TBone12 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Does anyone have any experience with the Caribsea Life Rock. I'm new here and just starting out. Just trying to weigh my options. Does the life rock have the same benefits of using real live rock? Link to comment
Herbie Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I am thinking about setting up a new tank with Walt Smiths Project Reef Rock 2.1 . It looks to be about the best dry reef rock I have seen in a while . About the closest looking dry rock to live looking rock I have seen . Plus the added benefits, getting no unwanted pests in a new system . Will probably get a box of Project Reef Rock 2.1 , and add 1 piece of (good pest free) real live rock to help seed it . Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 The LFS by me sells this Real Reef Rock: http://realreefrock.com/ I've seen it in person and it looks exactly like real live rock. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Does anyone have any experience with the Caribsea Life Rock. I'm new here and just starting out. Just trying to weigh my options. Does the life rock have the same benefits of using real live rock? There are advantages & disadvantages to both. Real live rock brings a much larger variety of critters that hitchhike on it. Some of them are pretty amazing, some are also negative & have to be culled out. I think real live rock just comes w/a much larger diversity of life. The quality of LR you get varies quite a bit depending on the source. I have worked w/Premium Aquatics in the past & gotten very good quality LR from them. Man made LR has less diversity but is also safer in the sense that you don't get bad hitchhikers and it is ecologically better in that it doesn't damage coral reefs. It kinda depends on what you want to accomplish. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 This was my experience w/Premium Aquatics Live Rock: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/271643-premium-aquatics-has-amazing-live-rock/ You will NOT get that at most stores. I made a special effort to get that and communicated with someone over there to let them know what I was looking for. Link to comment
TBone12 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 Will the man made stuff help with filtration or is it just for decoration? If it doesn't help and you seed it with a real piece of pest free live rock as mentioned above how long does it take to become benifical? Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Man made stuff will help w/filtration just like "real" live rock. Yes, just seed it w/small piece of something that already has bacteria in it. Takes about same amount of time. Link to comment
TBone12 Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 Thanks! Yall are more help than you know. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I've heard mixed reviews on the stuff. Personally I think it's a great idea and the rock I've seen at my LFS looks amazing. What's better than adding rock that's already purple? The only negative I've heard is that the color can fade. Honestly I don't think it's possible to permanently color rock in a saltwater environment though so I think the idea is that real coralline takes the place of the purple on the rock before it fades. This guy used it so 'nuff said. I should also note that the fading may have been more of an issue with the initial product - I believe it's been refined to date. Also the research i've done was mostly on the real reef rock product not the caribsea, but I have to imagine they're similar and caribsea knows their stuff with sand so hopefully they know rock too. Link to comment
ReefSafeSolutions Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Pretty sure that's the stuff I have in my tank...it looks great. No complaints! My LFS sells it cured as well (no idea if it comes cured from the factory or not) so I had basically no cycle. Definitely happy with it! Link to comment
TBone12 Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 I've heard mixed reviews on the stuff. Personally I think it's a great idea and the rock I've seen at my LFS looks amazing. What's better than adding rock that's already purple? The only negative I've heard is that the color can fade. Honestly I don't think it's possible to permanently color rock in a saltwater environment though so I think the idea is that real coralline takes the place of the purple on the rock before it fades. This guy used it so 'nuff said. I should also note that the fading may have been more of an issue with the initial product - I believe it's been refined to date. Also the research i've done was mostly on the real reef rock product not the caribsea, but I have to imagine they're similar and caribsea knows their stuff with sand so hopefully they know rock too. That guy is awesome! Thanks for showing me the thread it really opens the eyes to what can be done. Pretty sure that's the stuff I have in my tank...it looks great. No complaints! My LFS sells it cured as well (no idea if it comes cured from the factory or not) so I had basically no cycle. Definitely happy with it! Thanks! I'm definitely leaning towards using it Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I'd stick to dry rock or the Walt rock. I decided to go back to my early days and order real live rock in for my 65, I'm now kicking myself in the ass. Yes you get all sorts of cool stuff, but that does not out way the nasty and annoying pests included. All I do is battle aptasia back,maher è before I prided myself on a pest free system. This aptasia was not the only pests I've had to,deal with just the most annoying. I'm already deciding on a plan to get rid of all the rock,and do a total overhaul because of the issues. Take it from someone who's done them both and get the dry rock and scrape off coraline from some rock into your tank, and use other methods of cycling the tank. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I think we may be talking about a few different kinds of rock here... The caribsea life rock as far as I know is dry rock, just with a purple coating to make it look like live rock vs. the stark white dry rock normally bought. Link to comment
