Live rock question?

Question

Can live rock be used in a fresh water tropical tank? or a Brackish tank that isn't full salt water?

Answer 1

Not the live rock you see for sale in fish stores or online. This type of live rock is sold strictly for saltwater use.

It's important to understand, though, what live rock actually is and how it's used. All live rock means is that it has the necessary living bacteria for cycling the toxic ammonia and nitrite in your tank by converting these to nitrate. All the sponges, snails, shrimp, algae, and other marine life are just a bonus, and these won't survive in the lower salinity of a brackish or freshwater tank.

That doesn't mean you can't make your own live rock for use in these though. All you would need is to add appropriate types of rock to the tanks as they're cycling. For a saltwater or brackish tank, you should use a carbonate rock so it will help buffer your pH - this could be any of the types sold as lace rock, base rock, travertive, moon rock, or reef rock. And of these will be porous and fizz when a little vinegar is dripped on them (the carbonate reacts with the acid and produces bubbles). If the tank is a freshwater one, you may not want to use carbonates unless your fish are a type that needs higher pH and/or hard water (mostly African cichlids). In this case, you'll want inert rock that won't change your water chemistry. Most of the sandstones or volcanic "tufa" would work here. The more porous of rock you can find, the more surface area you'll have for bacteria to colonize. You may not get all the other living organisms that you'll see on the marine live rock, but you will get the bacteria, as well as other small orgainisms like rotifers, paramecium, microworms, and others that are a food source for fry. You can also add moss (Java moss) or Java fern by using thread to tie the plants to the rocks until they take hold (if cotton thread is used, it will eventually rot and fall off on it's own). Both of these will also do okay in brackish water as long as the salinity doesn't get too high.

Answer 2

Use them all the time. Be sure to wash them good in plain water.

There is a picture in the Foster and Smith catalog and the tank is set up with the thicker slab rock so that all the fish have their nicks and crannies. Really looks neat. We live near Foster and Smith so we can get all the advice we need first hand.

Don't know about partial salter water tanks.

Let me warn you about the rocks. You'll probably go rock hunting and come home with all shapes and sizes. There's always a better one out there. Have one rock in the tank right now. You can do some really beautiful settings with live rock.

Good luck with rock searching. Remember they're heavy and you don't want to break your back. You'll probably do what I do. See a rock, pick it up, take it home.

Happy rocking.

Answer 3

Not really no. Think of live rock as a fish since it is a living organism. There are from reefs in the ocean and are saltwater organisms. It may live for a while but it will die soon. Brackish will be better than freshwater but still not enough.

Answer 4

Limestone isn't so sturdy as that's a sturdy rock, no tiny holes and cracks like coral rock, So it won't be able to assist the micro organism stay rock can. you could desire to place it contained in the tank devoid of inflicting any harm, in spite of the shown fact that it is going to in basic terms be ever be a rock. Base rock on the different hand is an identical style of lifeless coral as stay rock, it basically does not have the micro organism, algae and so on that "stay rock" does, by using fact it hasn't been sitting contained in the sea. the backside rock you could upload alongside with the stay rock, and the microscopic existence will steadily colonise the backside rock, and at last convert it to "stay". same is that in case you threw it contained in the sea beside a heap of organic stay rock. Ian

Answer 5

it will not live unless you just want it in your tank then it would just look like rocks

Answer 6

no, live rock don't live in a fresh and salt water.