Aquarium Live Rock
A beautiful reef aquarium from Monaco using live rock. The corals are on placed on live rock to create a natural looking reef system.
Live rock is used by many marine fish keepers to create stunning reef displays, and to act as biological filters. A Berlin style aquarium for example uses live rock as a main filtration method alongside a protein skimmer to remove organic waste.
Live rock is fragments of stony reef material, often coral rubble which has broken off in storms. Taken from oceans across the world different live rock will come with different organisms living on it. Sometimes when you buy live rock it will have a hitch hiker attached to it like a anthropod or mollusc.
Live rock contains many living organism that help with biological filtration, and some suggest they may contain antbiotic substances with beneficial effects.
Live rock comes in all shapes and sizes and is quite expensive to buy. It will or should be cured in the shop before you buy it otherwise it can have detrimental effects on the home aquarium.
When live rock is shipped across countries some of the organisms die off in the process. Sponges for example to not do well in the transportation and will die off. This results in decaying matter accumulating at the bottom of the storage vessel which produces a foul smell. Curing live rock simply involves allowing the die off and decay process to occur under controlled conditions. This means that when you buy the live rock from a shop it will be healthy and full of microscopic life and be ready to be placed in your home aquarium.
Live rock contains many living organism that help with biological filtration, and some suggest they may contain antbiotic substances with beneficial effects.
Live rock comes in all shapes and sizes and is quite expensive to buy. It will or should be cured in the shop before you buy it otherwise it can have detrimental effects on the home aquarium.
When live rock is shipped across countries some of the organisms die off in the process. Sponges for example to not do well in the transportation and will die off. This results in decaying matter accumulating at the bottom of the storage vessel which produces a foul smell. Curing live rock simply involves allowing the die off and decay process to occur under controlled conditions. This means that when you buy the live rock from a shop it will be healthy and full of microscopic life and be ready to be placed in your home aquarium.
Live rock is used to construct the support structure in a marine tank forming a reef for the corals and other invertebrates that will later be added. This helps to give the aquarium a natural reef look.
How Live Rock Works
-Live rock is where crabs, worms and other invertebrates live. When food is introduced into the aquarium, the uneaten food will be consumed by the animals living within the live rock.
-As the food particles get broken down they will start converting into ammonia, nitrite and phosphates.
-Live rock will help to convert these toxic chemicals into less toxic chemicals such as nitrate
-These now less toxic chemicals will be used by the algae and nitrifying bacteria living on the live rock
-The nitrates will then be broken down further into nitrogen gas which is released through the water surface which is why good surface water movement is very important.
-The list of animals living on the live rock is almost endless, but include things like copepods, coralline algae, filter feeders, bristle worms etc. It is strongly advised that you use live rock in a marine aquarium if you want to keep water preferred water conditions. Sometimes the home aquarium simply has too much food and waste products for the live rock to deal with. This is when your water changes and protein skimmers come into action.
-Live rock will also give your fish a place to hide when they are feeling stressed or threatened, and also provide a natural food source for marine fish. Seahorses will love looking in the nooks of live rock in search of food. Live rock will help simulate the natural conditions to which your fish are used to. Live rock will also give corals a place to anchor themselves down. All in all live rock will add greatly to the health of your aquarium and fish, plus give a very pleasing visual display that will look more natural. What is so nice about live rock is that it keeps on working with the need for servicing or electricity. A win win situation if you can afford the initial cost.
-As the food particles get broken down they will start converting into ammonia, nitrite and phosphates.
-Live rock will help to convert these toxic chemicals into less toxic chemicals such as nitrate
-These now less toxic chemicals will be used by the algae and nitrifying bacteria living on the live rock
-The nitrates will then be broken down further into nitrogen gas which is released through the water surface which is why good surface water movement is very important.
-The list of animals living on the live rock is almost endless, but include things like copepods, coralline algae, filter feeders, bristle worms etc. It is strongly advised that you use live rock in a marine aquarium if you want to keep water preferred water conditions. Sometimes the home aquarium simply has too much food and waste products for the live rock to deal with. This is when your water changes and protein skimmers come into action.
-Live rock will also give your fish a place to hide when they are feeling stressed or threatened, and also provide a natural food source for marine fish. Seahorses will love looking in the nooks of live rock in search of food. Live rock will help simulate the natural conditions to which your fish are used to. Live rock will also give corals a place to anchor themselves down. All in all live rock will add greatly to the health of your aquarium and fish, plus give a very pleasing visual display that will look more natural. What is so nice about live rock is that it keeps on working with the need for servicing or electricity. A win win situation if you can afford the initial cost.
Coralline Algae on Live Rock
Coralline Algae is the pink covering found on established live rock, not to be mistaken for red slime algae. It is very beneficial and looks great. Coralline algae can out compete some nuisance algae like green algae, hair algae, diatoms and matt algae. It also helps cement live rock together to help give a much sturdier structure.
Types of live rock:
Plant rock:
This is live rock which has one or more species of macro algae present. These rocks are generally found behind a coral reef where they are free from grazing fish.
This is live rock which has one or more species of macro algae present. These rocks are generally found behind a coral reef where they are free from grazing fish.
Zoanthid rock:
This live rock comes from the Atlantic and pacific and is mostly collected in shallow waters. It is dominated by one or more species of zoanthid or 'sea mat'
This live rock comes from the Atlantic and pacific and is mostly collected in shallow waters. It is dominated by one or more species of zoanthid or 'sea mat'
Base rock:
This is a term used to describe rock that is devoid of living organisms. This is quite a heavy rock often difficult to stack in a reef system. It is becoming less available because people are not that interested in using it.
This is a term used to describe rock that is devoid of living organisms. This is quite a heavy rock often difficult to stack in a reef system. It is becoming less available because people are not that interested in using it.
It is not all good news for live rock though, as one way of harvesting live rock for sale is to literally blow up areas of a reef with explosives. This is obviously very destructive to all life forms depending on the reef. This practice is still used today and has destroyed large areas of the reef all across the world.
Live rock will contain a huge diversity of live that is then added to the aquarium. Some of the hitchhikers may not be wanted in the home aquarium but in general as our understanding of this complex ecosystem evolves so does our realisation that most hitchhikers really are beneficial. If you find something that you do not like in your aquarium like Aiptasia which is often seen as a problematic pest, then natural predators can be introduced to help combat the problem. Peppermint shrimp for example will help rid a tank of Aiptasia over time
Live rock will contain a huge diversity of live that is then added to the aquarium. Some of the hitchhikers may not be wanted in the home aquarium but in general as our understanding of this complex ecosystem evolves so does our realisation that most hitchhikers really are beneficial. If you find something that you do not like in your aquarium like Aiptasia which is often seen as a problematic pest, then natural predators can be introduced to help combat the problem. Peppermint shrimp for example will help rid a tank of Aiptasia over time