Propagation, No Live Rock?

[logan 12]

I see all of these large scale coral propagations setup, and have a question. Now, most of the time I just see large tanks filled with coral but, no live rock. In these setups there is no live rock in the systems from what I can tell. So the little there is if any can support the system and the growth of coral? Live rock is not needed? Do they supplement something out for the live rock? Any help would be much appreciated. I have a bunch of experience with coral propagation, but my frag tanks have always been tied into my main system.

 

[KirbyBTF]

There are a few ways to get around live rock in the main display. Most people put it in a sump/refugium. Personally I keep two small pieces in my display and thats it. You can also use porous material to replace the live rock. I cant remember which company makes the product, I saw it ona frag tank build by marine depot a few weeks back. But basically they just laid down a thin layer of small extremely porous (Ceramic?) balls in the bottom of their frag tank to replace the live rock.

 

[logan 12]

Thanks for the help. Just for an example, aqua medic live, just picking a place most are the same. If you vist their web page you can see the systems. Seems to me that they have no porous substrate of any kind in the ppropagation tanks. Just a frag rack with coral on it, could be located in the sump. If so, it does not seem like much for that large of system.

 

[logan 12]

No one? Or is the above response it?

 

[accordsirh22]

i would assume its in the sump. thats how my frag system is.

 

[logan 12]

This is a picture of aqua medic live, using them just as an example, nothing else. There is no liverock in the sump from what I can tell. Just a small fuge.

 

[SaltyWalter]

No fish, no bio load, no real need. Good skimmer and possibly a filter sock for removing excess food. I also spy a good size refugium in that picture. That's all ya need for coral alone, live rock is necessary when you create a reef tank and you need a complete ecosystem.

 

[KrazyOnetime]

Around here Pacific NW you may find a single yellow corris wrasse or something in each of many frag tanks and a LG container full of live rock kept w/no lighting. Several hundred lbs. But these are usually large scale systems.

 

[snowdude10]

You can put the live rock in a sump/refugium. Also their are other things such as marine pure biospheres which are little balls that each have 240 square feet of surface area which can be put under the corals.

 

[enchelycore808]

Marine pure ceramic balls/blocks. Also I would think that many of these systems are 1000+ gallons with little to no fish so no need for heavy filtration like we are used to seeing. Big skimmers, and maybe macros. I would think adding live rock to a large system intended for propagation would be a gamble. If any pest got in it would be very hard to eradicate. I would probably strt with dry rock.