What's your view on Live Rock in 2022? What's changed or hasn't changed?

[Alex's Nano Reef]

Used to pay ridiculous prices for live rock. it used to be insane in northern jersey about 6 years ago a pound was easily 20-30. until i watched this MrSaltwaterTankTV Episode where he explains why he uses dry rock and sand. and since then i only use dry rock and sand and have never looked back

 

[tharbin]

Maybe what we really need to do is stop referring to what comes in on live rock as hitchhikers and pests. How about reef residents. We took their home and plopped it into our little micro ocean so how are they the hitchhiker? The problem is not what is in or on the rock but rather one of scale.

A parrotfish is the top herbivore on many portions of the reefs. Put a 6" one in your 80 gallon coral garden and within a year you'll have a sand garden. Is it a pest? There are many reef dwellers that we rightly avoid because, let's face it a mantas can pretty much devastate a 10 gallon 'reef' in a weekend, same with a bobbit. For others there reproductive schedule overwhelm our systems. A vermitid or an aptasia isn't really a problem but a hundred or a thousand?

I love seeing stuff in a tank that I have no idea about. Bryosoans, sponges, tunicates, crustacea, mollusca, echinoderms, all add to a tank and you can't get them from a bottle.

There is also a lot of stuff on the reef that can keep me awake at night. So remove the 'uglies' and 'nasties' but leave the other stuff and enjoy a REEF tank.

 

[Royce White]

Having been new to the hobby 7 years ago and not knowing better I bought Gulf of Mexico rock and rock from Porta Rico and for some reason I never had so called uglies. Also I didn't know that I was supposed to mature the rock before placing them in the tank, just lucky I guess. I didn't get any bads, The only place that I have got any bads are from LFS. so I guess I like Live rock more.

 

[schooncw]

I never have and never would, start a marine system without live rock and am amazed at the "newer" hobbyists, who are not aware of the benefits of doing so. The "magic" bottles of bacteria are not a viable substitute.
The "pest" thing is a total red herring, IMO.

 

[reeftwincities]

do we need a stricter definition?

This is one area where more specific "common" names might be beneficial though I was thinking something with a little more pizazz...maybe "Super live purple death eater" rock if it's got a mantis shrimp or something...

Used to be called base rock.

happy somebody still remembers "base rock"....base rock was usually darker in coloration than the marco rock we see now. I still have a piece from my first aquarium when I was 12. Probably my favorite 'thing' in my aquarium if I was being honest.

 

[G Santana]

IME The more live rock you have the quicker to stability and success. It is the foundation of a great reef tank.
You can do it with dry rock but the road is much longer and uglier.

 

[lefkonj]

I started my tank with dry rock and have replaced most of it with synthetic dry rock. I have seen plenty of tanks over the years that had ZERO live rock in them and they looked amazing. I just don't believe it is necessary anymore.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I use live rock and have since the days of Walt Smith rock. Now I use gulf rock, it’s different from all the imported rock of years ago. It has more life on it now, I don’t think as porous as the old rock but all the life makes up for it.
I also haven’t found a pest I couldn’t deal with.

 

[mvbrandt]

I'm an old salt, but today's microfauna market renders its use pointless. From coralline to random hitchhikers, you can seed with explicit intention, faster results, no die-off, etc etc etc. It's just old- fashioned at this point, and carries enormous risk for no defensible benefit.

 

[scardall]

like corals, do we need a stricter definition?

Aquacultured Live rock... (ALR) from another established tank or a tub without fish that has incubated with bottled bacterial or media from an established tank (mine is a horse trough with a monster hermit crab that I feed shrimp to)

Maricultured Live Rock (MLR) - Gulf or keys derived and maintained under supervision from a qualified and licensed 3rd party

Manufactured Dry Rock (point of sale) (Just kidding) Dusty out of a box

I have used all three, depending largely on ALR, with MDR for structural support and occasionally MLR for seeding of Coraline, bacteria, small inverts and hopefully no mantids in both my DT and a nano

coincidentally just placed an order for re-seeding MLR - hopefully to be delivered late this week - picked up at the airport for freshness...

Don't forget the natural live rock: Nature made it . 30 years ago you could buy it from a LFS. Harvesting Not practical for our environment any more. PS: I do have some of that dusty dead rock in my garage. ha ha

 

[bnord]

I'm an old salt, but today's microfauna market renders its use pointless. From coralline to random hitchhikers, you can seed with explicit intention, faster results, no die-off, etc etc etc. It's just old- fashioned at this point, and carries enormous risk for no defensible benefit.

its what is so great about our pastime, so many different ways to get it done.... and the tanks all come out great, with age

I love seeing tiny serpent star arms waving around when I feed. Its a risk benefit ration that people weigh differently

 

[reeftwincities]

its what is so great about our pastime, so many different ways to get it done.... and the tanks all come out great, with age

I love seeing tiny serpent star arms waving around when I feed. Its a risk benefit ration that people weigh differently

Agreed--the defensible benefit is that I like looking at different worms, crabs, etc. that all pop out of the rock. If I wanted to just look at fish, frankly, I'd start a freshwater tank.

 

[MaxTremors]

Also, I dont know how or when this overblown paranoid “pest” fear came from. I assume someone who sells dry rock. It also gets propagated when some “expert” on a forum or youtube channel repeats what they read or heard someone else say, so if repeated enough times, it somehow becomes irrefutable scientific fact.

f you chose dry rock for that reason, then dont treat all your fish with copper and prazi, cut off all your frag plugs, dip and qt all your corals at 78degrees for 74 days (and dont bother with LPS, because their base is a non removable frag plug), qt all your inverts for 74 days……pests as a reason for dry rock was an exercise in futility.

