What Makes Live rock "Good Quality?"

Hi everyone. I'll welcome myself to the forum. I can see I'm going to spend a lot of time reading here instead of my school textbooks. Certainly a wealth of knowledge to be found here.

I apologize if this question has been asked multiple times, which I'm sure it has.

My situation is this; I just started my first salt water tank a week ago. I've had fresh water tanks for years, but I've always wanted a sea scape in my bedroom.

I bought a 25 gallon tank, and I've added live sand from my LFS, as well as 12 lbs of live rock that I picked up today. I realize this is an expensive hobby, but I just can't afford to fill my tank with rock that I'm paying $7/lb for, or maybe can't justify it. I'd rather spend that cash on a lighting setup.

I live in Fl, and I realize it's illegal to harvest my own live rock from the gulf. However, I live very close to the beach, and even in my own yard, I found a large piece of what seems to be cement that is VERY porous, and contains many, many pieces of shell, and other stuff that I can't identify, but is definitely from the ocean.

What makes a GOOD piece of live rock? If I place this piece of "rock" that I have found in my tank, will anything prevent it from hosting corals as well as the live rock that I purchased from the LFS?

I watched this video on youtube:

YouTube - DIY Live Rock - by Ed

My find looks very similar in texture to what this young man has created himself. Would putting this piece in my tank be a waste of time / mistake?

Thanks in Advance.

Brett

 

I would not put it in your tank since you don't know how it was created. "Good Live Rock" is coral that can host beneficial bacteria for the nitrogen cycle including bacteria that change nitrate to nitrogen. I would buy base rock for the rest of the rock in your tank.

Welcome to 3reef.

 

For those of you joining us that are new to the hobby - the best piece of advice you'll get around here as a saltwater newbie is 3Reef's slogan
"Go slow, let it grow."
And for those experianced hobbyists joining us - it's still good advice
good luck and post pics soon

 

besides the porousness of the rock and its previous location, a "good" piece of rock is a piece that works for you. this could be flat shelf rocks, branch rocks, base rocks, arches etc. personally i would look into some base rock. you already bought 12 lbs so the rock would weed very fast. try reefcleaners.org or marcorocks.com both great sites (cherry picked rock)

 

As long as the rock is limestone based and not silicate based or "lava" rock you should be fine. Good rock is porous and has lots of holes, nooks and crannies. All that makes "live rock" live is bacterial growth that transforms toxic ammonia and nitrite into non-toxic substances. If you are on a budget, you should have checked craigslist before. Many people sell rock there for pretty cheap. Also, you could have bought dry (base) rock for much cheaper on line. But you have what you have now. Good luck with the new tank.

 

no more live rock needed, use dry base rock instead from now on. I get all my rock and sand here: MarcoRocks

 

You can find live rock for under $7 Ib. Or ask your LPS if he has base rock (dry rock) That will probably be closer to $2/$3 a Ib since you already have enough live rock to seed that. I would stay away from the cement from your back yard. The guy in the video is using #3 Portland Cement which has already been proven to be usable as DIY live rock. Not all cement is safe.

 

I wrote this post hours before I actually posted it. I did in fact, place my find in the tank after a rigorous cleaning. Please don't think I have disregarded your advice, but I had already placed it in the tank. My mistake.

I'm not sure if I'm totally crazy, but to clean it, I placed it in a large pot on the cooker and boiled it for a good 15-20 minutes. Twice. I then rinsed it for another 10, and then, put it in the oven at 300 degrees until it was totally dry. I'm pretty sure anything that was calling it home, is now dead. I realize there may be more risk than just a biological one.

As I said, it's in the tank. If I need to take it out, I'll do it.

I've posted a picture of the setup, with the purchased live rock, as well as my cement piece.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/members/brew0688-albums-beginning-picture5528-initial-setup.html