Best Man Made Live Rock - opinions

[robswdiver]

Hello all,

Looking for everyone's opinion on some brands of man-made live rock. Particularly interested in live rock options that are already "purple" or colored-up. Not too interested in the bleach white options.

I've seen the Real Reef Solutions - Real Reef Rock and Caribsea Life Rock options. Are there others that I should be looking at?

What about additional options of the pre-fabricated / pre-built aquascapes?

Thanks in advance.

-Rob

 

[PR_nano]

Personally I like the Caribsea coloration better than the Real Reef. It it's more random, patches of color vs the Real reef which in my case is all purple. For reference I have the Caribsea shape and Reel Reef branch.

For pre-fabricated pieces/aquascapes take a look at the aquarocksdesigns I have a 9 frag rock from them. They also make custom aquascapes.

 

[X-37B]

I used 50/50 live rock and caribsea.
The purple color completely faded in a few months but now looks like live rock from all the coralline growth.
Add some live rock if you can and your system will be up and running in no time.

 

[t5Nitro]

I used all Real Reef if you click my build thread you can see what it looks like.

 

[Plecosam]

Marco

 

[canadianeh]

I am using 100% Caribsea purple liferock. Check out my build thread for picture if you want. They are nice rocks IMO

 

[joseserrano]

Real reef looks better in person

 

[X-37B]

Here is a pick when I first setup the scape 1 year ago.
And now.

 

[Henn]

Hi Rob, your questions about faux rock have come up here and caused some issues. The chemical makeup of cement rock and dry coral are similar but the similarity ends there. In defense of Fax Coral Formations, they are stable and affordable. They are also twice the density of dry coral because there is no porosity. The Silica Sand or even argonite gravel is sealed up by the cement jelly ( dry coral 35 lb / sf vs 70 lb / s ft ). There is no anaerobic ( nitrate removing low oxygen bacteria need to be up to .05 inch below the surface ) removal. Another issue is that nothing except Bubble Algae or sponge will attach. Ricordea and mushrooms need some surface porosity to set filaments. Fax coral has a surface like glass on a micro level. There is a final note about Fax Coral. Before it was known, a number of items that were bought were on Fax Coral. Nothing spreads properly. If the display is glued, together that will work, but not spread or grow. The last thing that has come up is ph and KT. The Fax Coral is always moving the KT up. This is after several years of immersion. The issue of Fax Coral is here now. It might not be possible to get any real dry coral. We are using saturated Cuttle Bone to make argonite ( 98 % ) Frag Plugs that encourage growth. They can also be sculpted and glued together like a model train set ( like the throne in Game of thrones was made of splayed swords ). A big bag of large 6 inch Cuttle Bones could produce a really cool looking formation after carving. They can be made to like like stone or wood and I am trying to find a dye that is safe and leaves the porous surface. I won't ever put Fax Coral cement chunks in the pond again. They are a Display Only item.

 

[TerraFerma]

When you see the Real Reef and the Carib Sea in person - it's Real Reef for me by a mile, both looks and density wise. The Carib Sea "branch" rock in particular, is just awful.

 

[sp1187]

Free Form™ Habitat™ Fire Safe™ or Free Form™ Habitat™ Black Epoxy Putty if you're a DIY.

 

[Greg Goby]

Nature's Ocean Coral Base Rock

$55 for 40 lbs of quality reef saving rock on Amazon, free shipping. I have purchased Marcorocks and these are exactly the same. I ordered two boxes and they both had a good variety of rocks, well packed in a bag with foam sheets between each rock. Having spent alot of money on Marcorocks in the past I don't think I would consider any other source than the one I linked in the future.

 

[mfinn]

I'm pretty happy with the 2 tanks I've setup with Real Reef rock.

 

[Joshua Leichtman]

I just got a 20lb box of "Shapes" from CaribSea and I only needed two pieces to fill up my nano. I had a third rock but it would take up too much space for the GSP island (non-LifeRock) in the bag. I have an awesome cave rock that I couldn't even use so I'm going to have to start another new tank for it

 

[Retro Reefer]

I have used the real reef brand rock on a couple tanks and have been very happy with it.

 

[burgundy]

Hi Rob, your questions about faux rock have come up here and caused some issues. The chemical makeup of cement rock and dry coral are similar but the similarity ends there. In defense of Fax Coral Formations, they are stable and affordable. They are also twice the density of dry coral because there is no porosity. The Silica Sand or even argonite gravel is sealed up by the cement jelly ( dry coral 35 lb / sf vs 70 lb / s ft ). There is no anaerobic ( nitrate removing low oxygen bacteria need to be up to .05 inch below the surface ) removal. Another issue is that nothing except Bubble Algae or sponge will attach. Ricordea and mushrooms need some surface porosity to set filaments. Fax coral has a surface like glass on a micro level. There is a final note about Fax Coral. Before it was known, a number of items that were bought were on Fax Coral. Nothing spreads properly. If the display is glued, together that will work, but not spread or grow. The last thing that has come up is ph and KT. The Fax Coral is always moving the KT up. This is after several years of immersion. The issue of Fax Coral is here now. It might not be possible to get any real dry coral. We are using saturated Cuttle Bone to make argonite ( 98 % ) Frag Plugs that encourage growth. They can also be sculpted and glued together like a model train set ( like the throne in Game of thrones was made of splayed swords ). A big bag of large 6 inch Cuttle Bones could produce a really cool looking formation after carving. They can be made to like like stone or wood and I am trying to find a dye that is safe and leaves the porous surface. I won't ever put Fax Coral cement chunks in the pond again. They are a Display Only item.

dropping a lot of knowledge and everyone is scrolling by lol. where/ what type of rock can you get that is ACTUALLY porous, i've noticed with the dry rock i've purchased the holes are only surface deep, and the rock is not much heavier when wet. i understand that dry coral isn't harvested anymore but is there a way to get dry rock with more porosity?

 

[ectoaesthetics]

For purple rock -RealReef Rock for sure. Great coloring especially under aquarium lighting. Looks super unnatural out of the tank in terms of colors but totally natural under aquarium light.

for normal man made rock no color: DYI making aragacrete from Portland cement. You can still find old school Portland at specialty construction places (Home Depot has not carried it near me in years) or online. Super simple, easy to make EXACTLY what you like. Only negative is the curing time. Used to be super common but this has faded as a fad. The more rock salt you add the more porous the rock.

 

[Ashish Patel]

if I had to pick carib-sea shapes is my fav but I don't like any of them for biological filteration, just a painted decorated block of cement!. The stuff I used to use like Pukani and Fiji was so porous that it would take days to dry out when left outside. This man made stuff dries out within 10 minutes which let me know it has very little surface area for biological filteration.