Dry rock is great, because you no longer need to stack rocks up against the back glass, and ive been able to make scapes that improve flow and habitat. Also, the flat bottom rocks are awesome for the foundation.

Once, i found aptasia in the tank of my toilet, so good luck with that one. Managing pests is a better plan, because they are gonna show up, so you should have a plan to address them all on an ongoing basis. Same way nature addresses it. Predation.

Currently, all my tanks started from Tampa Bay rock acquired 14 years ago, then added to dry rock in all new tank setups. Ive used live rock for everything before that, so ive had plenty of hitchhikers, but they have never become an issue. I was also fortunate to get healthy populations of stomatella snails and bristle worms, which i wouldnt have otherwise, and you can’t buy a better clean up crew.

I completely agree about the paranoia about hitchhikers. It is maybe the most overstated and exaggerated ‘problem’ in the hobby. I see so many people new to the hobby post here about how they’re just too overwhelmed or scared about the prospect of hitchhikers to use real live rock and it really just perplexes and kind of saddens me. When I first started in the hobby, real live rock was all there was, and I recall so fondly just being enthralled by all the life and the ecosystem, I just can’t imagine not having all the microfauna that comes with liverock, it’s as equally important to me as fish and corals.

 

[MaxTremors]

Having been new to the hobby 7 years ago and not knowing better I bought Gulf of Mexico rock and rock from Porta Rico and for some reason I never had so called uglies. Also I didn't know that I was supposed to mature the rock before placing them in the tank, just lucky I guess. I didn't get any bads, The only place that I have got any bads are from LFS. so I guess I like Live rock more.

I just can’t get over ‘Porta Rico’. As in ‘Porta-Potty’?

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I remember that when I first got into the hobby, I thought that dry rock was a great idea. I started my tank with LFS live rock though. Aside from getting a new ATO that wasn't just the one that came with my Red Sea Max Nano, that was the best decision that I made in this hobby. My tank cycled in two weeks, and I had quite a few starfish and feather dusters. My "ugly stage" only lasted a few months. I now know that live rock is so much better, and I am very glad that I do. I am considering an upgrade to a 180 gallon, and if I do so, it will be with TBSaltwater rock.

 

[reefsaver]

IMO Live rock is totally unnecessary and actually could make your journey into Reefing harder.
Who knows what's coming in with live rock. I've split porous rock by driving chisels through almost microscopic fissures in stone to break it in half almost like a geode, and found flatworms in basically the middle of the rock, in cavities that would be less than paper thin.
With artificial dry rock your tank almost becomes a sterile laboratory. Be that as it may, I understand people are die hard over their diverse biomes although you can still get to that point with artificial rock by purchasing coral attached to rock. You don't necessarily have to buy live-rock. Just buy coral and the diversity will come. Although I always dip, even the rock I get with coral. I'm not taking any chances, to me not dipping is like spinning a revolver, putting it to your head and pulling the trigger, except in this scenario you have no idea how many bullets are in the gun. There could be none, it could be fully loaded.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

I never have and never would, start a marine system without live rock and am amazed at the "newer" hobbyists, who are not aware of the benefits of doing so. The "magic" bottles of bacteria are not a viable substitute.
The "pest" thing is a total red herring, IMO.

I think some guy named Marco started the pest panic. If youre afraid of pests, dont buy coral

I completely agree about the paranoia about hitchhikers. It is maybe the most overstated and exaggerated ‘problem’ in the hobby. I see so many people new to the hobby post here about how they’re just too overwhelmed or scared about the prospect of hitchhikers to use real live rock and it really just perplexes and kind of saddens me. When I first started in the hobby, real live rock was all there was, and I recall so fondly just being enthralled by all the life and the ecosystem, I just can’t imagine not having all the microfauna that comes with liverock, it’s as equally important to me as fish and corals.

Agree. Also, do you know how many strains of bacteria there are on real live rock? I can tell you with some certainty, its more than 7.


And you better buy an extra tank along with that dry rock. Because if you're afraid what can come on live rock, you certainly shouldnt buy corals. Especially LPS. They have their own frag plug that you cant cut off. And Ive had some critters that you can hear laughing at you as you drop that coral into dips, including Bayer. And what better than dry rock for something nasty to grow on. No flora to compete with.

 

[LeBon]

I used dry rock for decades after having horrible pests on rock from the sea in the'old days'.

Nowadays some companies paint the rock purple which i find kinda funny )

People seem to be on a direction to less rock,whereas i will still usually advise folk to use MORE than the pound per gallon if they have fish

 

[LeBon]

IMO Live rock is totally unnecessary and actually could make your journey into Reefing harder.
Who knows what's coming in with live rock. I've split porous rock by driving chisels through almost microscopic fissures in stone to break it in half almost like a geode, and found flatworms in basically the middle of the rock, in cavities that would be less than paper thin.
With artificial dry rock your tank almost becomes a sterile laboratory. Be that as it may, I understand people are die hard over their diverse biomes although you can still get to that point with artificial rock by purchasing coral attached to rock. You don't necessarily have to buy live-rock. Just buy coral and the diversity will come. Although I always dip, even the rock I get with coral. I'm not taking any chances, to me not dipping is like spinning a revolver, putting it to your head and pulling the trigger, except in this scenario you have no idea how many bullets are in the gun. There could be none, it could be fully loaded.

most dry rock is actually mined from the land an is pretty much sterile birdbrain. live rock is pretty fundamental to long term success in'the majority'ofhomes. (same as water changes that people seem to try and avoid nowadays). If you like fish then its imperative

 

[LeBon]

Don't forget the natural live rock: Nature made it . 30 years ago you could buy it from a LFS. Harvesting Not practical for our environment any more. PS: I do have some of that dusty dead rock in my garage. ha ha

Its only manufactured if it 'isnt'rock, otherwise its rock,it kinda makes itself lol