Do I need Live Rock?

[jbrit82]

My tank is a 120g with a 125 eshopps wet dry and a 700 gph pump. I have two power heads in the tank. I want to go with fake corral and get rid of the live rock. Would this be ok. My Tank is currently in hypo salinity due to ich.
I also have a uv sterilizer and a protein skimmer.

 

[geridoc]

Any rock you have in the tank will become "live", but what we commonly refer to as "live rock" has incredible diversity (bristle worms, copepods, etc.) that, IMHO, adds to the beauty of the system. So if you remove your diverse live rock and add sterilized rock it will become "live" in that it will eventually populate with bacteria, but your tank won't have the fun diversity that comes with wild caught live rock. On the plus side, the sterile soon-to-be-live stuff won't have pests (think aptasia, etc) either.

 

[jbrit82]

Thank you! I was mainly concerned about the bacteria levels in the lr and if bacteria would live on the fake corral arrangments. My main concern was will there be enough bacteria in the tank without the live rock.

 

[geridoc]

Most of your bacterial processing is probably being done in the wet-dry filter you have. Eventually the new "live" rock will populate with anaerobes and will remove some nitrate. Until then, I would watch for a rise in those levels and hold them in control with water changes (only if you are doing FO).

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeriDoc http:///t/391384/do-i-need-live-rock#post_3470668
Any rock you have in the tank will become "live", but what we commonly refer to as "live rock" has incredible diversity (bristle worms, copepods, etc.) that, IMHO, adds to the beauty of the system. So if you remove your diverse live rock and add sterilized rock it will become "live" in that it will eventually populate with bacteria, but your tank won't have the fun diversity that comes with wild caught live rock. On the plus side, the sterile soon-to-be-live stuff won't have pests (think aptasia, etc) either.
Well I agree with all you said except...here I must disagree...I use fake coral and I have aptasia (I zap it with Joes juice)..aptasia may have come on the live sand or macros... True, live rock has the little critters...but so does live sand. The critters in the sand will seed dry rock and fake corals and it will be the same as live rock over time.
The problem with plastic plants and fake decor is algae...it isn't going to look good for long and if you wash it off you not only create more work for yourself, you also distroy the good bacteria that grows on it. If you can be satisfied with the decor being covered in algae and let the CUC take care of it...then that's fine.
If you want a sterile tank...well that's not healthy for your tank and critters. In the tank I pictured below I used a combo of fake decor, rock and macroalgae...and live bacteria rich sand. The macros are great for removing phosphates and nitrates from the system and they make the marine tank come alive with color and look like a potted tank. (ignor the in-tank refugium...my horses like amphipods, and I wanted to give them a place to breed where the seahorses couldn't get to, and allow a good population of them)
Some live rock is in the left corner, the columns are plastic and resin, then the red and green macros were added.