cmoreash Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 Hello. I was looking at some different choices of live rock, and I was wondering what kinds of life came on each type of rock. I was looking at: Fiji live rock Tonga branch live rock Marshall Islands live rock Brazilian live rock Have any of you had experiences with these, and what life forms usually come on them? Thanks! Link to comment
Satchmo Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 I don't know if you could really break it down like that. Regardless of what type of rock you get, if it is of good quality, and is well-collected and handled, you should find a vast array of lifeforms. I have Fiji rock in my nano, and it came with pods, sponges, worms, some small polyps, macroalgae, tiny snails, microhermits, colonial feather dusters, etc, etc. There are things that will show up months later that you never knew you had. I've spoken with quite a few people who've used caribbean rock from www.gulf-view.com and they all claim a huge amount of life (including corals like small open brains and the like). I guess if you wanted maximum diversity you could get few pieces of each type available to you, but you may not like the way that looks. I like how I can rearrange my Fiji rock however I want, and thay always stack neatly and look like one continuous reef as opposed to a pile of rocks. Just go with a high-quality rock and I doubt you'll be disappointed. Link to comment
Sahin Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 Agreed. I have several types in my tank, with most abundant being the Fiji type. A type of rock may have the most abundant life on it, but if not handle and shipped properly, most of that life will die off anyway. Link to comment
HuBu Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 IMO they are different from one another by their density. Link to comment
fishymissy Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 I really like the aquacultured rock myself. Tons of life and you aren't taking anything from a reef. I have a piece of the Marshall Island rock too, but all I got on that was some majano anemones (considered pests like aiptasia) Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 The live rock my LFS sells are marshall, tonga, and fiji. From what I've seen, fiji has the most life on them, yet they're cheaper then the marshall and tonga branch.. But it all depends on how well they were maintained during shipping as well as kept at the LFS. Link to comment
Guest LudavicoTechnique Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 All live rock will have a good diversity of life. In my friends 40 gallon reef that he set up 4 years ago, he just noticed that he has a blue starfish that he never purchased. It came in on the rock, and obviously grew up where he couldnt see it. It's those kinds of surprises that you love in live rock. Link to comment
cmoreash Posted July 10, 2002 Author Share Posted July 10, 2002 Yup i am familiar with fiji, and tonga, but i have never seen the brazilian or marshall islands in person, so i was wondering if they had anything special. Thanks :cool: Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 The marshall at my LFS are just big chunks of rocks, don't have much color and life to them and costs a bundle! Of course that's just 1 store but fiji on the other hand looked nice at 4 different LFS's. Link to comment
Guest LudavicoTechnique Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 Fiji is the most common, the cheapest and my favorite. Link to comment
cmoreash Posted July 10, 2002 Author Share Posted July 10, 2002 I personally like the tonga branch, but wow is it expensive! I am goin' for 45lbs of fiji in my 29. Link to comment
Fishiebusiness Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 I have 1.99 per pound fiji and it came with some orange button polyps, a lil purple mushroom, lots of bristle worms, nice patches of coralline and a few aiptasia (which my peppermint has eaten). Link to comment
Satchmo Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 $1.99/lb! Damn the east coast! Link to comment
mysk Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 From what I have read and seen tonga and marshall island tend to be lighter than fiji. dont quote me but that is what seem to be the case Link to comment
SLOreefer Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 marshall island rock is ugly. get fiji or tonga....from what i hear gulf rock isnt bad either and has tons of life. Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 Originally posted by mysk From what I have read and seen tonga and marshall island tend to be lighter than fiji. dont quote me but that is what seem to be the case With the prices I've seen, I'd probably believe that... but 1.99/lb. for fiji live rock??!! That's pretty hard to believe! (I believe you fishie, it's just that's crazy!). Link to comment
JROC Posted July 11, 2002 Share Posted July 11, 2002 In my 8 years of experience I have found that branch rock (from whereever) does not have as many critters as the rock that is more shaped...like...well rocks :-). Of course, we are takling about stuff that is is visible to the naked eye right? Who knows which type tends to have more of the benificial bacteria we all cherish. Anyway, everytime I habe bought "chuck" rocks things have sprouted from it and crawled out of it...not so with branch. My 2 cents. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.