Base rock and Live rock

VicZA

VicZA

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So I am almost finished my build and it is now time to start looking into some rock. Can you please explain the difference between base rock and live rock. I assume base rock is dead but when I say the differences, I mean when would you use one or the other ?

- Would base rock be the "foundation" and then live rock on top of that ?
- How much (ratio) do you use of each ?
- Does coral grow, or is supported, on base (dead) rock ?
- Is it safe to buy live rock from other people here on MASA ? Personal experiences.

Thanks
Vic
 
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Also, my tank is 1200 x 600 x 500 (skinny c-t-c overflow and return), so how much rock (kgs) would I need ? I would like to have the tank quite "full" on one side and then nice and open (but still with some rock) on the other side ..... gestimate please ?
 
Real Reef Rock is a produced live rock made up of the same substances as real reef. It offers the advantage of being highly porous and hitchiker free. The way I understand it is that it is cycled already. Also, it is lighter than reef so you will get more rock per kilo. It also has coraline algae stains on it so it looks pretty cool.

I would start tank with about 30-40 kilos of live rock. Then add later as scaling desires. Base rock is much cheaper and will assist in the parts where sand will cover your live rock thus rendering it less efficient. See it as the foundation of a facebrick house.

I reckon Real Reef Rock is the way to go but its new on the market and not many has experience with it. But in principle having rock that is more porous than reef, looks great and does not plunder the ocean makes sense to me. And the last price I read was R195-00 a kilo which is generally what you are gonna pay at most shops for average rock.
 
Go for the real reaf rock.... rocks look great. If your budget is tight mix it up with base rock.

At the end of the day, the base rock will be come live rock too.

What Barry says is 100% correct ...... no hitchikers..... hence no unwanted guest.
 
BarryG said:
Real Reef Rock is a produced live rock made up of the same substances as real reef. It offers the advantage of being highly porous and hitchiker free. The way I understand it is that it is cycled already. Also, it is lighter than reef so you will get more rock per kilo. It also has coraline algae stains on it so it looks pretty cool.

I would start tank with about 30-40 kilos of live rock. Then add later as scaling desires. Base rock is much cheaper and will assist in the parts where sand will cover your live rock thus rendering it less efficient. See it as the foundation of a facebrick house.

I reckon Real Reef Rock is the way to go but its new on the market and not many has experience with it. But in principle having rock that is more porous than reef, looks great and does not plunder the ocean makes sense to me. And the last price I read was R195-00 a kilo which is generally what you are gonna pay at most shops for average rock.
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Thanks man !! Going to look into it ... eish rock is expensive (who would have thought :biggrin::biggrin:)
 
Duimpies said:
Go for the real reaf rock.... rocks look great. If your budget is tight mix it up with base rock.

At the end of the day, the base rock will be come live rock too.

What Barry says is 100% correct ...... no hitchikers..... hence no unwanted guest.
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Appreciate the feedback ... cheers !!
 
Depending on the volume of rock you need.

How much do you got to spend on rocks? Or how much are you willing to spend?
 
RiaanP said:
Depending on the volume of rock you need.

How much do you got to spend on rocks? Or how much are you willing to spend?
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I don't have too much money to spend on rocks so trying to keep my spending down. I can't afford R200/kg right now. I have no idea how much rock I need but my tank is 1200x600x500
 
Hi guys,
maybe a silly question but i think for best results its best to understand every aspect of my tank and its environment.

what is the benefit of live rock i.e. why is it so essential to the aquarium?

i get that cycling gets rid of the dead debri on it but do the micro organisms only grow on specific types of rock? is it dead rock then if there is no life on it or can some of its previous inhabitants not survive for longer periods of exposure e.g. during cycling?
 
Randywizard said:
Hi guys,
maybe a silly question but i think for best results its best to understand every aspect of my tank and its environment.

what is the benefit of live rock i.e. why is it so essential to the aquarium?

i get that cycling gets rid of the dead debri on it but do the micro organisms only grow on specific types of rock? is it dead rock then if there is no life on it or can some of its previous inhabitants not survive for longer periods of exposure e.g. during cycling?
Click to expand...

Any dead rock that is placed in a salt water aquarium becomes live in time.

The more porous it is the more surface are you have for bacterial colonization the bigger your bacterial colony becomes and the bigger and more effective your biological filter will be.

Lighter, more porous rock better.

Dead rock needs to become live over time.

Live rock has bacterial colonies (and possibly hitch hikers) already.

Live rock that is transported out of water for a long period will have die off and will then possibly cycle/cure for even longe than base rock.
 
Just one reason for all rock to be base rock and sterilised as well, is that there is near no way for hair algae, crabs, mantis, corals pests,etc,etc to get in if you do this and check all corals and other stationary inverts before placing or gluing onto your rock.
Live rock can at times be a serious scourge for marine aquariums.
Biological media does not have to go in live to be fantastic bio media; it is usually far better for the long term going in completely sterile!
Your bio communities can be as easy as from just one screened bucket of fresh sea water with made up salt water combined with rotting tissue of varied types and that’s it to cycle/mature your aquarium, very successfully!
 
No not all hitch hikers are bad. My first batch of live rock I got a bunch of micro brittle stars which are great hitch hikers to have. They roam around the rock cleaning it. Also got some fan worms and pods which are good. But then if you are really unlucky, you get gorilla crabs which can be destructive in the long run, or other pests such as aptasia or ich. All hitch hikers have their place in the ocean, but not so much in an enclosed aquarium where we aim for perfection.
 
I also had good and bad batch as a newbie. Though it was very cool to have "free" crabs and other hitch hikers until I started losing fish and coral without a trace. Very expensive lesson! have gotten rid of all of them over the last few years.
 
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