What is Live Rock?

[Pufferpunk]

Is all live rock made up of coral skeletons?

 

[flapjack1439]

Some live rock is rock.

 

[Pufferpunk]

That's what I thought but someone on my puffer forum said all LR came from coral.

 

[ppurcell]

I would think that all "natural" live rock is harvested from a reef which I think would mean that it consists entirely of coral skeletons.

Mined limestone which is farmed to produce live rock is a sedimantary rock formed from the compressed shells of marine organisms rather than the skeletons of coral.

 

[gotfish8]

Live rock is basically any rock that has live organisms on it, such as algeas, critters, bacteria ect ect............... much of the rock we use in our tanks was once a reef that has died

live rock is just a general name for any rock with life on it

 

[ppurcell]

I suppose so, but using that very literal interpretation, then any man made object designed to look like a rock (whether it is a rock or not) would qualify as 'live rock' if it is seeded with marine organisms.

Take this stuff for example: http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=176

These doen't qualify as live rock if you ask me and wouldn't even if someone dropped it on a reef for a few months and then brought it back up covered with corraline & macro algae, sponges, pods and whatnot on it. I would think the only type of live rock that is 'real' live rock is that which is made up of Calcium Carbonate CaCo3. But that's just my opinion. I don't think there is any rule, just opinion.

 

[hoosierpat]

Maricultured live rock is typically concrete but I would still consider it live rock. It just depends on whether it has spent time in the ocean collecting organisms or not.

 

[bues0022]

I also believe for "live rock" to be of any great value it needs to be relatively porus to allow room for anerobic bateria to colonize deep in the rock. This is what provides much filtration in our tanks to reduce ammonia. Even concrete rocks that are made with salt chunks or other fillers to produce pores don't have near the amount of porosity to be as beneficial as the "natural" live rock. Not saying it won't work well, but you'll need far more weight.

 

[jeninjohnk]

something that your purple deaths look GREAT on. hi jeni.

 

[Helter Skilter]

I recently read (this months Coral magazine?) that traditional LR is mostly composed of coral skeletons, fused together by coraline.

 

[drparker]

I agree that anything seed with life is LR. But the very porous nature of coral skeletons make it much better for bacteria. So you can have a bigger Bio-Load with less rock than if you were using concrete or some other dense rock.

 

[wld1783]

Dead coral is best. It has the porosity to support bacteria and it buffers your system. I really haven't seen any nice reefs with artifical rock.

Problem with dead coral is you have to be patient and seed it. It can take 6-18 months to be considered quality live rock. With sponges, worms and yes benificial bacteria.

If you're setting up a new tank the big advantage is little to no cycle.

Many spend huge $$$ on trans shipped LR just to have bad algae from dead stuff decaying. And yes tangs rarely eat the bad algae.

I've used mostly dry base rock to start and I've had great results.

Bottom line...Live Rock is any rock that will act as a filter, buffer and has the necessary life to support a reasonable bio-load. It really doesn't matter where it gets it's start.

Bill