Does anyone collect real live rock or am I the only one?

[klc]

Does anyone else collect real live rock when they come across it, or is this just something that I do? I rummaged through my LFS rock storage tanks recently and picked out these gems. There was a lot of wet "dry rock" in there too but I managed to pick all of this out of the tanks, this is mostly Fiji stuff. I put it into a 40b for now until I figure out what kind of project to do next. I've been feeding it a cube of mysis once a week to keep all of the critters nourished. There is a ton of pods and things in this tank now. (yes there are some aiptasia and vermatid snails but for the most part they are easy to deal with) I'll continue to buy more as I come across it.

I know the Florida rock has some good stuff on it, but it's still not quite equivalent
to what was available 20 years ago.

Anyone else share this fascination with me?

 

[StatelineReefer]

I love finding the old, heavily porous rock when I come across it, and I will gladly pay a premium for it as a filtration medium, but I find that a lot of the old rock is usually heavy with undesireables and due to neglect or intentional disuse no longer has the life on it that would make it what we would consider 20 years ago to be 'live'. It's merely 'ocean rock'.

 

[Stephen Glover]

I still use the fiji rock I got from Walt Smith in the early 2000’s. I love the look of it.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Yes! I love real live ocean rock! Especially the stuff we get over here that was in the Indo pacific a week or less ago. I'd post pics to show you but feel like people are tired of seeing them by now haha.

 

[90's reefer]

I look for old dead live rock. I then put it in my 45's sump and return it to live mode. No unwanteds and it will be covered in corraline.
Takes 6 month-1 year. You can then start a tank with nice looking rock and not brite white dead ones.
I colorup brite white 4" tile and then use them in other systems the same way.

 

[Derrick0580]

I just scored around 200 lbs of actual old school live rock for free 99. My lfs broke down a 200 gallon display that had the rock in it back when I was in the hobby in the early 2000’s! Unfortunately it was a complete disaster, covered in toxic green palys, sludge, and hydroids. It’s in a brute and a couple buckets on the back deck soaking in strong bleach water. Only problem is that after 4-5 days the palys were still there, does anyone know if I need to pull it and let everything dry completely out?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I just scored around 200 lbs of actual old school live rock for free 99b. My lfs broke down a 200 gallon display that had the rock in it back when I was in the hobby in the early 2000’s! Unfortunately it was a complete disaster, covered in toxic green palys, sludge, and hydroids. It’s in a brute and a couple buckets on the back deck soaking in strong bleach water. Only problem is that after 4-5 days the palys were still there, does anyone know if I need to pull it and let everything dry completely out?

It won't be live rock if you dry it out though...

 

[Derrick0580]

It won't be live rock if you dry it out though...

Its already in bleach water so that is out the window. But it still has that live rock look compared to todays man made stuff!

 

[j.falk]

I've always loved the look of Fiji live rock. It's my all time favorite rock for reef aquariums.

 

[dadnjesse]

Put it in some muriatic acid that will kill everything.

 

[MnFish1]

I just scored around 200 lbs of actual old school live rock for free 99. My lfs broke down a 200 gallon display that had the rock in it back when I was in the hobby in the early 2000’s! Unfortunately it was a complete disaster, covered in toxic green palys, sludge, and hydroids. It’s in a brute and a couple buckets on the back deck soaking in strong bleach water. Only problem is that after 4-5 days the palys were still there, does anyone know if I need to pull it and let everything dry completely out?

It won't be live rock if you bleach it - or let it dry out. What is your goal exactly? It seems like there is a fundamental misunderstanding about what 'live rock' is - (not to the OP - but in general on the site)?

 

[Rmckoy]

I have close to 100lbs in buckets but I have got rid of close to 400 lbs that I was collecting since mid 90’s

 

[MnFish1]

I have close to 100lbs in buckets but I have got rid of close to 400 lbs that I was collecting since mid 90’s

I think you are the winner of the competition

 

[Derrick0580]

It won't be live rock if you bleach it - or let it dry out. What is your goal exactly? It seems like there is a fundamental misunderstanding about what 'live rock' is - (not to the OP - but in general on the site)?

Well i guess we’ll call it ocean rock, pretty sure it’s old fiji rock. I mean it was in that tank 20+ years, needed thoroughly cleaned and restarted! My plan is to just strip it clean and store it in case I should have a need for rock or start a new tank.

 

[klc]

Yikes bleaching live rock makes me cringe. Scrubbing it with a toothbrush and keeping it in the dark for a few months would have done the same thing and kept it's biological properties. But I'll give you credit for the effort lol.

 

[Rmckoy]

I think you are the winner of the competition

Reefing has never been a competition
At that time it was easier and cheaper to buy closing systems ( I also had 4 tanks running at the same time

 

[MnFish1]

Well i guess we’ll call it ocean rock, pretty sure it’s old fiji rock. I mean it was in that tank 20+ years, needed thoroughly cleaned and restarted! My plan is to just strip it clean and store it in case I should have a need for rock or start a new tank.

I was only saying - there is a definition of 'live rock' -if you bleach live rock - It is no different than 'fake rock'.

 

[fishyjoes]

I would love to see the term "live rock" go away
Wet vs dry, are meaningful distinctions
Man-made vs natural are meaningful as well (though possibly not very important)
"dry live rock" - kind of doesn't make sense (nothing living on it) it's dry natural rock

 

[elysics]

I would love to see the term "live rock" go away
Wet vs dry, are meaningful distinctions
Man-made vs natural are meaningful as well (though possibly not very important)
"dry live rock" - kind of doesn't make sense (nothing living on it) it's dry natural rock

To me, live rock means rock full of sponges, corals, bugs, worms, algae, sea stars, corals, random life.

Its about all the good hitchhikers, as many as possible. Instant ecosystem.

The counterpart is "dead rock", or "dry rock"

The third category being "fake rock"

 

[MnFish1]

Reefing has never been a competition
At that time it was easier and cheaper to buy closing systems ( I also had 4 tanks running at the same time

It was a joke - lol. It seemed as if you were collecting live rock for the sake of collecting live rock. In other words - its not the normal pathway