Marshall Island Rock Discussion about Radiation

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along as this is an interesting topic of discussion!

 

[mijan]

I had both Fiji and Marshall Island rock. Sadly got rid of it all due to a cross country move in the early 2000s. I'm aware of the testing history but I'm not worried about it.

Marshall Island rock was the primo rock you could buy back in the day at least it was in my area of NY. $8.99 a lb for Marshall and $6.99 a lb for Fiji. When you saw them side by side you could tell why. The Marshall Island rock coloration was just more vibrant then the Fiji.

Both were fantastic and much better than anything available today.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

By coloration do you mean coralline cover or what precisely?

I had both Fiji and Marshall Island rock. Sadly got rid of it all due to a cross country move in the early 2000s. I'm aware of the testing history but I'm not worried about it.

Marshall Island rock was the primo rock you could buy back in the day at least it was in my area of NY. $8.99 a lb for Marshall and $6.99 a lb for Fiji. When you saw them side by side you could tell why. The Marshall Island rock coloration was just more vibrant then the Fiji.

Both were fantastic and much better than anything available today.

 

[mijan]

By coloration do you mean coralline cover or what precisely?

Yes. The coralline was much brighter

 

[PhishMonger84]

totally tangential but metal sunk prior to dropping the H bomb is highly desirable as well due to the lower levels of radiation.

interesting topic!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

In that case you could probably still get similar but I don't know where you could find it where you are. Indonesian live rock has one of the most beautiful shades of purple I've ever seen and is actually some of (if not) the most biodiverse on Earth in terms of bacterial diversity.

Yes. The coralline was much brighter

 

[mijan]

@livinlifeinBKK thanks for the heads up, I just might look into it

 

[Mark3]

Great information being shared on this topic! I still would love to see some true Marshall Island Rocks next to a Geiger counter to satisfy my scientific curiosity. The Marshall Islands are rated as one of the most toxic places on earth because of all of the nukes that were detonated there. However, as some have stated in this thread, it is home to such a rich diversity of reef life. Makes you wonder just a bit...

Where are you located... My tank is full of rock that was called Fiji rock ...From back in the 80s and 90s... Haven't added any rock since, other than just a few little pieces of rock with coral attached or something like that...90% Fiji rock still in use.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Where are you located... My tank is full of rock that was called Fiji rock ...From back in the 80s and 90s... Haven't added any rock since, other than just a few little pieces of rock with coral attached or something like that...90% Fiji rock still in use.

This is where I feel things get blurry. I came after this generation that had open access to these rock sources but wasnt half of what made it so sought after the fact it was live ocean rock? Just because it came from Fiji doesn't mean much if it's dried unless you're referring to the structure or shape of the rock. Is that what you mean?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok, I must've been mixed up between studies...like I said it was a really long time ago but regardless,if the majority of people in that area haven't suffered to any great extent (that we publicly are aware of) I really don't think live rock would be a concern. (OP said is more just curiosity though)

I think there are multiple studies, one of which dealt with examining baby teeth after bomb tests.

Jay

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I think there are multiple studies, one of which dealt with examining baby teeth after bomb tests.

Jay

Possibly...it's something I haven't had a personal interest into researching in a long time...so many things pop up in life that require attention it's hard to dedicate time to research of interest at times, let alone something that isn't particularly of interest to you although it may be of importance like this topic

 

[ClownWrangler]

Just get some glow fish and put them next to it and see if they glow.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Indonesian live rock has one of the most beautiful shades of purple I've ever seen and is actually some of (if not) the most biodiverse on Earth in terms of bacterial diversity.

Has this been studied or is this a subjective appraisal based on the source location being within the coral triangle? Not disagreeing, just asking.

 

[lilzbra]

Not to side track the thread, but I probably should mention that starting this thread was my first post to these forums... I am an old school reefer who started in the early 1980's, and never really stopped learning and evolving my systems over that time. Most of my knowledge came from trial and error, classic reefing books, and the early internet sites like wet web media, garf, and a few IRC chat rooms. I figured I would give this R2R thing a try since it seems to be where all the cool kids are hanging out these days !

Anyway back to your regular schedule programming... some nice conversation here about this topic, however I still have not seen anyone offer up a piece of Marshall Island rock for testing. We can toss out anecdotal evidence all we want, and postulate theories... but until we have a verified piece of MI rock in hand and a Geiger counter to see the results we are all just guessing. I am not saying the information folks are offering up is not good... much of it has been very enlightening! However, to put this to bed we need the proof!

 

[FUNGI]

How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

The U.S. buried nuclear waste in the Pacific after WWII. It’s close to resurfacing.

www.latimes.com

Just saying......

 

[lilzbra]

How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

The U.S. buried nuclear waste in the Pacific after WWII. It’s close to resurfacing.

www.latimes.com

Just saying......

Lots of stuff out there on this... I did not post links because I was unsure of the policies. A bit of searching goes a long way on that topic!

 

[T Carey]

Great information being shared on this topic! I still would love to see some true Marshall Island Rocks next to a Geiger counter to satisfy my scientific curiosity. The Marshall Islands are rated as one of the most toxic places on earth because of all of the nukes that were detonated there. However, as some have stated in this thread, it is home to such a rich diversity of reef life. Makes you wonder just a bit...

You have to distinguish which of the Marshall Islands you are talking about as a previous poster discussed. I spent 30 days on Kwajalein and the scuba tank house there was the largest in the world at the time. Diving around Kwaj and the adjacent islands was fantactic. The islands that were used for the bomb tests were quite a distance away from Kwaj.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Has this been studied or is this a subjective appraisal based on the source location being within the coral triangle? Not disagreeing, just asking.

Yes it has been studied. It's a fairly well known fact actually. Note, I'm not saying all of Indonesia, but as part of the coral triangle it has approximately 10X the biodiversity of the GBR.

 

[lilzbra]

You have to distinguish which of the Marshall Islands you are talking about as a previous poster discussed. I spent 30 days on Kwajalein and the scuba tank house there was the largest in the world at the time. Diving around Kwaj and the adjacent islands was fantactic. The islands that were used for the bomb tests were quite a distance away from Kwaj.

I guess we would have to have a sample from each of the major collection spots during the times when they were exporting rock out in mass. It would probably be easier to fly out there and collect it from each reef rather than try to ID it from 30 year old rock sitting in someone's tank. However, it is still an interesting thought experiment.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Yes it has been studied. It's a fairly well known fact actually. Note, I'm not saying all of Indonesia, but as part of the coral triangle it has approximately 10X the biodiversity of the GBR.

Ok, I thought that’s what you might have been referencing. Biodiversity of the coral triangle in general, rather than specific bacterial biodiversity of Indo live rock.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in that zone over the last 25 years, from Nth Sumatra, through East Nusa Tenggara, PNG and the Solomons.

Best live rock I’ve handled while diving for a feed with the locals has been on the Bismarck Archipelago in PNG and NE coast of Santa Isabel, Solomons. Incredible looking stuff.