Well I'm thinking of starting up a marine tank however I can see that the hobby is quite costly, and so I've decided to make DIY live rock to cut on cost's, I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject but there are a few things that are still a mystery to me.
Yes, it's an expensive hobby. So is golf, or boating, or 4x4 trucks, or motorcycles, or alcohol ..............................
Let's clarify a few things first:
Live rock is any rock that came from the ocean and it still wet. It's been kept wet and protected from drying out. It's covered in beneficial bacteria and other small life forms that will provide most of the filtration in your tank.
Dry rock or base rock (same thing) is usually live rock that got dried out and is now dead. It could be covered in dried out crusty stuff. It could be clean and free of debris. Dry rock TURNS INTO live rock all by itself. All you need to do is scrub the crusty stuff off the outside with a soft plastic brush and then place it in your tank. The beneficial bacteria and small animals will naturally colonize and spread over the entire surface of the rock inside your tank. It's magic!! Now ya got LIVE rock. :mrgreen:
1. do I have to use a special rock.
YES. You really need to use rocks that are from the ocean. Live rock is cultured in the oceans for distribution to marine aquarium enthusiasts - it is then collected and sold retail to you at an exorbitant price.
What kind of rocks do you NOT want to use?
Anything that wasn't originally in the ocean IMO.
Home made rocks IMO
I have literally hundreds of tonnes worth of rocks that look allot like base rock and are incredibly porous would I be able to use these.
I wouldn't.
2. how do I make live rock "live".
The short answer -- put it in your tank. Live just means it is coated in beneficial bacteria and small life forms. These will grow and coat the surface of the rocks in your tank, naturally. You don't need to do anything to turn dry rock into live rock. Put it in the tank and sit back. Have a beer. Wait. It'll all be live rock eventually.
There's DRY base rock that is dried out and can be used to build the base of your rock pile. It's been in the ocean before - or maybe in somebody else's tank before - but it's dry as a cracker now and there ain't anything alive on it anymore.
Lots of people use dry base rock to build the rock pile in their tanks. Then you only need to spend maybe $10 or $20 on a SINGLE piece of "live rock" from your local fish store. The good bacteria and other life forms are already on that one piece of rock. By placing that one piece into your tank full of dry rock - you are "seeding" the dry rock. The good bacteria from the one piece of live rock will spread out and soon cover all your base rock.
how do I get all the little crabs bacteria plankton and mantis shrimp (well maybe not them) into my rocks.
See above. They grow naturally. Well, maybe not crabs - those are inverts and you will have to purchase them. Some people find mantis shrimp on their rocks. Some call it lucky - I'd call it a curse. Would NEVER have a mantis shrimp in my home.
Dry rock becomes live rock as it is colonized in your tank.
remember I'm a complete newb to this so be nice.
You came to the right place. Very helpful and knowledgeable people on this site. Pay no attention to Biff - none of us do. :mrgreen:
