Live rock,what is it and how it is used!

What is live rock?

This popular all in one bio media is calcium skeletal coral that has had the living coral polyps die, normally by short term environmental conditions.

Examples of the conditions giving us live rock are.

*. Cyclones breaking it away from its position and leaving it face down so most of the polyps die.

*. Heavy rains lowering the oceans salinity killing the corals from a prolonged bacterial infestation to the living polyps.

*.The oceans fluctuating temperatures and water clarity making the corals reject the algae clades with in the corals cells.
This rejecting of algae clades held with in the corals cells is called, coral bleaching!

The over all coral now white,has only the coral creature left behind.

The corals regularly collect by devouring the algae from the water passing into their cells as needed and exchanging them and fresh variations regularly.

When bleaching occurs and algae are expelled, this removes the corals main vitamin, mineral and food production source.

An alga donates via photosynthesising the corals waste and substances from the surrounding waters glucose and it’s needed chemical substances that the algae provide for the corals calcium structure building.

There are two types of algae based life donating building strengths to give hard corals the ability to with stand rough seas.

A coralline base that enables the coral to attaché to rocks and old corals.

Algae that is retained in the coral polyps cells helping the existing coral polyps and newly formed coral polyps via A sexual means build sustain the calcium surround they exist in.

Corals are essentially evolved anemones to house them selves in a calcium structure with the aide of algae as a symbiotic relationship, meaning multiple life forms living as one to aid the other.

This now dead chunk of calcium becomes a home externally for new corals, sponges, coralline, etc to grow on making it in to live rock.

The other aspect of the live rock term means there are many life forms with in as well as burrowing life forms.

The now live rock it is called is collected by commercial collectors for the aquarium trade for people to use in their home marine eco systems commonly referred to as reef tanks or fowlr tanks,(fish only with live rock)!

The live rock style of bio filtering has been encouraged by the aquarium industry so that some one can purchase something easily to start a marine eco system of a type with very little work or the requirement of building anything and with out much of an understanding of how things can work in the marine habitat.

With a great dependence on this form of (biological filtration), this term means the process of waste oxidation to gases, extra money over time needs to be spent allowing for this form of bio filtering weaknesses.

These weaknesses will increase over time as the live rock becomes more alive sealing over valuable calcium surface area where bio communities should be carrying out the nitrite cycle on the surface of the live rock-externally and with in the live rock-internally.

Aerobic is the word for the external bio life forms dependant on abundant oxygen.

Anaerobic is the word for the internal bio life forms that can not exist in light and or with abundant oxygen present.

Over time the live aspect increases on your live rock like coralline, soft corals as just a few examples of the life forms that will seal over some of your live rock.

The result from this is oxygen dependant aerobic oxidisers that take the nitrite cycle to nitrate have reduced surface area and as this happens, also affected are the internal low oxygen anaerobic oxidisers of nitrate to nitrogen, reducing that part of the nitrite cycle!

The term (biological filtration) is totally dependant on stable surface area!!!!!

The use of live rock for bio filtration is supposed to be supported by a skimmer to take out a substantial amount of the organic waste-matter before it can become part of the nitrite cycle.

A skimmer used in this way is a potential serious issue because the protein skimmer is supposed to be put at the start of your external system in order to achieve this, the removal of organic matter not yet being broken down by the waters nitrite cycle,as yet!

The problem with this form of oxidation of the nitrite cycle that has blown out of proportion over time is that skimmers rely on power heads-water pumps!

Wood stone skimmers are not overly used any more and they could handle this way easily, though the stone has to be replaced regularly.

These skimmer pumps (power heads) cannot handle the potential particles in the water if not properly pre filtered out first, these will adversely affect the impellor area of the water pump!

Over time and sometimes not much time, the pump begins to reduce its capacity due to ware or blockages, this reduces your skimmers intended work capacity or the pump ceases to function entirely.

Now you’re weak, but simple (live rock) bio system is over loaded and your tanks nitrite cycle is becoming toxic to tank life!

You have problems that cannot be fixed easily especially if you have not noticed the skimmers functions weakening or that it has stopped totally for some time!!

The boutique style of filtration (compact and bought all in one) that is popular uses a skimmer for things that they were not intended to do!

These are gas exchange and the majority of waste removal, a skimmer is designed to achieve bubbles at a certain size to be in suspension for as long as possible to attract organics, mainly protein, which is tank life urine and other water soluble organics to the membrane of these bubbles and then forced up wards and into the skimmers catchment cup.

The bubble functions cannot achieve adequate gas exchange once coated, this is not possible at levels great enough for co2 room to tank balancing and removal, oxygen absorption and the lesser, nitrogen released into the air, these represent the majority of the aquariums needed gas exchange and these are supposedly something your skimmer should be able to achieve.

The need to have a great volume of water to achieve good out comes is due to the skimmer combined live rock style of aquarium keeping.

The high volume of water allows toxins to saturate the aquariums water much slower until the next water change to reduce those toxins, also the greater water volume the greater the amount of live rock allowing for more surface area to house oxidising bio communities to hopefully achieve some of the nitrite cycle from the organic matter the skimmer didn’t remove.

Put simply.

Live rock is meant to be in the aquarium for the biological community to inhabit and oxidise the nitrite cycle both externally and internally.

The next reason for it is for swim throughs and structure.

The next is for attaching corals and generally growing what you want in your aquarium on it.

To reduce live rock you will subsequently lower the first reason for it then you need an increased wet section in your sump or an altered canister filter; they are not great stock standard, but with changes to them they can carry out the entire nitrite cycle oxidation.

Wet section, being bio filter media always in water!

You can put in your sump; calcium media on a floor of egg crate with a slight gap under the tray with mesh covering the egg crate.

Then 3 to 6 mill in size particles like shell grit,coral rubble,white marbel,etc in the tray like a deep sand bed type of thing but better and then place pieces of a porus media, dead coral maybe, on top of it at sizes of 20 to 50 mill and run your water through the larger over the smaller, that will oxidise your entire nitrite cycle depending on how big the area of it is.

Pre filter the water well with a settling style pre filter as it leaves your tank or this oxidation zone will become inaficiant!!!and becomes a nitrate factory.

If done right your live rock is now just helping out with bio filtration and you are not reliant on it for that and you can have how little or how much you like in the aquarium.