There will always be a debate between live and man made rock, but in my opinion its time to STOP. Please Do not use live rock.
By its very nature and its importance to the life that depend on it. It can never be a sustainable choice. The Reefs are under great pressure as it is from many other things, much more destructive an unsustainable than the Marine Aquarium Hobby. But that does not excuse our own responsibility. We should all work towards being part of the solution rather than the problem.
I understand the importance that Live rock may play, especially in the minds of more experienced reefers. The whole methodology of keeping reef animals was built around the Berlin Method and Live Rock. What we need to accept is that this was developed back in the 70`s`, even before I became an aquarist, and I`m no spring Chicken. The scientific understanding behind reef keeping has moved on enormously since then. Equipment, Foods and Dosing Products have all progressed at pace along side this newly gained knowledge. Testing and understanding the elements has improved with more accurate and broader testing methods.
IMO there is absolutely no reason to use live rock in the enclosed systems of our home aquariums. Using man made rock with a modern effective Bio Media is all that is required.
Seeding your rock with bacteria product identified as being instrumental in developing an effective Nitrogen Cycle, is sufficient to create a suitable environment for your animals. The increased surface area of modern bio media easily outweigh that of even the finest live rock.
With regards Biodiversity, (which is often quoted) I would surmise that this is in reference to Microbial Diversity. As a sustainable reefer, this is a crucial part to my own personal method. They are a number of excellent, proven products with sound scientific backing available to hobbyists. I will not list my particular choice but with a small amount of research many suitable products can be found. These products generally include a range of identified bacteria and bacterial accelerants or foods., along side amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
Diversity of other biology can include Zooplankton and Phytoplankton, again all readily available as a live source. Other animals will invariably be introduced once you start to add corals to your tank. I personally buy only cultured animals. I remove the coral from its base , dip re attach to a new temp base and place in quarantine for 45 days. Then I dip again inspect, clean and remount before placing into my DT. Even through this process I still introduce animals such as polychaetes sponges and coralline algaes to my tank. Nature will always find a way, but the importance is to limit the possibilities of introducing negative elements to our prized reef tanks. Simply placing a big chunk of the natural ocean into our reef tank without any effective inspection or dipping is IMO just asking for trouble.
I could go into the many pros of using a man made rock methodology and debate the differences, but to be honest. for me personally, the sustainable aspectis the key to my choice. More importantly it has been proven over a number of years now to be a very effective method of running a successful reef tank.
In conclusion, my advice to anyone setting up a new reef tank is, use man made rock. By all means take the advice of seasoned reefers but always be skeptical, ask for the science behind the statement and try to understand that science before you commit. Some of the great icons in our hobby all appear to follow this rule. They all question debate and explain there methodology. That is the sign of a source of valuable information.
Following an apparent successful method for a long period of time, does not necessarily mean that it is the most effective method available. Things change with time, Knowledge helps us move forward.
Keep sustainable and happy Reefing from across the pond.
. But the other thing im seeing is patience is key on man made rock. If you are patient and wait for a full cycle which could take years man made/dry rock should have plenty of diversity. I also know that alot of our algea problems are eather our own fault or the tank not being completely cycled and im not just talking about the nitrogen cycle. There has been two post of the benefits of like rock and diversity has been the biggest thing talked about. Both have pointed out there are other benafits to live rock but havent talked about the many just the one. So im curious what are the other benefits? This is what im realy looking for here.
Anything is possible - just remember we built one of the biggest rockets still to this date to break low earth orbit and land on the moon and return. Not much computer resources back then and sure less powerful than our cell phones today. We did it with pencil, paper, and drafting skills... My how times have changed.
