Rocks serves many purposes in an aquarium. From being a part of the decoration, to breaking up waves and acting as a surface to place corals. More importantly, it is a biological filter media, capable of filtering our aquariums effectively.
Yet, it can be very confusing when purchasing rocks for our aquariums. What type to buy? What are the advantages and disadvantage of each type of rock?
This article will explore the broad type of rocks available, and just what it means for the rock to be labeled as such.
Live Rock
Live rock at an aquarium store. Most stores will store their live rock in such large vats of water, until the time is right for a hobbyist to pick up theirs. This here is a picture taken at Majestic Aquariums.
Live rock is in simplest terms, rock taken from a marine system/environment. In theory, live rock would contain much of the life originally found in and on the rocks, as it was in the ocean or from another aquarium. In reality, the trip from the ocean (or another aquarium) to the aquarium store (or to your aquarium) would have seen some of the organisms dying off. This is exactly what is normally referred to as 'die-off' when people discuss rocks.
Due to that, the straight addition of live rock to an existing aquarium must be carefully considered, as the die-off can foul up the water quickly. Of course, it would depend on just how much die-off there is, the amount of rock you are adding in, your aquarium volume and your aquarium filtration capabilities. Essentially this: if your aquarium can, at all points in time post-addition, handle the concentration of waste from the rock, then you are safe.
Cured Rock
Cured rock is rock that does not produce 'waste products' as live rock do, being safe to add straight into an existing aquarium.However, this means that 'cured' rock can either be live rock or dead/base rock, and therefore can cause confusion.
Cured rock may go through a full curing process, whereby die-off is washed away or re-used by organisms on or in the rock. As much of the die-off can be washed away, the amount of beneficial bacteria (and organisms) existing in and on the rock can be aplenty, or minimal. Many curing processes result in cured rock left for too long, or not done properly, and almost everything has died and completely decomposed (before being drained away). Although these rocks would not produce waste - it is because there's practically nothing left to produce waste, not because it is thriving with bacteria that breaks down waste.
Therefore, take into careful consideration what you are attempting to do when purchasing cured rock, and what way the rock has been cured. It is best to double-check before purchasing, what type of cured rock you are getting.
Dead/Base Rock
CaribSea 'life=like' base rock. This type of base rock is designed to look like rock with coralline algae coverage. CaribSea distributes plenty of types of rocks.
Dead or base rock are generally the ones you see that look just like any other rock existing out there. There really isn't much life on it.
Depending on how the rock is stored, it could be completely sterile/clean or full of dirt/detritus/dead organisms. The first is no different from cured rock (and so basically some cured rock are dead/base rock, as mentioned above). The latter when added to an aquarium can result in a situation no different than that seen with live rock, with plenty of unwanted molecules and chemicals released into the water. In fact, if it was stored in areas exposed to 'unnatural' chemicals, it is best to give the rock a good rinse/clean first.
Conclusion
There really are just three types of rocks out there, and can even be divided into two categories - either live rock ('containing life') or base/dead rock ('no life'). Either can be cured, or uncured.
Note that even though rocks can offer extreme filtration capacities, it will still depend on the origin of the rock itself. Rocks from certain reefs are more porous than others, and hence offer better filtration capabilities. It is therefore worth it, not to just know the state of rock you are purchasing, but also the particular type of rock it is.
Happy hunting!
No comments:
Post a Comment