John Hartford
New member
I was wondering what rock you think is better. The only concern about the TBS rock is that it may unwanted hitchikers on the rock.
TBS or Fiji live rock from liveaquaria...which is better?
- Thread starter John Hartford
- Start date
Well it's not a matter of which rock is better but rather what you are looking for. 99% of the Fiji and Tonga and Marshall Island rock I've seen is just basically dead rock with a bit of remaining coralline and not much else, and is used mostly for aquascaping and not for it's wide variety of life. The premium rock from TBS however will come loaded with life, everything from sponges and tunicates to various worms and a variety of other creatures......and yes, there may also be 'bad' hitchikers hiding somewhere in there.
milhouse74
New member
It has been said and shown time and toime again that most of the hitch hikers which are filter feeders die over time in a tank. This isnt good for the tank. While you will end up with some life, most will over 2 years or so die off.
Also you may want to look at what the pieces of TBS rock look like, personally I would rather have nothing but Coraline to start and have a nicer aquascaping, and if there IS something I want in my tank go buy it. Not have a luck of the draw in getting a cool hitch hiker and having to take the crap that comes with it.
Also you may want to look at what the pieces of TBS rock look like, personally I would rather have nothing but Coraline to start and have a nicer aquascaping, and if there IS something I want in my tank go buy it. Not have a luck of the draw in getting a cool hitch hiker and having to take the crap that comes with it.
I've got both Florida live rock and Pacific live rock. Long term, I prefer the Pacific by far.
The interesting life on the Florida live rock has mostly died off. I still have some bivalves, but the majority of them have met their ends to peppermint shrimp or urchin grazing (the urchin manages to shave off a bit of the shell along with coraline algae -- bad news for the clam). The sponges, worms, feather dusters, forams, etc. that have survived are not visably different from those in pacific-rock only tanks I've seen.
Aside from the loss of the inital life, my big complaint about the Florida rock is that it's basically softball to bowling ball sized hunks of solid rock -- very dense, not very porus, very boring shapes.
My pacific rock (Phishy Business premium / select @ $6 per pound) had plenty of hitchhikers (chitons, snails, worms, mushrooms, a 3 inch filter feeding clam, even a Galaxy coral that's now softball sized, etc.). Some of that may have been from spending time in Phishy's holding tanks. A larger amount of that life, per capita, has survived -- probably because it had to be pretty tough to begin with.
I've had macro algea show up from both types, and plenty of pods, etc.
The pacific rock has much better shapes, and it's lighter, more porus, and more "reef looking". Burrowing critters like the pacific rock, but the Florida rock is too hard (basically petrified stuff that was mined, then dropped or hung in the bay for a few years).
My florida rock now acts as a base for my pacific rock to stand on, and I've considered taking it out to make space.
Of course, it's up to you what you want to do with your tank, but I'd get all pacific rock from www.phishybusiness.com or www.premiumaquatics.com if I were doing it again.
John
The interesting life on the Florida live rock has mostly died off. I still have some bivalves, but the majority of them have met their ends to peppermint shrimp or urchin grazing (the urchin manages to shave off a bit of the shell along with coraline algae -- bad news for the clam). The sponges, worms, feather dusters, forams, etc. that have survived are not visably different from those in pacific-rock only tanks I've seen.
Aside from the loss of the inital life, my big complaint about the Florida rock is that it's basically softball to bowling ball sized hunks of solid rock -- very dense, not very porus, very boring shapes.
My pacific rock (Phishy Business premium / select @ $6 per pound) had plenty of hitchhikers (chitons, snails, worms, mushrooms, a 3 inch filter feeding clam, even a Galaxy coral that's now softball sized, etc.). Some of that may have been from spending time in Phishy's holding tanks. A larger amount of that life, per capita, has survived -- probably because it had to be pretty tough to begin with.
I've had macro algea show up from both types, and plenty of pods, etc.
The pacific rock has much better shapes, and it's lighter, more porus, and more "reef looking". Burrowing critters like the pacific rock, but the Florida rock is too hard (basically petrified stuff that was mined, then dropped or hung in the bay for a few years).
My florida rock now acts as a base for my pacific rock to stand on, and I've considered taking it out to make space.
Of course, it's up to you what you want to do with your tank, but I'd get all pacific rock from www.phishybusiness.com or www.premiumaquatics.com if I were doing it again.
John