TBone12 Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 I think we may be talking about a few different kinds of rock here... The caribsea life rock as far as I know is dry rock, just with a purple coating to make it look like live rock vs. the stark white dry rock normally bought. Caribsea claims there is bacteria infused into the purple coating that activates once it gets wet. It's supposed to have a decent shelf life. That's why I was asking about it. I didn't know if it was just good for the cycle or if would continue to help with filtration. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Caribsea claims there is bacteria infused into the purple coating that activates once it gets wet. It's supposed to have a decent shelf life. That's why I was asking about it. I didn't know if it was just good for the cycle or if would continue to help with filtration. Oh, that I'm aware of - but don't know anything about it really. To me it sounds gimimcky. If you want a fast cycle add some bottled bacteria - a kind that specifically contains bacteria from the family Nitrobacter, such as bio-spira. Then dose ammonia (google ammonia calculator). This is a quick way to establish the cycle in a new aquarium with dry rock. One thing I do know about the caribsea product is that it's probably pretty clean - in other words you shouldn't have to wait for anything on the rock to decompose, like with some dry rocks. Good luck. Link to comment
reefist Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 The Tampa Bay 2.1 live rock is really nice. No aiptasia. A couple of crabs that were easy to catch in a shot glass, but mostly lots of colorful life. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 The Tampa Bay 2.1 live rock is really nice. No aiptasia. A couple of crabs that were easy to catch in a shot glass, but mostly lots of colorful life. I considered getting this in the past. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Does the life rock have the same benefits of using real live rock? In my opinion: Life rock: Pretty No pests No good bacteria Live rock: Pretty Possible pests Lots of good bacteria Link to comment
PDR Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I used life rock in one of my tanks and would not recommend it. The color is nice, but the rock seems like a low quality rock compared to rock from reef cleaners. Link to comment
Reefer69 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 SO i had a bad experience with Reel Reef Rock. I had bought a mixture of that plus live rock. Within a couple of weeks the ReeL Reef Rock was covered in bubble algae. I decided to remove and replace with some good live rock. Never had an outbreak again. I will get pictures but i left the rock Chunks outside to dry. (Really just didn't want them in the house) Forgot about them. So months later the Reel Reef rock is still completely purple, out of water for months in the sun. A piece of regular live rock that i left outside was completely white. So I'm thinking they paint the coraline algae on which they DO state. I just don't know how even painted coraline could survive outside in the elements unless its "paint" Idk just my experience. Link to comment
Fourthwind Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 I just used the Life rock from carib and the Life sand in my nano. I also got some cured Fiji rubble for the sump. Tank cycled very nicely, and the life rock looks nice IMHO. How it will hold up? Dunno.. Link to comment
streamline.by.design Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 I am a LFS owner and we carry the Caribsea Liferock. It is a great product. The purple is just paint and allows you to get the "coralline" look out of the gate. They spray a dormant bacteria on the rock that goes "live" when introduced to water. I actually suggest buying it dry if you can, but most stores will put it in water, it is just easier for the customer to buy it wet. I hate it, as you are then paying for water weight. When used in combination with live sand, tanks seem to cycle in half the time. My one gripe is that some batches are bulkier pieces and sometimes don't "lock" together nicely. Recently though, I have noticed that they are mixing the sizes and shape a lot more and I am much happier. The Caribsea Liferock shelf is great for not only shelves, but also for a nice flat base. Link to comment
EquinsuOcha Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Project Reef Rock 2.1 in my tank. So far I like it... I do have concerns. I have no live rock PRR 2.1 is not as porous as real live rock will I have enough biological filtration in my tank??!?!?!?! was bio-spira enough?! What I have now is 30 pounds of live sand Media basket -filter floss -purigen -matrix carbon -chemipure blue refugium -chaeto and surface simmer along with a protein skimmer. I bought 55 pounds and have about 30 pounds left over.... in my 29G Link to comment
Balix Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I bought a 10lb real reef rock at my LFS. Seems somewhat porous and looks good. It was running in a big tub at the store and has stuff growing on it but just calcium based and I think some macro algae. http://realreefrock.com They only had big pieces so I might put it in a bag and drop it outside to get smaller pieces. Haven't tried reef rock 2.1 but seems like the shapes are better and smaller if you want. Link to comment
jdog Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Live Rock can be a pain,you get everything!!! only place I put it is a couple of pieces down in sump,even then I'm Nervous shakin ahhh Link to comment
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