Live Rock

[guidedbyechoes]

Can any rock be seeded into live rock or just lace stone?

 

[Colin_T]

Not sure what you mean by seeded into live rock but generally any rock that is underwater for more than 6 months will be considered live rock. You can put dry limestone and sandstone rock from the beach into a fish tank and it will become live rock. Many people do this to build up the base of a reef and then put some nice pieces of tropical reef live rock on top. The limestone is much cheaper than the live rock from a coral reef and this can save a heap when setting up a big tank.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

Not sure what you mean by seeded into live rock but generally any rock that is underwater for more than 6 months will be considered live rock. You can put dry limestone and sandstone rock from the beach into a fish tank and it will become live rock. Many people do this to build up the base of a reef and then put some nice pieces of tropical reef live rock on top. The limestone is much cheaper than the live rock from a coral reef and this can save a heap when setting up a big tank.

What about smoother stones such as landscaping/river rocks? I mean it would look weird, but would it be functional?

 

[Colin_T]

as long as the rock is safe, (free of chemicals, heavy metals like copper, and won't drop the PH) they are fine to use. River rocks are normally fine. There is a thread on here somewhere that tells you all about different rocks and what they do to the water. I don't know where it is but it should be here somewhere. It might be worth a look if you can find it

 

[guidedbyechoes]

as long as the rock is safe, (free of chemicals, heavy metals like copper, and won't drop the PH) they are fine to use. River rocks are normally fine. There is a thread on here somewhere that tells you all about different rocks and what they do to the water. I don't know where it is but it should be here somewhere. It might be worth a look if you can find it

Awesome! I have been thinking about going to a fowlr for a while but decided against it because it would be about $400 for the live rock alone in my 55. There are rocks in it already with shrimp so I highly doubt they contain copper and they don't fizz so they should be inert. My water is already hard so no problems there. I'll try to hunt that thread down.