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Originally Posted by allendehl
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IT is sad that the information on live rock has become so skewed. The industry has changed so much in 30 years as what is available to you the hobbyist in the stores now is dead rock, fake rock, ceramic rock...ect.
Real live rock has been around and used for over 35 years in reef tanks. Bio diversity is a wonderful thing for a reef tank, unfortunately there is not enough real live rock from the ocean available, thus you as hobbyist are stuck with fake rock in your local stores.
All the life is beneficial for your reef tank, including macros. Like anything else some pruning of them is needed eventually but the benefit of them is immense in a saltwater tank.
The octopus will do fine, it is a gulf dwarf. I have sold thousands of the over the years and they are great and interesting critters for a real saltwater tank. Dr. Caldwell from University of Berkeley has done a lot of research on them over the years from specimens we have supplied him. Easy to keep, just keep it fed. They have a two year lifespan, yours is a Juvenal, most likely less than a year old.
The knee jerk reaction of real life on the rocks is a direct result of what is not available to you the hobbyist anymore in your stores. Like any anemone observed on live rock is instantly labeled, "Aptasia" horrible, kill it, remove it from your tank. Where in reality there are many, many anemones that occur on real live rock that are fine for saltwater tanks. You have been conditioned by the internet to "Kill" any anemone that pops up.
See that coral growing on the rock, and all the other life...it will do fine in a saltwater tank. Personally to me a saltwater tank is an mirror of what the real reef in the Gulf looks like, not a pile of white dead rock or painted rock.
To each his own.
and this email just came in as I was posting this.... so I will add it....this is what happens when real live rock and sand from the Gulf is used...
I'm sure you hear this all the time but hopefully you don't get tired of it: That rock and sand is amazing! I had set up my tank with dry rock but no sand yet. I found out about your live sand and decided that was the way to go. The tank had been cycling for about one month, was looking good but the water was still a little cloudy. I put in your sand and the couple pieces of rock I ordered, and within one day the water was crystal clear! And the live rock of course puts the dry rock to shame. If I ever set up another reef tank it will be 100% TBS rock and sand. Nothing beats mother nature!
Thanks again,
Jared