Live Rock

Not the kind that lots of enjoy singing a long to or lost our hearing to as a result of standing too close to a speaker stack. No this is an important part of part of the Berlin Filtration system and the back bone to the look of the reef. Now I could have gone fish only set up a bit of sand at the bottom maybe a couple of ornaments but I feel with marine tanks the more natural look is a more interesting option.

So what is live rock? In the simplest terms its reef rock taken from the sea which includes a lot of beneficial bacteria, coral and sponge polyps and some other little critters who hitch hike their way when transported.  The things is there is no such thing as a free lunch and with the good you get the bad thinks like Aiptasia SP , Mantis Shrimp (Stomatopods) and Valonia sp. aka Bubble Algae. Most of these can be treated with products purchased from the LFS or captured in traps or controlled with the reefs natural maintenance team or clean up crew as they are known. From everything I have been reading I feel that the benefits out weigh the risk but I recommend doing some reading and making this decision your self. 

Below is a video of a Mantis shrimp hunting a crab

Alternative options to live rock are erie or dead rock this over time will become live and and has the benefit of not introducing the pest as above but will take longer to cycle your tank.

If your purchasing your live rock from you LFS they normally put the rock through a process call curing, this clears the debris of dead or dying sponges/corals. If they do not sure the rock This process will take about 2-4 weeks to complete. To properly cure your rock you must have lots of water flow around and through the rock and a good skimmer to remove the dislodged material. The water flow can be created with a larger external pump so that it's flow is directed over and through the rock or can be accomplished with several power heads or other submersible pumps. What ever you use, be sure to have more flow than you think you need and occasionally use a powerhead or turkey baster to "blow" around all exposed surfaces of the rock.
more information on this process can be found here.

Now your rock is cured whats next? Well then its time to add this to your sump if your running one and to the display area of your tank to create your Aquascape.


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