Identify rock please?

[Ricky1066]

This might be another dumb question But after spending $10 a pd on rock I forget what they are I knwo the lfs charged me same price for all when after coming here i was told I should have gotten charged different as they were all different rocks

the one on the left I really like it has alot of holes and that is where My new royal gamma is hiddinig and my blenny seems to go right through it?

the big one with the red in the middle he said to use and my base rock but it was lr also
the others have white looks like a gloss over them
I would just like to knwo what they are?

also I just bought 2 cleaner shrimps and really dont have any cave areas as you can see I hear they need them to molt should i move stuff around to make cave or will they find a spot?

[mabublitz]

i've read that your shrimp like to molt in the open for a distraction so they can go hide and wait for there shell to harden. so you do need to make a cave or crevas or two for them to hide in. as for the rock. i can't really help you out on that one.

[mabublitz]

if i were to guess i would say the white glossy ones are something like tuffa rock, or something like that i may have the word wrong maybe someone could help out. from what i know about it. it's just a plain rock with no organisms on it,

[dsn112]

Sorry but 10 a pound = you got hosed. Even if it was tonga branch covered in coraline and cured with no cycle, It would be close to 10, but not quite. Three LFS's in my area are 2.89/lb for walt smith fiji Live Rock.

Your rock looks good in your tank, but for what you spent you could have done way better.

All this was 2.89/lb

[Ricky1066]

Well we live and learn I was told here in Ny for fully cured rock that is not great but not bad

Now I have to figure how to move my rocks to make a cave I knwo my fish have the tank memorized they swim so fast through it and duck and dodge under the rocks I hate to move it?

[Teen Aquarist]

Move the rocks all around the fish will do the same thing with the new rocks in a day. But I think you already have a nice little hole for you shrimp on the right side of your pic.

Edite BTW you payed way way to much for that rock and dont go back to that LFS, I payed $5.90 for my tonga branch with tons of coraline on it.

[dsn112]

You could change your rocks once a week and they would be ok. Caves to fish are tiny. They can swim full speed through holes that you can't even see. Just set it up to your liking and don't worry about it. The fish will be fine.

[Ricky1066]

OK guys thanks But I guess no one knows what kind of rockit is

[Teen Aquarist]

It looks like base rock.

[Ricky1066]

Base rock is not alive it is dead it is not

[Teen Aquarist]

The base rock i have seen has very little life and not very many holes and mostly solid rock. Like i said before it looks like base rock, nothing special.

[Teen Aquarist]

"Although there is little coralline algae coverage, the rock is teeming with beneficial bacteria and micro-fauna."

This is what LiveAquaria has to say about base rock.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=2391

[teamdulski]

Originally posted by Teen Aquarist
The base rock i have seen has very little life and not very many holes and mostly solid rock. Like i said before it looks like base rock, nothing special.

I second that. You got hosed.

[pgaschulz]

Base Rock that is the way it looks to me I paid $1.50 a pound for mine...

And I am right outside of chicago....Just move the rock around the fish will be fine

[styndall]

Anyone who claims to be able to tell live rock from base rock with a quick glance at a small internet photo is vastly over-estimating their recognition abilities.

What you have is probably live rock of some variety. The appearance of rock and the quantity of colorful algae doesn't make a rock live -- the presence of bacteria to metabolize ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate is all that matters. You can't see bacteria without a microscope unless they're in huge colonies, so looking at your rock won't help. In essence, these guys are talking big about your rock, but they've got no way to know what they're talking about. If they came to your house, scraped a bit of scum off the surface of your rock, cultured the swab, and checked the species types in the culture, then they'd have some legs to stand on. As it is, they've got nothing.

Live rock cost me around seven dollars a pound when I set up a tank last year, and since prices vary so much from region to region, ten doesn't sound unreasonable, especially given the price of everything else in New York.

[reefing102]

if your looking for an actual type of rock my guess is a mix of fiji and tonga rock

[Teen Aquarist]

Originally posted by styndall
Anyone who claims to be able to tell live rock from base rock with a quick glance at a small internet photo is vastly over-estimating their recognition abilities.

What you have is probably live rock of some variety. The appearance of rock and the quantity of colorful algae doesn't make a rock live -- the presence of bacteria to metabolize ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate is all that matters. You can't see bacteria without a microscope unless they're in huge colonies, so looking at your rock won't help. In essence, these guys are talking big about your rock, but they've got no way to know what they're talking about. If they came to your house, scraped a bit of scum off the surface of your rock, cultured the swab, and checked the species types in the culture, then they'd have some legs to stand on. As it is, they've got nothing.

Live rock cost me around seven dollars a pound when I set up a tank last year, and since prices vary so much from region to region, ten doesn't sound unreasonable, especially given the price of everything else in New York.

You can see with ease that the rock is very dence. You do not need to swab and culture to look at a rock. We did not say what place the rock came from just that it was very dence and it was base rock. Base rock can be from many diff places and still be base rock.

