algae is a big part of Good live rock. It's part of the reason we pay so much for rock. Otherwise you could buy Dead dry rocks for 1/4 the price and just seed them with bacteria from an existing tank.
The problem with this method (bare rock/mostly dead) is that it encourages hair algae growth. Coralline algae and the many other organisms are an important part of a healthy and attractive reef. They make your rock attractive as well as providing a settlement site for corals. They also compete with algae for nutrient. The bucket is likely to get Sulfur dioxide buildup in the bottom half and this kills all the beneficial organisms that are so important to our reef. Most of the Copepods,worms,brittlestars and various inverts will die in this low oxygen,no light, poor water quality environment.

Unfortunately, many stores pitch this as "curing" live rock. This is just their way of convincing you to buy their crappy dead rock.
The reason it's called LIVE ROCK is because of the expense and trouble we go through to collect it and transport it as quickly as possible from the other side of the world. Good live rock should be cared for and treated like corals. The end result is clearly worth the effort.

If you have to store the rock, I would suggest a Rubbermaid tub. It will have more surface area and be less prone to sulfur dioxide buildup. water changes will also go a long way to keeping the rock healthy and preventing unnecessary die off.
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