Ocean-rock And Live-rock

[Danno]

I've been looking through many thread and I think that my local pet store pulled something on me. I think they sold me a piece of Ocean-Rock and not Live-Rock. It is oddly white and not all purpully like my other rocks. If it is Ocean-Rock will it eventually turn into Live-Rock? Or will it forever stay Ocean-Rock. Are there bad things that happen with Ocean-Rock?

 

[SkiFletch]

It'll become live rock eventually. Prolly 6 months at least before it becomes "live". Nothing wrong with having it in there though.

 

[RadaR]

Nothing wrong with having it in there though.

Not at all. Should help buffer the water shouldn't it?

Ski, do all rocks (that are safe for marine tanks ofcourse) become Live rock? Or does the rock have to be well porous?

Sorry for the hi-jack.

 

[Danno]

Nothing wrong with having it in there though.

Not at all. Should help buffer the water shouldn't it?

Ski, do all rocks (that are safe for marine tanks ofcourse) become Live rock? Or does the rock have to be well porous?

Sorry for the hi-jack.

Im curious too. Except anyone who knows can respond

 

[poo-tang]

i guess it depends on your definition of live, but beneficial bacteria lives on surfaces, so it will live on all sufaces including equipment and such. i guess the level of being alive is just a lot better when you have very porous rock. plus if you have coraline growing we all no it is indiscrimint as to where it grows. i got plain old limestone in my reef as base rock plus some anciect reef rock on top of that, that stuff is a little more porous than my limestone.

 

[SkiFletch]

Poo-tang's got the right idea there. It really depends on the rock. If its porous calcium carbonate that was once upon a time Live Rock, then over a period of time it will become truly live again. If we're talking denser limestone, it'll get covered with some bacteria and coraline although not as much as LR. Its not like dense rock has 0 value, but it has significantly less value than LR. Quantifying that is nearly impossible though.

 

[Danno]

The piece I had from the petstore was only 1/2 pound so at least I didn't get totally ripped. It looks like live rock, just a but whiter.

 

[callell]

IMO not worth the money, it is just so dense & it displaces a lot more water than other far more porus rocks, the fact that it is far more dense will also mean that instead of your LR crawling with bacteria it will more likely only have a coating on the surface - just not worth it

|If you are looking to use it as a base - why not try reef racks or a cheaper home made version - Egg Crate

I used Ocean Rock back in the day when I was fairly new to reef keeping & regretted it after 6 months as I had many algea problems & was convinced that they contributed to my increasing Nitrate problems

I suppose over time it will end up looking liek 'Live Rock' but due to its density it cannot perform the same task

JMHO - not a rock I would use What about Reef Bones - I used these in what started out as my latest Frag Tank, but ended up a another full reef