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View Full Version : synthetic live rock

krisko
02/15/2010, 08:24 PM
Is there such a thing as synthetic live rock? I just bought 200lbs of live rock from a guy for $50 bucks it was chillen in his bath tube he wanted to get rid of it. The guy at the fish store told him it was synthic live rock, But it looks and feels like live rock. Will it still do its purpose as live rock even if it is synthetic? When I broke it up it fell apart like live rock. I'm trying to figure out how it could be synthic.
Octoshark
02/15/2010, 08:26 PM
When they say "synthetic" they probably just mean it was regular dry rock that was seeded with bacteria to make it live rock. Do you have a picture of it?
Octoshark
02/15/2010, 08:27 PM
Was the rock kind of like this: http://www.marcorocks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=96&HS=1
anj1204
02/15/2010, 09:04 PM
To me dry rock is just that, dry rock. Rock that has not been seeded with coraline algea or bacteria and organisms living with in it. Synthetic rock could be man made by cement. Either way, if they are both seeded with established live rock they will grow to be live rock. One thing you may want to be sure about is, if it is man made rock, is that it has been cured long enough or your PH could be through the roof.
krisko
02/15/2010, 09:12 PM
No it looks better then that.

here are some pics http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz217/relicalive/2010-02-15185204.jpghttp://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz217/relicalive/2010-02-15185232.jpghttp://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz217/relicalive/2010-02-15185214.jpg
krisko
02/15/2010, 09:22 PM
I got all this rock plus another 100 pounds not shown in the pictures for 50 bucks I figured if it was real or not it was a good deal. But when I was breaking it apart it was falling apart just real live rock. So I have no idea. I hope it works out good in my tank. I put a peice of live rock from my other tank into there to seed all this rock.
brycerb
02/15/2010, 09:33 PM
Maybe he meant it is man made, like DIY live rock.
Daimyo68
02/15/2010, 11:15 PM
Looks like Base Rock imo.
lordofthereef
02/16/2010, 02:02 AM
I also think that is just baserock. 50 cents a pound, not a terrible deal, although it doesn't look terribly porous.
Jstdv8
02/16/2010, 02:41 AM
yep baserock, you'd do well to get some additional LR that is higher end like fiji premium to give yourself some rock that is more porus for on top of all the base rock you have there.
krisko
02/16/2010, 08:15 AM
How much live rock would u guys recommend that I have? Right now I have 100lbs of base rock. Think another 30-40 pounds of LR would be enough?
lordofthereef
02/16/2010, 11:53 AM
How big is the tank? Looks to be around 100g? You can definitely go with little to no actual live rock when starting your system. It just needs to be seeded, which can be done with some starter cultures or a few pieces of established rock. Again, the worry I have is that the rock you have there just doesn't look porous at all. It may just be the picture though.
sfilipowski
02/16/2010, 12:36 PM
looks similar to what i got but is now baserock cause it has no life. When you say man made it is also known as aquacultured. So it is man made but then placed in the ocean (rock farm) for 3 or more yrs. and then becomes live rock. I chose this as some people do who wish to not disturb or take from the REEF. Another advantage of this rock is it also seems to stack together more easily without the use of pvc or rods or whatever people use to create more stability. Don't know for sure what you got but the round piece looks the same as a piece that I have.
brgmini
02/16/2010, 06:48 PM
Is there any real down side to starting a tank this way (synthetic rock seeded with real live rock)? If it is cheaper and just means that you have to wait a couple moths for the seed to spread to the base rock then I may go this route. I just want to make sure in the end it will provide the same amount of biological filtration with out any other issues.

Thanks for any help. I am new at this and just trying to figure out the whole live rock thing.

PS I have a 55g tank and I am doing fish only.
lordofthereef
02/16/2010, 07:37 PM
Is there any real down side to starting a tank this way (synthetic rock seeded with real live rock)? If it is cheaper and just means that you have to wait a couple moths for the seed to spread to the base rock then I may go this route. I just want to make sure in the end it will provide the same amount of biological filtration with out any other issues.

Thanks for any help. I am new at this and just trying to figure out the whole live rock thing.

PS I have a 55g tank and I am doing fish only.

In short, no it doesn't hurt to use baserock and just seeded.