Just Curious

[ShoC]

Been thinking about having a small Coral tank (just coral) 2f x1ft

I have heard about making my own live rock etc.. (going to read more later)

I understand that Live rock is great at filtering when water flow is added.
How does coral get added, Do i buy coral or does it Grow on the Live rock eventually?
and does adding ammonia help the corals feed?
(I know many silly questions.)

 

[Robert247]

live rock is a great natural biological filter which contains a lot of bacteria for breaking down ammonia and nitrites in the tank
corals are usualy bought from a shop and they take a long time to grow. I dont think it will real start growing on live rock unless you alread have a certain species of coral living in the tank
ammonia is poisonous to corals. but bacteria that lives on live rock love it!
you can sorta make your own live rock you can buy maby a small peice of live rock and lots of other dead rock and then the bacteria on the live rock should spread to the dead rock making it live.

 

[ShoC]

Do Corals produce ammonia? (would make sense if they do)
as what would feed the Live rock? (if no fish are used)
and does anyone know any Nice power lights for a 2ft tank 15/18 deep forgot the depth tbh.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I'm really no expert (god I should have that in my sig) but might be able to clarify a little.

Most Live Rock is basically rock that has been pulled out of the ocean. This has all the bacteria you need for filtration alreayd growing on it and may also have a number of other things living on it as well (you may get some corals, shrimp, snails, crabs, worms, etc) but what you get is down to chance.

You can get what is know as "base rock". This is basically either live rock which has dried out or another porus typoe of rock. If you add this to a tank with some live rock then the bacteria will spread to it. Obviously though you will not get as much "macro" sized life coming in as if you had all live rock (corals, shrimp, etc).

Corals for the most part are brought in seperatly. The corals will need something to attach too so you will need at least some rock in there (also dont forget that he rock is your filter). Different corals need different amounts of light and water flow also so you can set up shaded areas with the rock or areas with lower flow.

Forget about seahorses as they are very hard to keep for a beginer. There are some very nice small, reef safe fish you can get though.

Have a good read through the marine sections of these forums and read a few of the journals which will give you an idea on how to get started.

 

[shibby]

also id like to add that some corals will sting seahorses so if you did go for them you need to be careful in selecting the corals. they also dont like vast amount of flow so softies polyps mushrooms etc is all they could really be housed with. i think barney covered the rest well! filefish or pipefish are genrally a better option for a reef.

 

[ShoC]

both your posts were very helpful.
the Seahorses were/are just and addition nothing I'm desperate for.

With regards to live/base rock ,
I have read its possible to make my own rock that bacteria will grow onto,
I would prefer this as it's more (friendly)

I understand that I must feed Ammonia to the bacteria at the start,
But when I add the corals do they produce waste for the bacteria?
will I have to introduce coral slowly if bacteria levels were low (just for understanding basics)

 

[Musho3210]

yay a person who wants to get base rock to be environementally friendly.

The problem with making your own live rock is the curing and kuring time. You need to let the concrete harden and then "kure" it by putting it in a bucket of water and changing all that water every day. That is to let the ph and alkalinity stable out etc. It could take up to 6 months to finish making your own live rock.

Or you could buy aquacultured live rock, this is where other people make/mine their own base rock, then they dump it in the ocean for a few years, then it becomes live rock, and then you buy it.

You dont need to "feed" live rock, most stuff in the live rock are animals (excluding bacteria) and most of them dont like ammonia. Only the bacteria like ammonia and unless you are just trying to keep the bacteria alive then dont dose ammonia.

Corals are indirectly photosynthetic like plants but do not work exactly the same as plants. Corals dont like ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate.

 

[ShoC]

Do they produce Ammonia etc.?
to feed Live rock?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Seahorses and pipefish aren't /that/ hard for a beginner. They just require a little more research and care than some other fish. seahorse.org is the best place to start for researching them.

 

[Musho3210]

Do they produce Ammonia etc.?
to feed Live rock?

you dont feed live rock, they produce ammonia which feeds bacteria, but not live rock.

 

[ShoC]

I thought you would have to get the bacteria developed before adding Corals etc...

 

[Musho3210]

you do, and thats called cycling, but with live rock it comes with a good amount of bacteria, but it also comes with a good amount of dead stuff that will decay and cause ammonia.

There is a difference between live rock and base rock.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I was confused by this when I went from cycling FW tanks to looking at SW tanks. As Musho said live rock from the sea will have lots of things that live and die in it to produce the ammonia to keep the bacteria going.

Personally when I set up my tank I'm getting "man made" live rock http/www.live-rock.co.uk/eco_live_rock.htm

Think of live rock being like a canister filter that has already been running on a fully stocked tank for a few years and has fish living inside it as well

Best bet for eco-friendly corals is to find local reef clubs and get "frags" from other members. Where I live the only local shops that stock corals get them directly from the wild (sadly I haven't found any local reef clubs or people to exchange frags with so might be forced to buy wild collected ones).

 

[Musho3210]

think on the bright side barney, if you get corals, you can grow them, and then you can start a frag trading club, and less and less people will get from lfs's.

 

[ShoC]

I am understanding lots more now thanks to you two,
Can any inert rock thats full of nice little crevasses and holes be used to harbor life/Bacteria and have corals anchor them self to it?

I want to be as friendly as possible So is buying Base Rock normal rocks just found around the place thats are suitable?