LR vs Base Rock

[J McCauley]

HI! I am at the stage in my reef development that I am ready to add rock to my planed mixed reef 125 AGA. After many hours of deliberation I have decided to use 90% base rock, from Reefer Rocks in Florida, and seed with 10% uncured LR.

Here are my assumptions:
• I will not get the biodiversity that I would if I used more LR, however this diversity can be purchased and at that point I will get what I want not what I don’t expect.
• That the base rock, in a short time after seeding with LR, will develop the same regards to coralline growth as if it was LR.
• The filtration benefits of LR and base rock will be the same in short period of time.
• This will save approximately 60% in cost, $2.00 per pound for shipped base rock compared to $5.00 for LR.
• That the coral will attach to the base rock the same as if it was LR, since the make up of the two rocks are the same.
• The base rock will be indistinguishable to LR in less then a period of a year.
• The majority of the rock, either be it LR or base rock to start, will not be seen after the coral grow in the tank.

What am I missing here on the perceived benefits of LR?

Has anyone else gone this route and what have been your results?

Thanks
Jim Mc

 

[mojoreef]

• I will not get the biodiversity that I would if I used more LR, however this diversity can be purchased and at that point I will get what I want not what I don’t expect

Yep I would have to agree.

• That the base rock, in a short time after seeding with LR, will develop the same regards to coralline growth as if it was LR.

Sure

• That the coral will attach to the base rock the same as if it was LR, since the make up of the two rocks are the same.

Sure

That the coral will attach to the base rock the same as if it was LR, since the make up of the two rocks are the same.

right again

• The base rock will be indistinguishable to LR in less then a period of a year.

Ok

So lets dig a bit deeper my friend. I know a few folks that have gone this route and have been very disapointed in the looks of the Base rock. I believe a member called Edgerat on this board just tried some and sent it back. might be worth a pm . Base rock is calcium carboante rock that has just been sitting dry for eons, this means it has been exposed to runoff and so on, which means you can be guarranteed it is saturated with Phosphates, which is going to be algae food. Also it is alot more dence then most LR which means the weight might be made up in the overall pricing game, also it is going to be as good at filtering even when fully populated. The biggest one for me is that the rock in ones tank is like the body work on a car, you can put the nicest paint job (corals) on it but its still a studibaker, lol

Anyway not tryig to talk you out of it just giving you a sounding board. I would pm Issac (edgerat) and ask him what his beefs were.


take care


MIke

 

[J McCauley]

Thanks for the quick input mojoreef !!!!!!!!

 

[BCT182]

If you were looking to build up the rock in your tank, you could try plastic bracing, or depending on your tank dimensions, milk crates? I've seen people even stack rock on cut up pvc pipes. Its very easy to hide and will look natural and give your fish additional caves and areas to feel safe.

 

[J McCauley]

So is the reason to use 1 to 1.25 pounds per gallon for filtration purposes or to "fill" out the tank? If it is to "fill" out the tank then using a superstructure would be a very valid way of reducing the amount of LR to purchase. If it to provide the amount of filtration required then I would come up short on that requirement.

 

[edgerat]

damnit! thrown under the bus again! hhahahaha, Mike is right I bought some base rock from Carib-Sea in an effort to spend less money on this one aspect of setting up my new reef tank. Aside from the major issue of the phosphate loaded base rock from sitting out and being exposed as Mike said, the major problem I had with it was the looks of it. It just isnt as nice looking as the LR that you can get. I ended up putting about 30 lbs of it in an undulated trigger tank that I just set up but outside of that I sent everything else back because, for a reef tank, it just isnt worth it to chince on this aspect of the deal for me. And the idea that I could have phosphates leeching back into my tank everyday scared the bejesus out of me. Oh and on the weight issue, I broke a couple of the large pieces apart in order to aquascape the way I wanted and this stuff is SOLID all the way through. I had a piece that was the size of a basketball and it weighed almost 70lbs all by itself! This stuff is very dense and most of it is either plate or rounded. I have seen the stuff from Reefer Rocks and it looks like it is nicer and maybe more like real LR that has been sitting so it might go a little longer, per pound, but I still dont want to risk the phosphates. Hope I helped you out on making an informed decision. It really is attractive on the price and I wanted to do it for the exact same reason as you but in the end I decided it was worth to spend the "extra" money on real LR.
Isaac

 

[BCT182]

Yeah they do recommend that. Its important not to overload on rock as it should be considered a waste producer as it is "live" but its also your best source for good bacteria. I think it also matters how many fish you plan to keep. In my Sps Im under the 1lb per 1g but I also have a very low bio-load (amount of fish). For me, I have had no problems.

 

[wrightme43]

You might talk to Mike, Mojoreef, I hear he has the hookup on live rock at a fair price. LOL. You just might be suprised. Steve

 

[gobie]

The Best Way To Get Rock At A Cheaper Price Is To Find Somebody Who Is Selling Their Tank In The Paper. Ok Usually The Rock Has Problems (hair Algae Etc.) But If You Are Able To Get It At A Cheaper Price Any Problem With The Rock Can Be Fixed(high Po4) With Good Skimming Algae Eaters And Water Flow. It Might Take Some Time To Get It Back Into Shape But It Is Worth It Compaired To The Calcite Rock Sold As Base Rock. So, After The Crappy Live Rock Is Cured You Can Add Some Good Live Rock To Re Seed The Old Stuff. Hey That Piece You Got From Me Last Night Is Recycled Live Rock. And It Had Sponge And Red Mushrooms On It. By The Way The Frog Frag Is Doing Well. Hope This Might Help A Little. Search The Papers And Keep An Eye Out For High Priced Tanks. They Go Nowhere, Ahd You Can Get Rock For Pretty Cheap About 1/2 Of Uncured Fresh.

 

[jlehigh]

I don't think you neccesarily have to junk the Base rock idea entirely. 90% base rock imo means trouble, but as suplimental aquascaping it may be okay. Otherwise you are looking at a tank that will have very little biological filtration for an extended period of time delaying your cycle and handi-capping biological filtration indefinately which turns into a reduction of your enjoyment in the hobby.

I would reverse the weighting to 90% LR 10-20% base and be sure to thoroughly hose down the Base Rock followed by a few dunks in a bucket of RODI.

I have about 20lbs of base rock amongst around 200 lbs of LR. The base rock took about 3-4 months to match the coloration of the rest.