55 Gallon Tank Setup

[snakeblitz33]

Henry - it's my opinion. Base rock that is old, dry coral skeletons with nothing living on them coming from a dry part of the country, that has absolutely no sea life on it is base rock. It is not harvested from the ocean, kept wet/damp, and then sold to you as live rock. Live rock comes directly from the ocean, kept wet/damp and is sold as live rock - with an abundance of living creatures, algaes, sponges etc. and still has the biodiversity of the ocean living on it. Now take a piece of live rock and a piece of base rock and put it in the tank together. One is all green, purple, and has little pieces of algae and sponges and stuff all over it and one looks like it came from Mars. Over time, the base rock will be colonized by whatever creatures survived on that other piece of live rock over the years. It's like a copy of your original live rock. BUT, that piece of base rock does not initially have different types of sponges, algaes, and creatures as the other piece of live rock that came out of the ocean. Base rock can become seeded base rock - or little copies of live rock, but I whole heartily believe that one should not sell seeded base rock as live rock. There is the problem.
What if I had a huge saltwater pool (Please don't get hung up on details) and I threw in some base rock and then I threw in a little live rock and just let it have at it. Then in a couple of years, I started pulling out the base rock (that I bought for $0.50lb) and then sold it for $10 a pound as Live Rock. It might have coralline covering it - it may have some algaes and sponges and copepods etc. But it does not have NEARLY the same amount of biodiversity as rock that has been harvested from the ocean itself, yet I am selling it as live rock?

 

[acrylic51]

Mmmmm Seth I'm in disagreement on your assessment on LR.....There is no difference over time whether it initially was base rock or LR....Bottom line they still can/will have the same life forms on them.....What do you think places like TampaBay Saltwater does......Actually seeding base rock or whatever you want to call it, is the more responsible way as we should be doing things!!!!! Just my .02

 

[snakeblitz33]

It's better to buy seeded base rock, indeed. Those companies that mine base rock and leave it in the ocean to culture are perfectly fine in my book. Those companies that culture base rock in closed systems are not ok to sell it as live rock, IMHO. Does that clarify my opinion a little bit?

 

[acrylic51]

I guess, but regardless isn't it still LR once it's seeded.....

Maybe not the most scrupulous thing....

 

[spanko]

Mayhaps it is all in the definition of live rock. IMO if the rock is housing the necessary nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria then it is indeed alive for purposes of biological filtration in the aquarium. The introduction then of different flora and fauna will populate the rock with the diversity being introduced. However even with rock taken directly from the ocean, factors in the tank that are not in the ocean and factors in the ocean that are not in the tank will cause some of the diversity to die off. Is this rock then still live rock. Sure it is.
Look at the sea horse folks that start their tanks with almost antiseptic rock to avoid all of the things they believe detrimental to the horses. Is their rock not alive just becasue it doesn't have the same diversity as a reef tank may have? Of course not.
With all of that said, I think saying "However, I always say that it is seeded base rock and not true live rock." does a disservice to new folks coming into the hobby trying to understand the importance of the nitrogen cycle in setting up a new tank.
JMO

 

[w glint]

Allright, ive done some serious thinking, and ive concluded im making this a whole hell-of-a-lot harder then i should. what i think im going to do is keep tanks i have now, and just attach this new 55 gallon tank to it and use the bare tank as my sump. from what i understand, in principle i will just be adding a larger amount of water. since i wont be increasing the bio load, it should'nt cycle, and the bacteria on the water and the live rock should spread to the new dry base rock in the 55 gallon. As long as i dont add any new critters untill the base rock has been seeded, i shouldnt have any problems, correct? And also, this allows me to keep my cleaner shrimp and clown safe from my eel, and i can send my attitudinal blue damsel to the big tank, as well as keeping a larger volume of water, and not needing to cycle the tank. i will use ''dead'' sand for the 55 gallon, because from what i understand this will become live in time. i also think i will move a few pieces of live rock from my old tank so theres a direct contact from the live and base rock, and a cup of sand to for the same reason. does this all sound about right?
If im wrong, please tell me, this is just what i have deduced from listening to everyone on this site, and from other mediums of expertise.
Thanks again! Happy Holidays!!!