Live rock questions

Kragura

Reefing newb
Well I'm thinking of starting up a marine tank however I can see that the hobby is quite costly, and so I've decided to make DIY live rock to cut on cost's, I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject but there are a few things that are still a mystery to me.

1. do I have to use a special rock.

I have literally hundreds of tonnes worth of rocks that look allot like base rock and are incredibly porous would I be able to use these.

2. how do I make live rock "live".

how do I get all the little crabs bacteria plankton and mantis shrimp (well maybe not them) into my rocks.

remember I'm a complete newb to this so be nice.
 
If I were you I would buy 1 nice LR put that in yer tank and then if money is still tight buy dry LR for basically pennies on the dollar. let the 1 LR "seed" the rest, takes a little more time doing it like that but you will save money..I dont know where yer from but, around here LR goes from $5.99 for fiji to $7.99 a pound for branchy tonga
 
could you get a pic of the rock your talking about?That way we will be ablr to tell you if its safe to put in your tank
and, welcome to LR:Cheers:
 
I would just look on Craigslist for some LR..People are always tearing down their tanks. You'll save a bundle. How big of a tank are you planning? General rule of thumb is 1 to 2 lbs of LR per gallon. You should be able to find LR on Craigslist for 1.50-3.50 per lb. all day long. Make sure you or the guy that you're buying from has a scale to put it on. People always grossly exaggerate how many lbs. of rock they have.
 
Well I'm thinking of starting up a marine tank however I can see that the hobby is quite costly, and so I've decided to make DIY live rock to cut on cost's, I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject but there are a few things that are still a mystery to me.

Yes, it's an expensive hobby. So is golf, or boating, or 4x4 trucks, or motorcycles, or alcohol ..............................

Let's clarify a few things first:
Live rock is any rock that came from the ocean and it still wet. It's been kept wet and protected from drying out. It's covered in beneficial bacteria and other small life forms that will provide most of the filtration in your tank.

Dry rock or base rock (same thing) is usually live rock that got dried out and is now dead. It could be covered in dried out crusty stuff. It could be clean and free of debris. Dry rock TURNS INTO live rock all by itself. All you need to do is scrub the crusty stuff off the outside with a soft plastic brush and then place it in your tank. The beneficial bacteria and small animals will naturally colonize and spread over the entire surface of the rock inside your tank. It's magic!! Now ya got LIVE rock. :mrgreen:

1. do I have to use a special rock.
YES. You really need to use rocks that are from the ocean. Live rock is cultured in the oceans for distribution to marine aquarium enthusiasts - it is then collected and sold retail to you at an exorbitant price.

What kind of rocks do you NOT want to use?
Anything that wasn't originally in the ocean IMO.
Home made rocks IMO

I have literally hundreds of tonnes worth of rocks that look allot like base rock and are incredibly porous would I be able to use these.
I wouldn't.

2. how do I make live rock "live".
The short answer -- put it in your tank. Live just means it is coated in beneficial bacteria and small life forms. These will grow and coat the surface of the rocks in your tank, naturally. You don't need to do anything to turn dry rock into live rock. Put it in the tank and sit back. Have a beer. Wait. It'll all be live rock eventually.

There's DRY base rock that is dried out and can be used to build the base of your rock pile. It's been in the ocean before - or maybe in somebody else's tank before - but it's dry as a cracker now and there ain't anything alive on it anymore.

Lots of people use dry base rock to build the rock pile in their tanks. Then you only need to spend maybe $10 or $20 on a SINGLE piece of "live rock" from your local fish store. The good bacteria and other life forms are already on that one piece of rock. By placing that one piece into your tank full of dry rock - you are "seeding" the dry rock. The good bacteria from the one piece of live rock will spread out and soon cover all your base rock.

how do I get all the little crabs bacteria plankton and mantis shrimp (well maybe not them) into my rocks.
See above. They grow naturally. Well, maybe not crabs - those are inverts and you will have to purchase them. Some people find mantis shrimp on their rocks. Some call it lucky - I'd call it a curse. Would NEVER have a mantis shrimp in my home.

Dry rock becomes live rock as it is colonized in your tank.

remember I'm a complete newb to this so be nice.
You came to the right place. Very helpful and knowledgeable people on this site. Pay no attention to Biff - none of us do. :mrgreen:
 
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What we refer to in the hobby as "rock" (live,dead,base whatever) is structure made up of primarily calcium carbonate (i.e. the skeletons of dead calcareous animals like coral)

The rock we see around us every day is made up of at least 2 (but general lots) of different minerals. This can be metals like copper, nickel, iron and other things like oxides, halides, silicates, phosphates and sulfates. There are many many minerals that even in trace amounts can cause problems in our closed systems such as different phosphates causing algae problems or even kill the animals we try to keep such as copper.

The cheapest way to do it is get "rock" on the cheap from craigslist when people break down their tanks or to buy a single piece of live rock and use it to seed a bunch of base rock (which you can get quite cheap from your local fish store)
 
I've collected a lot of free rock (dead coral) off the beach and cured it myself. I have probably saved several h8ndred dollar doing this. I juts picked up a small but beautiful piece yesterday in a thrift shop for 50 cents.
 
There are some sites on the web where there are instructions in making your own DIY rock,I don't know where though,maybe Youtube..Don't put in rocks into your tank unless you know its composition.You can't just throw anything in there.Like Dakwan mention,the live and dry rocks people use is calcium base like limestone.To make dry/DIY rocks ''alive'',you will need to seed it with at least one piece of live rock.
 
I also had questions about live rock vs. dry rock. So basically, I could purchase a bunch of dry rock and buy a pound or so of live rock, put it in the tank and eventually everything will be live rock??...Is this right? I'm starting a 10 gal. tank and just trying to figure everything out.
 
Just to clarify

1.I don't intend on using this a s live rock rather as base rock to be seeded.
2.the rock is defiantly sedimentary and formed in the sea and as such will most likely be calcium based. (Everyone else say I shouldn't use calcium based rock is this because they have freshwater tanks?)
3.I don't have an aquarium yet I'ts still in the planning stage so i'll be able to test these rocks out minus the fish

I think the rock is a form of conglomerate and I will run tests for calcium carbonate on it soon.
I couldn't take any pictures today but they'll be in my next post.

Oh and as A side note cragslist and ebay are no goes for me I live in nz and the shipping of any rocks would cost me so much there's no real point in doing it.
 
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Calcium-based rock is what you need for saltwater. I think a lot of freshwater tanks tend to use river rock or lava rock.

Sounds like you have a plan. Can't wait to see things get moving!
 
Good news guys I ran the vinegar test for calcium chloride and the rocks came out positive. (on closer inspection they seem to have small shell fragments in them)


http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1500/004xed.jpg

That's the best picture of the rock I have sorry about the low quality.

So would there be any danger using this? I would of course sterilise the water before hand by boiling and wash the rock to get off any pollutants.
 
Since this thread was already started I won't start a new one asking if any of these look ok. LR goes for about 6.75 a pound were I live, and 9.99 a pound in London.

marine fish tank rock - Woodstock Pet Accessories - Kijiji Woodstock Canada.

Large piece of coral for sale - London Home/Garden Items For Sale - Kijiji London Canada.

55 Gallon Salt Water Fish Tank - London Pets For Sale - Kijiji London Canada.

The above tank I just talked to the lady and it's been up and running for 5 years, they just lots interest in it. She has no idea how much rock is in it, but says there's 14 pieces and the last one was 15 lbs they bought. The lights are T5 and blue for corals...not sure what that means.

Thanks,
Barry
 
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