dunl Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Doing some more thinking of filtration, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, live rock, water changes, etc....got me thinking. Do you actually need to use live rock to start a saltwater tank, or can you start completely from scratch without using live rock? Wouldn't the saltwater bacteri build up enough so that in time, any rock put into a tank like this would actually become "live rock", as long as it was porous enough? Or is there something so special in live rock that cannot be created in the tank? (BTW, I fully understand the normal way to start a saltwater tank, just starting this for discussion's sake.) Thanks, Dunl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandopsis Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 I'am by no means a saltwater expert. Quite the opposite actualy, but i beleive if you had dead rock with live rock in close proximity it will become live itself. It might take along time, but it will happen. *years* Please we need a salty to come here and comfirm or denigh this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert_dao Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 There's more to a SW tank than bacteria. A lot of it has to do with the "hidden" population of inverts that cannot be found in unseeded base rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted November 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 So that would be a "no, definately not"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Like FW it is possible to cycle a SW tank without liverock, its not often used anymore. There are only a few 'delicate' species that require that kind of care/attention (dwarf and some larger seahorses come to mind), usually its to avoid unwanted hitchhikers like hydroids, aiptasia, bristle/fire worms etc. Unless your keeping creatures that require such a 'sterile' environment, why would you want to avoid the known benefits? One of the major difficulties to keeping saltwater is to learning to think in terms of an ecosystem rather than simple individual 'fish' and invertebrates. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted November 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Thinking "challenge" here.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlkWolfe Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 It can be done, but live rock will lend itself to a much "healthier" tank besides...its decoration, filtration, and a critter farm all in one Seeding "dead rock" simply with bacteria alone will provide a biofilter, but to make "live rock" you need all the pods, inverts/critters, macros, corals etc to colonize what was formerly dead rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted November 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 So what about cases I've heard where people buy "live rock" from a larger retail outlet, only to find out it isn't either that much or alive at all? Is there a chance of getting live rock that isn't live at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert_dao Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 They probably just bought garbage rock that's been sitting in dark, unlit/unfiltered sumps for too long, Ha! The other thing is that some people may buy rock that was "home made" and left to develope in-tank, as opposed to true live rock that was either aquacultured or harvested directly from the ocean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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