Live rock.. is there any way to create it??

[odb]

Well, heres the question, and it might sound dumb, but I'm going to ask anyways. Live rock is like 9.00 a lb here in Canada. If I buy a small chunk of live rock, and put it next to lava rock (which is 2.00/lb) is there any way to get the organisms, coral, algae, etc to transfer to the lava rock? This is really the only thing that is stopping me from setting up my 66 gal as a saltwater aquarium. I have lots of experience with freshwater, but little with marine. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[clayton]

Live rock is simply bare rock that has been placed in the sea and colonised by various things that were previously larvae in plankton.
What are you guying the live rock for??

 

[odb]

Well, I want to have a combo tank.. a couple of live corals, and some fish.... kinda inbetween a fish only tank and a reef tank. I keep hearing that live rock will help keep the water consistent, so I want to be able to start with a small chunk and hopefully some of the organisms will populate the lava rock, therefore creating live rock from dead...

 

[otto13]

i have a 50 gallon with about 15 pounds of live rock. the base rock seems to have started to turn into live rock, but it took a long time. this didnt start happening until i used coral supplements.

 

[clayton]

Originally posted by ODB:
Well, I want to have a combo tank.. a couple of live corals, and some fish.... kinda inbetween a fish only tank and a reef tank. I keep hearing that live rock will help keep the water consistent, so I want to be able to start with a small chunk and hopefully some of the organisms will populate the lava rock, therefore creating live rock from dead...
Hmmm, live rock will not really keep your water any cleaner than a piece of coral will. It's just worms, baby corals, algae, crustaceans and all sorts of other things. You don't need to use it at all!! You will get many of the beneficial microorganisms in your substrate. You could just as well spend yuor money on a nice piece of coral (preferably soft). Live rock does help seed the tank with many interesting things though. It's the bacteria in your filter that keep your water clean, not the little animals on live rock.

 

[odb]

Thanks for all your help. I've bought the substrate (some crushed coral and some aragonite sand) put it in, and filled the tank. I added kent sea salt, and I'm waiting for the water to clear up a bit more. I have lots of leftover "cycle" from my freshwater stuff... can I use this to populate the aquarium with the benificial bacteria, or is there a product specifically formulated for saltwater?

 

[porkypuffer]

the additive i bought was only for saltwater.
i don't believe you can use the additive you used for your freshwater. good luck with your new saltwater tank. you'll never switch back.

 

[krazzydart]

Only 9.00 a lb..... thats a hell of alot cheeper than here in wisconsin...... you can get it off this site for only 5 bucks a pound and it is full of goodies.....

 

[jimm]

You may want to be careful with "lava Rock" in a saltwater tank.
Fish stores usually cary it for freshwater tanks.
It may react funny with thesalt water due to high levels of iron (red color).
The best dead rock is made of old reef material that has been broken off.

 

[odb]

Heh, well, I hope it doesnt do TOO much, cuz I just put it in my tank I rinsed it really well and stuff.... oh well.... Anyways, I'll keep checking my salinity every day, and see what happens. I'm taking pics of the tank before and after each step that I do...I'll post them so that you guys can watch the progress