Tonga Branch Live Rock ?????

[crew]

Hello all, My lfs is getting in some Tonga Branch LR and this stuff sells fast. I mean gone in a couple of days! Before I buy some i was wondering if anybody had some and is it as nice as they say?Does it have lots of life, or is it mostly colour and shapes? Any help would be great ..... many thanks

 

[olsenjb]

I have never used or purchased it, but my understanding is that is doesn't necessarily give you more biodiversity versus other types of live rock. But, it is nice for building taller structure and making your tank look fuller.

 

[teatime]

I have a couple of small pieces. After 2 months they dont have anything growing on them. All my other rock is "rocking" with lots of life. We see something new every day. The branch just looks bleached white. Hopefully something will start growing on them.

 

[nm reef]

I've never used any of it in large amounts. I've got a few small chunks with attached corals...and some with rubble/crud that I get from the curing tank of a LFS. My impression is the quality of the rock and the diversity is much the same as any other LR...but tonga has some interesting shapes that other LR doesn't have. So it could make for some interesting structures.

 

[clamchops]

I have about 100# of Figi and about 40# of Tonga in my 75gal reef, I love the branching shapes of the Tonga the combinatin of the too look like sweet eye candy as NM would say...........

 

[reef starter]

I have never had the tonga branch, but I did buy 50#'s of Marshall Islands Branch. IMO the branchy rock is the way to go... It gives so many more geometrical shapes to your tank.. Also better when u stack it, it gives more cracks and crevices for fish and other animals to swim through!
HTH

 

[crew]

Thanks all for your replies. I have fifty pounds of Fiji (smoking stuff) but i was thinking of adding 10 or 20 lbs of tonga branch just to mix it up a bit. What i would realy like to get is some of that Florida LR. Its to bad i can't get it up here in Vancouver. Again, thanks for replies.

 

[grayne]

I have about 3 pieces of the branch rock in my tank. As already mentioned, it does not have much going on other than it grew a nice goat of green algae that looks sort of nice. I only have it to add some shapes to my rockwork (Its shape allows for a ton of uses).