why doesn't my rock have anything?

[KarlBob]

No, it can't all be phosphate-bearing rock. The trouble is that you can't tell by looking at a piece of dry rock whether it contains phosphate, or copper, or all kinds of other bad things. Not all quarried rock contains phosphate, and not all live rock contains aiptasia and mantis shrimp. Either way, let the buyer beware.

[Whys]

WooHoo! No more fleas!

[cdbias2]

Aren't you having a little bubble algae problem?
Did you consider that a hitchhicker?

[Larah]

Caveat Emptor baby!!!

[Whys]

Originally posted by cdbias2
Aren't you having a little bubble algae problem?
Did you consider that a hitchhicker?

Actually, it's not a problem at all. But I'm touched that you remember.

My emerald loves the stuff, thus it's only present in my fuge. If I wanted, I could easily eliminate it entirely by either placing him the fuge, or simply plucking the few tiny bubbles there are off the rock. This is the purpose of having biodiversity. It allows the biotope to function naturally within the context of good husbandry.

I actually have a much more systemic problem with red flatworms. I wish I could say flatworm exit does the trick, but it's a bit like rock soup. Makes me wonder how it succeeds any better as a dip. {shrug}

In any event, my point remains. Killing all the life defeats the point of liverock. I mean sure, a salted garden will have fewer snails, but what would be the point of that? If there was a practical natural solution to flatworms, I would happily employ it before chemicals. Just as I would happily employ good husbandry over a scorched earth policy.

It's a matter of style, I realize. But like another commentator in this thread, you'd be surprised just how much time I spend looking at the stuff in the sandbed. Vibrant and robust biotopes are of fundamental interest to me in this hobby. What you advocate works well if all you want is a nice background of rockwork to hold your corals behind your fish while your skimmer does most of the work. I on the other hand own an ecosphere with a 10 year old brineshrimp still living in it. I'm after more than just a stage for larger actors. I'm looking for a reef in a bottle, with all its detail, and I believe my fish and corals will remain healthy for it.

Yes, it's work. That's part of the hobby. Yes, power washing, cooking, and chemicals might be easier than weeding by hand or finding a natural balance. But that would defeat the point for me, and as far as I'm concerned, the results are worth the extra effort.

Just my 2 cents. I'm not looking to lead a crusade. Peace.

[jenglish]

I think even 5 years ago you got much more "live" liverock from fiji. You could get stuff purple and covered in stuff. I avoid Florida Aquacultured LR due to the large amount of gorilla crabs, aiptasia and mantis shrimp.

[Whys]

I literally bought the last 40 pounds fiji premium available in this town. I don't expect to see anymore, as the nation of Fiji is facing international sanctions in response to protracted military rule. The last stuff I bought looks much more like cdbias's photos and the only live stuff that came out of it was a small crab, large aiptasia, and black algae. When faced with that, I do understand those who cook their rock. Personally, I would have been much happier to buy more fiji premium and weed it by hand. But I also agree with jenglish in that even the "premium" stuff isn't what it used to be. The fact is, as a species, we're doing a terrific job of destroying what we love. I guess it should come as no surprise that our response to poor results is more abuse.

I was a big advocate of the biosphere2 project. Turned out to be horrible science, but their intentions were valid. Biology and ecology are technology. It has a 4 billion year lead time of research and development. It has been peer reviewed by endless predators and hasn't fake one equation. It is without a doubt more knowledgeable, more resourceful, and more capable than anything we ourselves have done. Understanding it is the holy grail of human evolution.

Now that's a crusade.

[besimon]

THis is a very interesting thread. I'm with alot of you...th emore life the better! One tip though...if you want to go critter hunting at night, the red led flashlights work best for me...as it does not spook the critters as easy!

[WhoDey64]

Originally posted by Whys
WooHoo! No more fleas!

[cdbias2]

I put 10 emeralds in my 90g with no effect on the bubble agae. I may try a foxface next. Any time I can try a natural approach I do.
No fleas was funny.
I guess I got started with this idea from some of the bullet proof tank articles. I think those are easier reading than in practice.
I just dont think it's that tough to seed dead rock.
Dont you think your skimmer is doing most of the work anyway?

[Kur]

Originally posted by Whys
[B]

I was a big advocate of the biosphere2 project. Turned out to be horrible science, but their intentions were valid.

Good intentions aren't good enough. Even as a child I looked at that thing and said "Isn't the moisture from the rainforest going to collect on the ceiling and make too much rain everywhere else?" Sure enough...

You said it, it was horrible science. The premise of the entire experiment was flawed from day one. So why should we give them any credit for their intentions? Their intentions didn't amount to anything other than wasted money and a large embarrassment to the scientific community. The only thing we really learned is that 8 people can live in a giant greenhouse for 2 years... barely


Anyway,

I bought one piece of live rock from a lfs. Never again. There is nothing on it.

I get all my rock now from established aquariums. A local guy travels around breaking down established aquariums and collecting all the goodies. He sells the rock for $3.50-$4.00 a pound and it is covered in purple, red, orange, tons of worms, brittle stars, tiny starfish, feather dusters, and stuff that I don't know what they are. I even got 2 free hermit crabs out of it.

I see some new critter nearly everyday.

I've been doing a lot of reading on bristle worms. It seems it is actually pretty difficult to get the ones that do any harm. And the ones that don't do harm actually do a lot of good.