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View Full Version : Using base rock for new setup questions

Track Rat
12/18/2012, 10:22 AM
I will soon be setting up a red sea max 130d, but I can't decide if I want to use live or base rock. I guess my biggest concern is weather base rock can become as live as live rock. For example one thing I've always liked watching in my reef tanks are the feather dusters, worms, and other life forms that spring out of live rock. Can this happen with base rock? Do these life forms happen just from the bacteria in the rock or were they there when the rock was plucked from the ocean?

I'm not concerned about cycle time and not having coraline, those will come in time. My plan is to stock my new tank with base rock and add 1 or 2 pieces of live rock to seed it. What I want is my base rock to be just as diverse as live rock.

So maybe my real question is, where do all these life forms come from?
danil
12/18/2012, 12:43 PM
It comes from live rock. So you'll need to seed your base rock with good piece of live rock later on.
thegrun
12/18/2012, 05:09 PM
You will have a cycle (bacteria) with just base rock but no dusters or any other life forms. For that you need live rock,either a mix of base and live or all live rock.
Track Rat
12/19/2012, 03:04 AM
If I put a couple pieces of live rock in will things like feather dusters and other fauna spread to the base rock? I'm just trying to wrap my head around where these creatures are coming from.
Ghostbuster
12/19/2012, 03:16 AM
If I put a couple pieces of live rock in will things like feather dusters and other fauna spread to the base rock? I'm just trying to wrap my head around where these creatures are coming from.

Yes, the live rock creatures will populate your base rock in time... Check out your overflow boxes, if you have them, in a few months; you may see some small crustaceans starting to populate those areas too.
Track Rat
12/19/2012, 05:10 AM
Well I ordered 40 pounds of Pukani base rock from BRS, I know that is more than I'll need but I figure I'll have more pieces to choose from. Once the tank has cycled I'll throw in a good melon sized piece of LR from my current tank to try and spark some life.

Thanks for the help.