Live rock and captive bred fish

[arrow crab]

There are enough of live rock vs dry rock threads in the search history to keep me entertained for hours. So pardon me for making another one, but I haven't found one that focuses on issues with captive bred fish.

It stands to reason, for me, that wild rock would overwhelm their delicate immune systems. Thus, they are better suited to a more sterile environment.

But is that really so? I would appreciate hearing about others' experiences with how well captive bred fish can deal with live rock, both Ora and Biota. That's assuming you get everything out of the rock that will eat them!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

There are enough of live rock vs dry rock threads in the search history to keep me entertained for hours. So pardon me for making another one, but I haven't found one that focuses on issues with captive bred fish.

It stands to reason, for me, that wild rock would overwhelm their delicate immune systems. Thus, they are better suited to a more sterile environment.

But is that really so? I would appreciate hearing about others' experiences with how well captive bred fish can deal with live rock, both Ora and Biota. That's assuming you get everything out of the rock that will eat them!

Immune responses in fish are typically pretty weak overall. Captive fish have been raised in water with higher bacterial counts in any event.
I would say that wild live rock, as long as it doesn’t have pests in it, would not be an issue with captive raised fish.
Jay