growing live rock
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sde1500
Active member
By grow your own live rock what do you mean? Make the rock yourself and run a tank of it to make it live? Buy dry rock? Something else I'm not thinking of? You can make rock, there are those that do, a search here will find some threads on it. As for the sps I'd say likely no, it would have to start on a rock you anchored to the glass but the sand around the coral would irritate it.
mcgyvr
New member
Must have had a sheltered childhood..
Never had a Magic Rocks Kit?
Crystal Growing Kit?
Rock Candy Kit?
you think live rock is not dead coral?
sde1500
Active member
Well, it is, so...
FoxFace Fish
New member
live rock is any rock with bacteria in its pores/ on the surface does not matter what kind of rock as long as it has bacteria living on it.
on a side note i thought he meant grow like put a pebble in the water and have it turn into a 10lb rock :lmao::lmao::lmao:
on a side note i thought he meant grow like put a pebble in the water and have it turn into a 10lb rock :lmao::lmao::lmao:
Read the 'preparing rock' thread atop this forum. That will help you. Yes, you can condition the right KIND of rock to perform as live rock. Limestone is best, but raw limestone may present you with a load of phosphate (algae fuel) ---getting rid of that is one reason you condition rock. Stay away from other kinds of rock: some types have metals and others are too dense.
Adding just one fist-sized 'very live' rock with worms and such growing on it (from a healthy tank) will spread that life to all the rock.
Adding just one fist-sized 'very live' rock with worms and such growing on it (from a healthy tank) will spread that life to all the rock.
on the spot
Active member
Pining for the old days of Tonga branch...:sad1:
what i mean is grow sps and pull it out then let it die then place the dead coral skeleton back in and use it as live rock, but taking a few frags off first of course
Ive always been confused how do you add rock to a pre-established tank without causing a massive swing in water quality ie.(mini cycle,) because that's what worry's me most about adding live rock
my 75 gallon tank already cycled for almost 2 months with 5 hermits, cheato in a CPR medium refugium, im seeing a lot of copepods and using marine pure spheres for my primary bio filter
Ive always been confused how do you add rock to a pre-established tank without causing a massive swing in water quality ie.(mini cycle,) because that's what worry's me most about adding live rock
my 75 gallon tank already cycled for almost 2 months with 5 hermits, cheato in a CPR medium refugium, im seeing a lot of copepods and using marine pure spheres for my primary bio filter
so you can utilize the skeleton for muiltible different corals
but the other thing helps a little
mcgyvr
New member
To increase the amount of rock in an existing tank you can either just add dry rock or cure live rock in another tank/bucket then add it or if it contains little to no die off due to shipping or was purchased locally then it can be added directly to the tank as is.. All of those won't cause any water quality/mini-cycle issues..
ryeguyy84
New member
that would take a really long time and would be really sad. you spend all that time and effort to grow them just to kill them off.
sde1500
Active member
just add the rock. The cycle is when a tank can't handle the ammonia. If you have a cycled tank it should have an adequate biofilter to be able to handle any potential die off. The live rock you are adding also adds to the biofilter as bacteria is already established on it.
I cant imagine anyone deliberately growing corals for the purpose of killing them and turning their skeletons into live rock. But real live rock *is* dead coral skeletons. And if a coral dies in your tank, it will also turn into live rock after all the worms, sponges, algae, and bacteria colonize it. So in a sense yes this proposal has some merit. Just seems like a slow, costly, and labor intensive way to get live rock...
