# Rocks!?!



## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Why does salt water aquarium requires live rock?!? Is it possible to use regular rocks (cichlid kind of rocks) as a substitude??? 

$6-8 a pound on live rock can cost several hundred to thousand of dollars to fill up a tank  

Any alternatives?!?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

There really is no good alternative. Rocks used as decortion in FW tans are usually useless as base rock.

You can get it cheap ($2 - $4/lb) from people taking down tanks. Alternatively, you can buy dry base rock from places like UTC and seed it with a bit of live rock.


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## Reef_Aquatica (Apr 3, 2009)

Sure, go freshwater, it's alot cheaper and you can fit alot more fish in a tank.

.... I bet you haven't heard how many fish you can fit into a 100G tank yet eh ? 

good luck

Chris has some dead spaghetti rock that are very good price, you still need to add at least 50% live rock (that we carry also). If you are getting more than 100 lb, we can give you better price.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

ameekplec. said:


> There really is no good alternative. Rocks used as decortion in FW tans are usually useless as base rock.
> 
> You can get it cheap ($2 - $4/lb) from people taking down tanks. Alternatively, you can buy dry base rock from places like UTC and seed it with a bit of live rock.


ok..

sorry for my ignorance, why can't we use base rock? Doesn't base rock have little tiny pores that bateria can fit in and live in it?



Reef_Aquatica said:


> Sure, go freshwater, it's alot cheaper and you can fit alot more fish in a tank.
> 
> .... I bet you haven't heard how many fish you can fit into a 100G tank yet eh ?
> 
> ...


What do you mean by how many fish can you fit in a 100G tank?!? in terms of salt or fresh?

If it was my dream fresh water fish, it wouldn't even fit in the tank, so zero fish can fit in the 100G 

and I dont get what is a spaghetti rock???

rock that shapes like the noodle??!??


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Live rock is just that.... it is alive with micro organisms that are beneficial (okay sometime also detrimental) to the tank. Should you use dead rock, then be prepared to have a glass box with water, sand and rock for 6 months or more. Live rock assists in the nitrogen cycle by having some of the bacteria needed to process ammonia into nitrates and then to nitrites. Base rock, spaghetti rock or artificially made rock are inexpensive but do not provide the same level of filtration of the water in the for the cycle mentioned above. some people do use artificial or dead rock as the base, but then also seed such with an equal amount of live rock. This can reduce your rock expenses and still be able to provide the necessary filtration from the live rock.

As for spaghetti rock, it a a rock that is given the name due to its shape, it looks like a giant clump of spaghetti. There are a couple of vendors that sell it. I believe Under the C sells it.


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## EcoAquatic (Mar 18, 2008)

I'll be trying to set up a tank shortly with minimal or no liverock. There are a few things I'd like to try. If it works great! The rocks can stay in the ocean. If not, I'll probably try again.


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## Salty1 (Aug 1, 2009)

The use of Liverock within a Saltwater set-up has many, many benefits. If you use cured liverock (live rock that has been imported, allowed to have slight die off and maintained through a filtered system) your new tank set-up will cycle fully within two to six weeks (pending the amount used). The Liverock contains all the good bacteria required for a natural filtration system. Help buffer your water. Many pieces of Liverock will come with worms, sometimes coral(s) and coraline algae. Many fish will benefit from this as they have some natural foods to eat. Most people tend to stack layers upon layers of rock almost to the top of their water surface-->good for filtration but unfortunately this leaves little swimming area for your fish and for coral growth. I only have 60 pounds of Liverock & 40 pounds of Livesand in my 150 gallon tank. This has allowed me to have large swimming area's for my Powder Brown Tang and easy coral set-up.

With anything envolved in this hobby caution should always be used. Some Liverock will come with some bad stuff, so ensure your dealing with someone you trust.

The use of base rock such as Tufa can allow the look of lots of liverock at a cheaper value. Imagine cement blocks as the foundation then nice bricks covering all. Also over time the cheaper base rock will collonize with the same bacteria as your top layer of Liverock.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Salty1 said:


> The use of Liverock within a Saltwater set-up has many, many benefits. If you use cured liverock (live rock that has been imported, allowed to have slight die off and maintained through a filtered system) your new tank set-up will cycle fully within two to six weeks (pending the amount used). The Liverock contains all the good bacteria required for a natural filtration system. Help buffer your water. Many pieces of Liverock will come with worms, sometimes coral(s) and coraline algae. Many fish will benefit from this as they have some natural foods to eat. Most people tend to stack layers upon layers of rock almost to the top of their water surface-->good for filtration but unfortunately this leaves little swimming area for your fish and for coral growth. I only have 60 pounds of Liverock & 40 pounds of Livesand in my 150 gallon tank. This has allowed me to have large swimming area's for my Powder Brown Tang and easy coral set-up.
> 
> With anything envolved in this hobby caution should always be used. Some Liverock will come with some bad stuff, so ensure your dealing with someone you trust.
> 
> The use of base rock such as Tufa can allow the look of lots of liverock at a cheaper value. Imagine cement blocks as the foundation then nice bricks covering all. Also over time the cheaper base rock will collonize with the same bacteria as your top layer of Liverock.


Very good simile!!


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