Suggestions on Florida Base Rock

[hameen40]

I have a question regarding live rock. How good is the base live rock? Has anybody used it? It is almost half the price of Fiji Live rock.

 

In a 30g FOWLR is it ok to add say 15lbs of the Fiji live rock and 15LBS of the base rock.

 

Any suggestions or comments would help.

[caja]

Yep, go ahead and add the base rock.

[hameen40]

Will 15lbs live rock and 15lbs base rock be enough for cycling the tank, or should I use a damsel to help in the process?

[567a]

it'll be plenty no need for the fish

[Ike]

Where are you getting the rock from? Tampa Bay Saltwater? From my experience TBS rock is nice & LOADED with cool hitchhikers, many of which will die off during the cycle so there's no need for the Damsel. I used it to set up a 50 gallon reef a couple years ago.

 

The only drawback is that it's VERY dense rock. From a filtration standpoint you want the most porous rock you can get. The more porous the rock is, the more surface are it has. The more surface area it has the more bacteria can colonize it & the more water can flow around, over & through it which all equal a better filter.

 

Just out of curiosity, is there a LFS around you that sells live rock? You might look into buying live rock rubble as your base rock & just placing a couple of show pieces on top of the rubble base. Small pieces of porous rock equals lots of surface area.

[hameen40]

Regarding your question if there is a LFS that sells live rock in my area, yes there is. The same LFS sells Fiji live rock and the base LR. The fiji costs $8/lb and the base LR costs $4/LB. This is why I was curious if I can mix the two, to save some cost.

 

Thanks for the suggestion on using LR rubble. I like that idea.

[hameen40]

Originally posted by Ike

Where are you getting the rock from?  Tampa Bay Saltwater?  

 

The rock I am getting is aquacultured in FL. I'm up in NJ, but there is a LFS that sells it here.