been out awhile - whats this real reef stuff

[Amstar]

What is this real reef rock (the manmade painted stuff)?  Do people use it?  Is this the new thing - well new to me

I am use to getting live rock, dipping it (get rid of critters -mantis shrimp) putting it in the tank and waiting for it to color up and waiting to see what other thing are living on the rock

Can reel reef rock even help/start a new tank cycle etc

[dbowman]

Hi Amstar,
  I buy in to their sales pitch. I bought a combination of dry rock and real reef rock when i got into the hobby last September. I know, not that long ago. I used it to start and cycle my first tank and the cycle went very quickly. The biodiversity that pre-owned/ocean-farmed or wild caught rock presents you with is absent but the bacteria capacity is good. True coralline encrusting is taking place over the pigment, I think Ha Ha,. I am happy with this synthetic product. Having said that I bought some pre-owned wet rock from Gerber's and really like discovering the fauna that it has brought to my tanks.

[SweetReefOH]

I believe the main purpose of the man made rock is to preserve the oceanic habitats.

[dbjonesjr]

Agree with Jesse. No real benefit to it over dry rock that BRS sells or any other place. If you want to get something with some real life you’d have to use one of the Florida companies like TBS or KPA.

[Amstar]

so then to me (could be getting this wrong) it comes down to preference of how you want your tank to look.  The manmade (real reef) and the live rock will both eventually build up good bacteria and help with overall parameters of the tank

[dbjonesjr]

Correct!

[SweetReefOH]

so then to me (could be getting this wrong) it comes down to preference of how you want your tank to look.  The manmade (real reef) and the live rock will both eventually build up good bacteria and help with overall parameters of the tank

There is really no difference in outside structure between the fake or real. The real live rock is a bit more porous and obviously full of micro fauna. But with the hobby as big as it is now, there’s just no reason to continue pulling live rock from established ecosystems in the ocean. There are plenty of places to purchase established live rock. Of course this is my opinion only. But I do try to do my part.

[dbowman]

I want to make the point that there is a lot of live rock in use among us that is in excess to our needs at the moment which is known to be free of pests, it may or may not have been wild at one time, but it is like taking shelter dogs instead of buying wild dingos because they are more natural canines lol

[Amstar]

Ya I agree.  There is plenty of “live rock” out there that I don’t need to purchase it from the “wild”.  Plus with it only being a 30 gallon rimless I’m not looking for much of it - thinking of lagoon style look in the tank

[sharkkeeper]

check out kp aquatics