[styndall]

Originally posted by Teen Aquarist
You can see with ease that the rock is very dence. You do not need to swab and culture to look at a rock. We did not say what place the rock came from just that it was very dence and it was base rock. Base rock can be from many diff places and still be base rock.

Maybe you're confused as to what live rock and base rock are.

Live rock is rock colonized by bacteria that metabolize ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Base rock is just rock, uncolonized by anything.

The density of a rock doesn't matter in classifying it as live or base -- rock with a larger surface area can support more bacteria for its weight than less dense rock, but that doesn't mean it's more 'live' particularly. A concrete block could become live if you left in the ocean or your aquarium for long enough. Notice that I make no claims about where the rock comes from. Granite quarried from the rockies can be turned into live rock (Tampa Bay Saltwater does something similar by 'farming' quarried rock, leaving it in the ocean for a time so it acquires the bacteria necessary for filtration), and dried tonga or fiji reef rock is sold as base rock all the time (e.g. most Marco rocks are dried Fiji, Tonga, or Australian rock). You can't just look at a rock and tell whether it's live.

Most fish shops sell both live and base rock. Usually, the live is curing in vats or cured in tanks, and the base rock is sitting dry on a shelf. Barring some really unlikely intentional fraud efforts on the part of the OP's fish shop, the rock he got is live rock.

[20jlr]

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[20jlr]

Originally posted by pgaschulz
Base Rock that is the way it looks to me I paid $1.50 a pound for mine...

And I am right outside of chicago....Just move the rock around the fish will be fine

Where did you get your rock from I to live just south of chicago.

[Teen Aquarist]

Thats odd live aquaria says base rock is live http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/...cfm?pCatId=2391

Originally posted by styndall
Maybe you're confused as to what live rock and base rock are.

Live rock is rock colonized by bacteria that metabolize ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Base rock is just rock, uncolonized by anything.

The density of a rock doesn't matter in classifying it as live or base -- rock with a larger surface area can support more bacteria for its weight than less dense rock, but that doesn't mean it's more 'live' particularly. A concrete block could become live if you left in the ocean or your aquarium for long enough. Notice that I make no claims about where the rock comes from. Granite quarried from the rockies can be turned into live rock (Tampa Bay Saltwater does something similar by 'farming' quarried rock, leaving it in the ocean for a time so it acquires the bacteria necessary for filtration), and dried tonga or fiji reef rock is sold as base rock all the time (e.g. most Marco rocks are dried Fiji, Tonga, or Australian rock). You can't just look at a rock and tell whether it's live.

Most fish shops sell both live and base rock. Usually, the live is curing in vats or cured in tanks, and the base rock is sitting dry on a shelf. Barring some really unlikely intentional fraud efforts on the part of the OP's fish shop, the rock he got is live rock.

[Teen Aquarist]

I think you are thinking of dead rock that is sold dry but base rock is sold from tanks.

Originally posted by styndall
Maybe you're confused as to what live rock and base rock are.

Live rock is rock colonized by bacteria that metabolize ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Base rock is just rock, uncolonized by anything.

The density of a rock doesn't matter in classifying it as live or base -- rock with a larger surface area can support more bacteria for its weight than less dense rock, but that doesn't mean it's more 'live' particularly. A concrete block could become live if you left in the ocean or your aquarium for long enough. Notice that I make no claims about where the rock comes from. Granite quarried from the rockies can be turned into live rock (Tampa Bay Saltwater does something similar by 'farming' quarried rock, leaving it in the ocean for a time so it acquires the bacteria necessary for filtration), and dried tonga or fiji reef rock is sold as base rock all the time (e.g. most Marco rocks are dried Fiji, Tonga, or Australian rock). You can't just look at a rock and tell whether it's live.

Most fish shops sell both live and base rock. Usually, the live is curing in vats or cured in tanks, and the base rock is sitting dry on a shelf. Barring some really unlikely intentional fraud efforts on the part of the OP's fish shop, the rock he got is live rock.

[NewFish3]

20jlr,

Iam in the plainfield / naperville. If you are in frankfort, have you ever been to aquatica in tinley park. They are on oak park ave.

I found this place a few weeks ago......Their awsome & great Live Rock

[styndall]

Originally posted by Teen Aquarist
Thats odd live aquaria says base rock is live http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/...cfm?pCatId=2391

I think you are thinking of dead rock that is sold dry but base rock is sold from tanks.

Note that the liveaquaria site is selling the rock as "foundation rock" not base rock. It's something rather different and unique to their company. Base rock is typically sold dry. No company sells anything called "dead rock." Instead, you'll see "base rock" or "dry rock" stacked dry on shelves.

I'll quote the wikipedia entry for base rock:

"Base Rock is a generic term for aragonite rocks which have no bacterial organisms or coralline algae growing in or on the rock. Base rock is used often used as filler rock in the marine aquarium as it is much cheaper to purchase than live rock."

Seriously, you can't tell live rock from base rock by looking at it. You can try hard, but you'll get nowhere.

[Teen Aquarist]

well my LFS sells dead rock thats dry and base rock that is not pretty but live. maybe its diff in other states.