Just wondering if anybody has ever left a piece of rock or other porous material in the ocean for a month or so to seed a new tank. I live near the beach and was hoping it would have the same effect that buying live rock used to have. Only difference is it's in Southern California. I imagine temperate oceans will differ in their microbiome slightly when compared to warmer reefs, but I would think quite a bit of beneficial bacteria would still thrive. Any thoughts on this?
Leaving rock in the ocean to seed new tank
- Thread starter Blake45
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djryan2000
New member
A lot of companies in Florida do this. They keep manmade dry rock in the ocean and divers flip it out weekly for a few months and then sell it as live rock. I imagine that as long as the conditions aren't too polluted or different from your tank you'll be good.
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Oh perfect! I think I'll give it a try. Thanks for the quick response!
MarAquatic
New member
I'm sure you'll get a lot of good stuff on the rock but again you will get creatures that won't tolerate the warmer water
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I think you'll have few days of "oooh! look at that!"
then a few days of die off.
the temps in a reef tank are too warm for most of the life in your ocean. Some things may live, but many won't. I don't think you'll break anything by doing it, but I think it's a bit of a waste of time.
If you do it, I hope it turns out really cool!
then a few days of die off.
the temps in a reef tank are too warm for most of the life in your ocean. Some things may live, but many won't. I don't think you'll break anything by doing it, but I think it's a bit of a waste of time.
If you do it, I hope it turns out really cool!
That makes sense. I'm mostly doing it for the bacteria. I have about 125 pounds of old dry rock that I'm currently bleach curing. I'm going to start up a tank again with it. I could go buy bacteria, or seed the tank using rock or sand from someone else's tank, but I kind of want to give this a try. Just wanted to make sure I didn't run into any unforeseen problems. I don't think some die off would create too much of a problem. Hopefully.
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MarAquatic
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I say do it and let us know
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Sounds good. It'll be a while, but I'll post and update here.
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I was thinking of finding a rocky area maybe near tide pools or jetties. If I go during low tide I can probably find a decent spot to keep it. Then I'd just come back after a few weeks.
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I defintely get where you're coming from, but not all bacteria are the same across the reef. I'd be shocked if there weren't a lot of similar and compatible species between the tropics and temperate waters, but I'd also be shocked if there were more that were suited for both temperatures than one or the other.
I certainly don't mean to stifle your experiment. I definitely can't offer any proof that you're going to win or lose in this. I just wanted to point out that the temp differences are pretty big and that you might not win as much as you think you might...but I could also be wrong. I also don't think that anything bad will happen as a result. I'd guess that, if you could test your bacterial diversity, you'd be somewhere between a good culture and are off to the races and everything out of the ocean dies from heat...leaning a little more toward the latter.
Still, it's a neat opportunity based on your home and I hope it works out.
I definitely agree with you. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority are better adapted to their specific environments and won't survive the temperature changes. But, my thinking is, temperate waters go through some pretty dramatic temperature changes. (In California anywhere from the low 50's during winter to the 70's during summer.) So, I'm just hoping that out of the thousands and thousands of strains that are found here in the shallow waters, I'll have a survival rate that will give me a greater micro-biodiversity (is that a word?) than I could get from a bottle of Dr. Tim's with 7 strains. Maybe the higher temperatures in a reef tank will just increase their metabolism/proliferation rate? Maybe it will kill them all off? No idea. But I think it would be worth a try.
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Oh that's good to know! I'll definitely send some pictures. It might be a while, but I'll update here.
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billdogg
Well-known member
I seems like a ok idea, but like others have said, most of the life proably won't survive the transition.
I'd be more concerned with the Federales asking questions when the see you lugging rocks out of the ocean. Is that permissible in Ca? Try it in sunny Florida and you'd be havin some 'splainin to do!!!
I'd be more concerned with the Federales asking questions when the see you lugging rocks out of the ocean. Is that permissible in Ca? Try it in sunny Florida and you'd be havin some 'splainin to do!!!
Yeah, I guess it's a possibility, but I'm not too worried about it. I mean it would be my rock. I'm just leaving it there for a bit.
As for the die off, I'm sure there will be plenty. As long as 1% survives, I'm happy.
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MarAquatic
New member
That's actually a great idea. I'll probably do that.
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This sounds cool but, it seems like an odd choice. So you're bleaching the rock now presumably to remove all life and to hit 'reset' on it. Then you're going to place it in the ocean for a week or so. What are the chances you'll pick up something undesirable, undoing the bleach sterilization?
I'm all for natural methods, and I have used Florida farmed live rock with great success, but the fact that you are using dry rock and sterilizing it suggest you are trying to avoid the risks of live rock. You're getting it all cleaned up and then throwing it into a unknown, uncontrolled environment.
Most folks that go the dry rock route are trying to avoid risking unwanted hitchhikers, and want total control over what goes in their tanks.
I'm all for natural methods, and I have used Florida farmed live rock with great success, but the fact that you are using dry rock and sterilizing it suggest you are trying to avoid the risks of live rock. You're getting it all cleaned up and then throwing it into a unknown, uncontrolled environment.
Most folks that go the dry rock route are trying to avoid risking unwanted hitchhikers, and want total control over what goes in their tanks.
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