Is a live rock tank a reef tank?

Drew Palagyi

Drew Palagyi

Member
Hey everyone,
My name is Drew and I am a newbie in the saltwater world. I am doing bunches of reading and still have the basic question of is a live rock tank a reef tank? I'm learning a lot from Snakeblitz33 post and am loving it! Thank you all.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
My opinion is that if I saw a rocky area of the ocean with lots of life but no coral I wouldn't call it a reef. Same for an aquarium I suppose.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

LOL.. I know your pain in trying to understand. The live rock has tiny critters living in it, so that's why it's called "live rock". A "reef" tank is usually a tank where you plan to keep corals and fish along with your live rock.

Live rock with fish only...is not a reef. However the high nitrates, and copper based medicines will kill the little inverts living in the rock, and fish that are not reef safe will feed on your snails and other inverts, such as shrimp which make up our "clean up crew" or commonly referred to as CUC. So even though you don't have a "REEF" tank, you still need fish that are reef safe, if you plan to keep inverts.
 
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