LR vs coral

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GoneFishing

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
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Tucson, Az
I'm new to the SW scene and was wondering why people get LR? I realize it is easy to care for, compared to coral. But what is the benefit to LR? Do things grow out of it? also can you use LR as a base to add coral? or is that the concept of LR? Totally new to SW and am more confused than ever!

Thanks for the help and I'm sure I'll be asking tons more questions
 
Live rock is a form of filtration. it builds benificial bacteria that breaks down ammonia into nitrites and then a less harmful nitrate. its a much more natural filtration and saltwater systems, mainly reef systems do best with a natural filtration system, ie. live rock, deep sand bed, micro algaes.

as well it gives a place to perch corals and for caves and places for fish to hide
 
Live rock will be your number one friend. It'll be your main source of biological filtration and most important filtration system for your tank. The live rock is called "live" because it contains so many forms of algea, bacteria and other organisms which will consume ammonias, nitrates and phosphates, all harmful to your livestock. IMO, without some sort of live rock, you can't have corals. You need atleast as many pounds of live rock as you have gallons of saltwater in your aquarium. This provides enough surface area for the water to be filtered by the algeas, ect from harmful wast products. Live rock can be just as pretty to look at as some corals and acts as a wonderful, almost ideal home for all corals. Hope this helps.
 
Live rock is a form of filtration. it builds benificial bacteria that breaks down ammonia into nitrites and then a less harmful nitrate. its a much more natural filtration and saltwater systems, mainly reef systems do best with a natural filtration system, ie. live rock, deep sand bed, micro algaes.

as well it gives a place to perch corals and for caves and places for fish to hide

Thanks for the reply! I knew somewhat about LR being a natural filter but wasn't sure if it was needed for a reef tank. If I were to get a nano tank, or a Biocube how much LR would be essential?
 
I would also highly recommend that you acquire some live rock for your setup. If checked out thoroughly you have a better chance of not getting any hitchhikers. It is 80% of your filtration in a reef tank. The amount of rock needed should be 1.5 to 2 lbs of total gallons. You don't have to buy all live rock, you can get the bulk in base rock, dead rock and seed it with the live rock.

hope that helps
 
Welcome to AA! The amount of rock you will need really depends on how big the tank will be. Going by pounds to determine how much rock you will need can be a little misleading in my opinion (IMO, sorry I use this one a lot) because different types of rock will be more or less dense than the rest. You don't need to use all live rock to get a tank started. You can use base rock which is basically just dead and dry live rock, and this will save you some money.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies.. Sure is a lot different from FW.. one question about LR.. What kind of stuff could I expect to see grow off it over time?
 
You don't have to buy all live rock, you can get the bulk in base rock, dead rock and seed it with the live rock.

When you say this the "seed" like fertilizer for the rock? like a liquid form? Thanks again for the advice! I can tell I'm going to be doing a lot of reading!
 
The bacteria from the "live rock" will spread over to the base "dead" rock over time. I put 30 lbs of base rock in my biocube and 15lbs of live rock.
 
its recommended that you have between 1-2 lbs per gallon, so if you have a 10 gallon system then its recomended that you have atleast 10lbs of live rock

you son't see much besides you might get tiny insect like creatures and you'll see alot of purplish algae known as coralline algae (very pretty), it can also be a deep red and sometimes green
 
No, what she is referring to is "seeding" the base rock with bacteria, algae, and inverts. Basically, this just means that you are introducing the above listed organisms. If you wish to get an idea of what you may get as hitch hikers on your rock, click the link in my signature.
 
No, what she is referring to is "seeding" the base rock with bacteria, algae, and inverts. Basically, this just means that you are introducing the above listed organisms. If you wish to get an idea of what you may get as hitch hikers on your rock, click the link in my signature.

Already clicked the link and I say that's for having it! one thing on that, when it says get rid of it (anemone) how do you go about this?

I'll hae to look around and see what my LFS has to offer.. has anyone ordered rock/coral for drsfostersmith.com? if so, how was it when you got it/them?
 
There should be a "read more" button below the description that goes into the removal methods. By anemone, are you after aiptasia? Personally, I had the best luck by taking pickling lime and mixing it with a little water to make a thick paste. I then smothered the aiptasia with the thick paste. few days later all you need to do is crush the shell on the paste and suck it out with a syringe or baster. Don't treat a lot a once though, or you'll have problems with pH fluctuations.
 
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