Not all live rock is the same. If you're talking about dry rock that has been kept in saltwater and had bacteria added. You can do that yourself for a lot less. If you're talking about quality wild live rock or quality maricultured live rock I'd say it's essential. There's stuff, especially cryptic sponges that process dissolved organic carbon much faster than bacteria, you can't get any other way that is important to establishing a MATURE reef system.
AS far as pests, over the 30 years I've been using live rock all the pests combined I've found have not caused the problems BTAs have caused. You do need to quarintine wild or maricultured live rock just like everything else.
AS far as pests, over the 30 years I've been using live rock all the pests combined I've found have not caused the problems BTAs have caused. You do need to quarintine wild or maricultured live rock just like everything else.
