A. Live rock is pieces of
dead coral skeletons which have been harvested from coral reef areas. In
the wild, live rock harbors both flora and fauna as well as beneficial
(biological) bacteria. In an aquarium, if properly cured, live rock will
continue to house both flora, fauna and bacteria.
Q. What is Base Rock?
A. Base rock is live rock (pieces of dead coral skeletons) without the biological growth on it and is therefore less expensive. Some base rock is quarried and comes from ancient reefs which are no longer anywhere near the ocean. In reef tanks, many aquarists place the less expensive base rock under their live rock and let nature populate it with growth which spreads from the live rock.
Q. Where does live rock come from?
A. Live rock is found in the reef areas of the oceans. Currently, most live rock used in the aquarium trade is harvested from the either the Caribbean or the Indo-Pacific areas. While it is illegal to harvest live rock in Hawaii, base rock is being quarried on the island of Oahu.
Q. What is curing?
A. Curing is the process of containing harvested live rock and allowing the dead and dying biological material which did not survive collection and shipping to decay. The dead material is then removed, leaving the surviving biological material on the rock. The curing process produces a great amount of toxins (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) which are harmful to saltwater aquariums and their occupants. There are several methods for curing live rock.
Q. Why cure live rock?
A. Curing allows the normal process of biological digestion to take place outside of the aquarium. Placing uncured live rock in an aquarium will produce toxins which are harmful to life in the aquarium.
Q. Will curing kill the desirable organisms on the live rock?
A. Most of the more fragile organisms will die off during the curing process. However, if properly cured, many invertebrates (i.e. Amphipods and Copepods) and corals will survive and, with proper care, flourish in the aquarium.
Q. What happens if live rock is not properly (completely) cured?
A. If not properly cured, the rock will continue to produce ammonia when placed in the aquarium. This ammonia is toxic and will harm tank occupants as well as cause the biological filter to go back into the cycling process.
A number of aquarists choose to utilize the curing process to cycle their new tanks with live rock.
Q. How do you know when live rock is cured?
A. When the contained live
rock no longer produces ammonia it is considered to be cured.
Q. Is all live rock the same?
A. Live rock harvested from different areas of the oceans have different characteristics. Since live rock comes from dead corals, the shape, texture and porosity of the live rock will reflect the corals which were endemic to the area at the time the rock was formed. Live rock will contain flora, fauna and Coralline algae which is endemic to the area from which it is harvested.
