airangel Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Newbie looking into first purchase of live rock. What is the difference between Fiji and Tonga rock...is one lighter/porous than the other? Would be looking for ~15 lbs of the stuff and have no clue what I am looking for. Will be mail ordering for the rock so its not something I will be having my hands on. Would be placing in new tank that has live sandbed. Need all the assistance in making informed choice between the types of live rock out there. Thanks in advance Link to comment
AReeferIsExpensive Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Here are some of the most common types of Live Rock with descriptions (IMO & IME!): 1) Fiji- This is the most commonly available live rock on the market. It is very porous, providing good biological filtration and a lot of rock for the money. (Because it is not very dense!) Fiji rock is also usually rather inexpensive, although the quality varies a LOT from one vendor to the next. (wholesalers included.) Premium Fiji is quite beautiful once cured and encrusted with the purple coralline algae this rock is known for- but if you order the cheapest online Fiji, don't expect much! 2) Tonga Branch- Extremely dense, branched coral skeletons that add a very nice look and natural appearance to a mixed reef structure. It can be very heavy and usually carries less "life" than most types of LR. I like small amount of Tonga Branch for a diverse appearance, but do not use it as the only rock in a tank. 3) Kaileni- WOW! Deep-water Tonga rock that has a wide range of shapes, sizes, and densities. Some Tonga branch-like rock is usually mixed in small amounts, but most pieces are the huge caves and arches that make aquascapers drool. Many foraminiferans, fire corals, and a wide range of wildlife is found throughout the rock. Some of it is porous like Fiji, other pieces are hard, flat shelves or branches. This is my personal favorite Live Rock. The rock was originally named after importer Walt Smith's daughter- pronounced in the tongue of the people who collected the rock. Just a tidbit of LR trivia for you..... 4) Caribbean- Very cool shelves and big, flat branchy pieces. Has a lot of the characteristics of Tonga branch, but not as dense. The Caribbean rock I have handled has been Haitian (I think), and is absolutely FULL of worms. Spaghetti worms, bristle worms, feather dusters, I don't know why, but there are always dozens of worms in the bag the rock comes in, so I dump them in the Live Sand vats, hehe. 5) Aquacultured rock- There are also many types of "Aquacultured" rock out there that are either man-made or mined rocks that have been kept in the ocean until colonized by marine life. Most of the man-made rock is a mixture of concrete, shells, and aragonite. Mined rock is usually aragonite or Limestone base rock. The aquacultured rock varies greatly in quality and appearance, depending on who is doing the culturing! Depending on where it is cultured, some of this rock may also be more likely to carry unwanted rock crabs and mantis shrimp. Tampa Bay Saltwater and Gulf-View are two companies that have a reputation for providing very high quality aquacultured rock. I have also seen some really bad examples out there- so be sure you are dealing with a reputable company if you are purchasing "Aquacultured" rock! 6) Misc.- There are many other varieties out there that can be hard to pin down. Buna spiny branch is a very nice looking rock that looks to be some kind of ancient acropora skeleton. Marshall Islands rock is very high quality, but is imported in smaller quantities, and is more expensive. I have also seen other Deep-Water Tonga rock that appears to be very similar to the Kaileni- perhaps just coming in through different importer channels. Personally, I like to mix types of rock. It is my opinion that the wide variety of shapes and sizes looks more natural, and also should provide greater biodiversity from a wider range of fauna from different locations. Several of the types I have listed have specific advantages, and I like to mix the flat shelves of the Caribbean with the Kaileni Caves and Fiji boulders, with a few branches thrown in for something different. Reproduced with the permission of: Darren Walker and check out this link http://www.jlaquatics.com/static/livestock...ck/liverock.htm to see some close up examples of some samples Link to comment
EnderG60 Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 is figi still on a import ban?? I personally just started cycling my tank all over again cuz we got some INSANE tonga in where i work and i couldnt help myself. Only downside was there was a lot of dead coral on it But yeah i take pride in my aquascaping and this stuff RULES Link to comment
purple_stardust Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Tagging along because I need to know this too. Also, is it better to by cured or un-cured? Link to comment
jmt Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 I have 8lbs of Marshall Premium and I love it. The tops have so much good coraline and the bottom is really branchy which my strawberry basslet loves. Also, I have YET to find a peice of Marshall with any aiptasia growing on it, another +. Fiji is great rock, but I have never been a fan of it. It just looks too chunky to me. I'll be adding some tonga branch as soon as my LFS gets in a good shipment. If you can find Marshall, get it. It's the best rock that I've ever dealt with and, IMO, the prettiest. But as AReeferIsExpensive said, it's awesome to mix different types of rock, that way you're asured an array of small life and a more interesting set-up. -Justin Link to comment
AReeferIsExpensive Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 The only difference between cured and uncured is that the rock has been sitting in a controlled tank in the LFS instead of in your own tank for a couple weeks so that all of the die-off could fall off. If you buy cured rock there is no guaruntee that it still wont cycle in your tank....trust me, i know from experience when i bought "cured" rock. Link to comment
jmt Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Everytime cycled rock is exposed to air, you will have die off. So basically, you're almost garunteed at least a smile cycle. Link to comment
accr122 Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Hi, I started my nano not long ago with some indonesien LR for $15 canadian/Lb. It's more white than red though it's covered with coraline within 2 weeks. Lots of holes and a little piece of dead coral as well. How good is indonesien LR anyways ?? And did i get ripped off ? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 usually marketed under 'jakarta'. my limited experience of it is very branchy and colorful. good or bad depends upon the reefer. i prefer irregular chunks (e.g. fiji), some people prefer tonga slab/branches, but those are generalizations too. the 'right' shape is the key to a good looking aquascape. sometimes you even have to shape it yourself. effectiveness of LR depends upon freshness (bio-diversity) for uncured rock and/or porosity for cured (surface area and cryptic filtration properties). hth Link to comment
AZDesertRat Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Check out tha Kaelini. The colors are awesome and the rock is really pieces of coral heads which have broken off the reefs during storms and then been collected. Link to comment
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