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Aquacultured Live Rock Vs. Real Reef Rock


tblake12

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Hi everyone,

 

I'm planning my first saltwater tank. Being that I love a good challenge, I'm starting off with a 3G JBJ Picotope since I've read and seen so many great one's on this site. El Fabuloso's 3 gallons of glory was a huge influence!! I have been planning this for some time now and I'm about to take the plunge. My number one concern is which rock to choose. I've visited 2 LFS this week. One being very close to my house that only sells Real Reef Rock. This LFS is extremely clean and quite "lab" like. The other, which I visited today, was more of a HUGE aquarium store that also sells reptiles etc. Not quite as sterile if you get the picture...but not bad either. They had 4 different versions of rock. Real Reef, Fiji, aquacultured, and premium aquacultured. The premium was covered with small corals, fans, etc.. I don't mean to beat a dead horse here. I know there is tons of info already posted....I've read it!! I'm still not sure which would be the best bet. Any suggestions and opinions would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

 

Tim

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The early generations of ReaL Reef Rock were fine for FOWLR setups and larger reef tanks, but IME were not porous enough for nano tanks. No idea if later iterations fixed this with different mixes or casting methods.

 

My own tank was built on the earlier stuff... long time for it to cycle to the point of supporting livestock without mini cycles happening even on minor additions. On the other hand - pegged my pH and alkalinity at exactly where it was supposed to be, at least until coraline plated densely enough to make dosibg needed a couple years later.

 

One more thing... the painted areas of the rock fade over time and look very strange (light blue). Again, coraline will eventually cover it, but anytime my hermits pick clean an area it looks weird until the stuff grows back.

 

Tldr: I recommend aquacultured/cured Marco rock or something similar. Or inoculate your own dry rock in a bucket w/powered + heater + Dr times & ammonia dosing if shooting for the "no pests" approach.

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I highly recommend aquacultured rock. Well worth potential pest introduction, with a few possible exceptions, as most/many can be removed. Of course, if you aren't a fan of diversity and want zero potential pests, it is not for you.

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Thanks guys!! That's the direction I was heading. I'm willing to deal with unwanted hitchikers that might show up. I like the idea of having some life in there during the cycle. Will I see an ammonia spike after putting in live aquacultured rock in the tank or is there so little dead matter that the spike is negligable?

 

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Really depends on how its has been handled. If its from your LFS and its already been cycled.. AND you get it from them in bags/buckets/boxes FULL of water so the rock is completely sumberged AND you get it home quickly and into your tank in a fairly reasonable timeframe. (a day or two) you may not even see a spike at all.

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IME having the rock "moist" for a few hours won't do too much harm. I think if there are corals on the rock having them in water is ideal though.

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Thanks for all the input!! My biggest concern...my LFS's Premium Aquacultured Live Rock looks NOTHING like the pictures I see advertised by companies selling online. It does have a lot of life attached to it...but it looks more like a rock you would find in a slow moving river(only more porous). It does not have much, if any, macroalgae coloring. Could it possibly be the lighting that hides it? It looks mostly brown. The Fiji looks even more dull...same color but without the life. The only rock with color is the Real Reef Rock(thanks to the dye!!).

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It's probably cured rock at your LFS and you're likely seeing photos online of pieces that are freshly collected from the ocean. It will never look quite the same after being cured, since some of the life on the rock will not or cannot live very long in an aquarium.

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