Live Rock vs Base Rock

jayson417

jayson417

Member
So i have a question.
Recently i had met someone who was selling Base Rock that was cycled for 5 months. Not much life on it but it was rather cheap ( $1.99 LB )
So i put it in my tank with my Fuji live rock for seeding. Will the fuji help the live rock become a proper filter?
Or did i just waste my money :)
Also if it does seed it how long does it normally take?
Thanks in advance .....
 
rigdon87

rigdon87

Member
Yes overtime the bacteria will start to colonize the base rock and then will be live,but it doesnt happen overnight it will take some time to mature
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
you didnt waste your money. depends on how much base rock you bought. if you bought 200 pounds and are trying to reseed with 15 pounds live rock it will take along time. If you bought 20 pounds and have 40 pounds live rock it will take a shorter time.
The three in red were base rock when I started this tank. The middle one is taking longer but the two on the sides are showing great signs of growth in the last 2 months.
 
big

big

Active Member
A friend that was short on money at the time of first set up, used base. I gave her a couple of well seeded pieces, just a few pounds, in order to seed the tank.
Now years have passed and her rock is all as good as any I have. As I remember, coralline and such did take a bit longer to develop. But other than that, when I now think back, I sure could have used the money on other things for the tank that all that LR I bought cost.........
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
I was thinking about doing the same thing.
Isn't it about total bio load though? If someone has 100gal tank, with 10lbs of live rock, and the rest base rock, the tank will only cycle to a certain point... until it is in equilibrium. Right?
So if there is only one itty bitty tiny fish in there, it won't be enough for the bacteria to feed on, reproduce, and seed the other rock. So the typical 1lb LR/gal rule doesn't apply.
I'm not preaching, I'm asking. So correct me if I'm wrong, because that's how I understand it.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by mkroher
http:///forum/post/3056103
I was thinking about doing the same thing.
Isn't it about total bio load though? If someone has 100gal tank, with 10lbs of live rock, and the rest base rock, the tank will only cycle to a certain point... until it is in equilibrium. Right?
So if there is only one itty bitty tiny fish in there, it won't be enough for the bacteria to feed on, reproduce, and seed the other rock. So the typical 1lb LR/gal rule doesn't apply.
I'm not preaching, I'm asking. So correct me if I'm wrong, because that's how I understand it.
Yup you have the whole concept pretty well in hand here. Your biofilter will wax and wane with the amount of work it has to perform.
For the OP if that base rock had "cycled for 5 months" I would suggest to you that it is already "live" rock if the definition of live rock you use is that it has the necessary biofiltering bacteria already established on it. IMO you have gotten a great deal, cycled live rock for $1.99 per pound. What you don't have is the flora and fauna you would get with other "live" rock you may purchase, worms, pods, algae etc. That is where the seeding comes in, buying a pc. of rock that has some of that on it.
 
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