what kind of rock is base rock?

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jerejohnson

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 26, 2003
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Location
kalamazoo, mi
my question is what kind of rock is base rock, people say that they have fiji, or tonga, or branch, but what rock will actually work in a saltwater tank? will rock from a quarry work? if so what kind do i need to get. or does the rock that goes into the tank have to come from the ocean? thanks
 
BR is rock that is dry and does not have the nitrifying bacteria that is needed to have your biological filtration. Live Rock or LR does have it on the rock and is very beneficial to your biological filtration cycle. LR will also have small critters like corals,shrimp and/or crabs living in it which will transfer to your tank after addition to your tank. BR cannot have these since it is dry and dead. But with an addition of LR and BR to your tank it will all become LR.
 
Mel is right. Think of it this way. Base rock is what you see setting on the shelf on your LFS. I generally is white, but may have a little bit of color. Uncured LR should be in a separate tank, in your LFS, cycling. This will have more color to it but needs to be properly cycled. Cured LR, is what your LFS should have in the tanks with fish.
Base rock/uncured LR/LR can be fiji, or tonga, or branch (the first two are just the locations they gather the rock, branch is just dead branch coral).
To be honest, I wouldn't use quarry rock, you won't be able to tell what kinds of metals are in it. If you get a chunk with copper, lead or anything that may rust, you will not be able to have inverts (in the case of copper).
I will be ordering from this guy on Friday (I know, every one is tired of hearing that...LOL!). I'll be getting 150Lbs of base from marcorocks.com. I will pick up some LR from my LFS, so I can pick and choose.
 
roka64 said:
To be honest, I wouldn't use quarry rock, you won't be able to tell what kinds of metals are in it. If you get a chunk with copper, lead or anything that may rust, you will not be able to have inverts (in the case of copper)

I wouldn't use quarry rock, either. It may also have iron in it which may trigger nuisance algaes.
 
i dont believe quarry rock will work either. the reason you cant throw lava rock into a sw tank, and expect it to grow beneficial sw bacteria, is because it doesnt have the nutrients (mainly calcium) that base rock/LR posses.

so you cant throw in a peice of coal, and expect, because its porous, that it'll work
 
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