Base Rock Question

[npp02c]

Hi all, I have a quick question concerning "base" rock. I keep hearing people say that you can use some base rock along with your live rock already in your tank, maybe even cycling it with live rock in a new tank. I guess what I am getting at is, where do you get base rock? Is it just a rock I find outside that has been cleaned? How long does it take to look like the stereotypical live rock that everyone is accustomed to??

Thank you-

Base Rock Question

 

[sinner's girl]

it's lr that's not in a tank (the same rock, just no growth or live stuff on it), it'll be dry. you can't use just any rock it has to be calc based, I believe. :notsure:
lfs and petstores often sell some, as for how long...no clue sorry. it's just that base rock is cheaper....

 

[ktsdad]

Imagine a large pile of rocks sitting in the ocean.
The top layer is sold as "premium" live rock. It gets the most sun so it has the most growth and "good" algea therefore it is the most expensive.
The second layer is sold as "live" rock. It has some growth and some good algea.
The bottom layer hasn't gotten much sun so it has very little growth and is sold as "base" rock, and much cheaper than the other 2.
You can put it on the top layer of your tank and it will eventually look pretty. Most folks buy it for the base level, then buy a much smaller amount of the expensive stuff for the top layer.

 

[sinner's girl]

ah, I always saw base rock being sold as dry, (assumed it was rock that used to be lr) not as not having much life...interesting...

 

[ktsdad]

For about $20 in materials (and 2-3 months curing time) you can make about 50lbs of your own rock.
Do search for DIY LIVE ROCK.
You can make your own shapes and sizes.
We put 50lbs in our 250 when we set it up 7 months ago and now you can't tell what piece it home made and which pieces are bought.

 

[thomas712]

Mine came from Hawaii, once the dredged some new harbors and areas around the islands, they had all kinds of rock piles, someone figured out it was good base rock, and they were right! Calcium carbonate and perfect, given the right conditions over time you would never know the difference because it becomes beautiful live rock. I got mine from that famous auction site.
Thomas

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
Mine came from Hawaii, once the dredged some new harbors and areas around the islands, they had all kinds of rock piles, someone figured out it was good base rock, and they were right! Calcium carbonate and perfect, given the right conditions over time you would never know the difference because it becomes beautiful live rock. I got mine from that famous auction site.
Thomas
I have those hirocks as well. They work very good!!! I personally can tell the difference though, maybe because I know I put it there...

 

[maeistero]

there IS a major difference between homemade and collected rock. if you go to buy rock and it just crumbles everytime you touch it to pick it up you have homemade from someone who doesn't know what the #$% they are doing. i once bought quite a bit of rock that looked good and then it just crumbled into sandish stuff when i tried to pick it up. when you go to get base rock it should look solid and not crumble. it should be a solid base for your coralline covered top rock, not something that's going to wear away in a month of powerhead current.
overall i see no difference between base and top rock. all i look for is solidity, shape and holes. base can be turned top in a month or so, no problem. if the rock is too solid with no holes it belongs in freshwater. beginners spend way too much to get algae covered rock when they could culture a hundred lbs easily during the cycling period of their tank.
imho....

 

[npp02c]

Well, that is certainly good to know. People talk about putting couple hundred pounds of LR in their tank, seems to be overly expensive considering I can make it myself. Thanks for the info.

 

[thomas712]

Originally Posted by npp02c
Well, that is certainly good to know. People talk about putting couple hundred pounds of LR in their tank, seems to be overly expensive considering I can make it myself. Thanks for the info.

ABsolulty expensive. Thats why when I started my 90 I used only base rock (50 pounds), then when it came time and the cycle was complete I started moving my live rock from my 55 gallon, then the live stock. Saved a ton of money.
Thomas

 

[slappy]

my lfs sells 50# boxes of lace rock for about 40 or 50 bucks, i used some for the base in my tank and after about 3-4 months you really cant tell the difference of all the live rock i put on top of it

 

[cabin7882]

does anyone have pics of base rock? I have a peice of rock that looks like coral with holes in it and what not is that base rock? Also I have diatoms I think growing on it is it becoming LR I don't really get it? thanks

 

[npp02c]

So, if I was starting a new tank (24 gallon aquapod), maybe buy equal amounts of base and live rock? 15/15 lbs? Would that be sufficient to give it a nice "filled" look?

 

[slappy]

 

[cabin7882]

So what about the coral that I have si that considered base rock? It is a creamy color with a lot of holes.

 

[francisco5]

Pics of my base rock. The tank that these rocks are in has more base than LR. IT has been in the tank for about 2 and a half months. The last pic is of a rock that was brown in color and has big pores in it. The other pics the rocks were kinda white in color. I paid less than 20 bucks for the 3 pieces. Somewhere around 10-12 pounds.

 

[cabin7882]

Wow thanks I see that it has a puple tint to it and my LFS said that's exatly what you want, he showed me his reef tank and all the rocks were dark purple. i just bought some base rock so I'll see how it goes. I will eventually get some LR but I'm going to wait for now.

 

[francisco5]

The purple tint is from my lights. The purple spots are coralline algea, that is what you want. My base rock turned brown right before it turned green and the coralline started growing.