"Live" rock and live rock

[fishmonkey]

I'm on the verge of finally filling a used 12 gallon aquapod I bought a few months ago. This will be my first reef tank. I've had many freshwater tanks over the years, with a recent focus on delicate anabantoids. I've been planning for a while, and I decided I was going to run the tank as "dirty" as possible. No mechanical filtration (partially because of how the aquapod AIO back is constructed), a mini fuge in the back, live rock, chaeto from the LFS sump, no quarantine (at least for the first fish, I might quarantine other fish I get) just a simple coral dip, tap water, etc.

The goal is to not stress about hitchhikers, make my mistakes in a low risk environment where they can be cheaply and easily corrected, and to create a diverse and interesting biological environment.

My problem is that it's hard to get real live rock anymore, at least cheaply and in the small quantities I want it in. It seems like the easiest option would be to get "live" rock from the LFS. This is just rock that's been in their tanks for a while. At least one of the LFS bleaches the rock before putting it in the "live" rock bin, which I have mixed feelings about.

How different is this "live" rock compared to actual ocean live rock? Will it actually make a difference which type of rock I get for my specific case?

Should I look into just getting live rubble?

Should I just bite the bullet and buy real live rock?

What are good places to get live rock these days (KP aquatics is one I think)?

If you live near the ocean you can do what Paul b does and just get some mud from the ocean and put it in your tank. I hear people put straight garden soil in their tanks. Make sure there is no fertilizer though.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If you live near the ocean you can do what Paul b does and just get some mud from the ocean and put it in your tank. I hear people put straight garden soil in their tanks. Make sure there is no fertilizer though.

It certainly does work for Paul, however you gotta admit that it does depend on where you are (especially if you're keeping a reef tank or sensitive fish) ocean water can be full of pollutants you'd never think about like sunscreen from swimmers, pollution from boats (both organic and inorganic), low salinity due to river discharge or recent rains up current, organic pollutants like from bacterial blooms, etc. So it's certainly not foolproof even if you live in a nice seeming area. Again, it does work for some people like Paul (who I've spoken to many times about his methods), the Waikiki aquarium in Hawaii, and Biota also uses seawater. It's far from being a the best solution just because you live nearby a coast and it would probably be advisable to ICP test it if you were gonna do that

 

[Tom Does Disney]

Absolutely no replacment for some seriously cooked up LR !!!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Absolutely no replacment for some seriously cooked up LR !!!

Yeah, real live rock that's been in the ocean for thousands of years can't be compared to any other resource we have out there! Aquacultured rock is the next best but imo not close to the same.

 

[Tom Does Disney]

Yeah, real live rock that's been in the ocean for thousands of years can't be compared to any other resource we have out there! Aquacultured rock is the next best but imo not close to the same.

Even something thats been in an established system for a few years is really more than enough to cover the bio filtering on a nano !!!