Is liverock really so good???

[cobergas]

+1 on the Cermedia. Using this in an area of a tank or even the sump with some lower flow and dropping some ZeroBak on it has worked for me. Once a week I take the Cermedia out and place the drops on it and put it back in the sump. I am not a fan of LR but understand that is has benefits to using it.

 

[phillrodrigo]

I help maintain a tank for this guy who has the puking rock. It seems to hold derititus pretty good. The way the rock is its almost impossible to get flow to every area. It was solved by a turkey baster and a tooth brush for certain spots I couldn't get with the baster. It is nice looking rock. I hate how they comment on the Tonga branch to me that rock is almost useless imho but some do love it. As long as you address the pores issues with flow I guess it shouldn't be much of a issue

 

[scardall]

Bulk Reef Supply has video on what rock is best to use and why. Live rock is like Russian Rulette. Can be fun to play, but does have it's hazards.
I would quarintine any live rock before you place in your tank.

 

[neuwave]

My concern is not, and never was with detritus somehow getting inside of the live rock. My concern is with it laying on the bottom of the tank, and all the other surfaces, porous, or not behind the rock structure. The detritus is not being forced inside of the rock, as best as I can tell, and it can collect on top of any type of rock if there is no flow to keep it in suspension.

I'm not saying detritus is being forced into the rock. Simply that any place of low flow could possibly become a problem (behind a rock, in a pore of a rock or top or wherever). I mentioned the pores and the back rock structure because most people tend to forget to place flow in these places. Has a higher probability than typing/describing each spot around the rock.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I hate how they comment on the Tonga branch to me that rock is almost useless imho but some do love it. As long as you address the pores issues with flow I guess it shouldn't be much of a issue

Why do you think it useless?

You are concerned about its pores?

 

[mrcoffee2]

Thanks for sharing. Insightful read.

 

[phillrodrigo]

Why do you think it useless?

You are concerned about its pores?

It has nothing to do with it being able to house bacteria I just think it's hard to make it look good in a tank. I'm sure a few have done it just not a fan. Anything with suface area will grow bacteria. It's just a personal preference

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It has nothing to do with it being able to house bacteria I just think it's hard to make it look good in a tank. I'm sure a few have done it just not a fan. Anything with suface area will grow bacteria. It's just a personal preference

OK, thanks.

 

[TJ's Reef]

This is a great thread topic, thanks for posting.

I could not imagine ever running a Reeftank without Live Rock and a sand bed being the center of my biological filtration. For me it's not only the aesthetic appeal (looking natural) but the ability to host such a abundant amount and diversity of life. Biodiversity is something I think most problem tanks are lacking, and is what I give great credit to for the stability of my own system. The majority of LR in my Reeftank has been in my systems for nearly 20 years and just the sponges present within are a major contributing factor to cleaning the water column of nutrients. With the invent of the high-flow prop style powerheads and even more recently 'wave maker' action pumps with controllers that give off a push-pull wave effect the need for blowing off detritus with a turkey baster in my tank has become mostly obsolete. With the ultra high bio-load I have and minimal WC's cannot imagine what type of mechanical filtration additions would be needed without Live Rock. As my Coral colonies have grown there was a need to remove some LR and place into sump/fuge. Which brings up another thought or philosophy of mine.... BALANCE, as long as everything is in balance light or heavy will greatly improve the systems overall stability.

Cheers, Todd

 

[GoReef165]

My 165 gal has been running for 5 years. I have a 4" DSB (approx. 350lbs) with a decent amount of LR. Everything was running great until about 6 months ago. I noticed lot's of detritus building up towards the back of my rock work. I was losing corals one at a time. Long story short, I had to take out most of my LR and syphon out ALL the detritus I could see, Including the overflow (which I had never done before move my rocks around, purchase an additional powerhead to keep my flow on high. Within the last few weeks I've seen a huge improvement. All my corals seem very happy.

After reading this thread any a few others about DSBs, BB, LR, etc. I'm not sure where I stand. If you didn't have a sand bed then you'd have to have LR...right? And if you ran a DSB, you'd have to have LR to mount corals right? Now, is there any true to having to much LR? IMO, you can't. The only way it could be bad is if you neglected your tank and let algae, detritus, etc. build up on it thus causing more algae, PO4 and nitrates.

I'm not sure there is an absolute answer for this question. I'm seeing that a lot of this hobby is "it's been working for me".