[patrick1234]

STARTING A REEF AQUARIUM - Aragocrete making

[NATIVEVAMAN]

While this stuff may be fun to make,and interesting shapes are possable it is NOT live rock.Live rock is poorous and aragrocrete is not.Aragrocrete will get lots of coraline algea on it and corals dont mind it.Without the porousity it can never compare to live rock for natural filtration.

[patrick1234]

Yes but if you read you can add stuff to the mix that will make it poorous..

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Sure you can add rice,rock salt,spagetti.grits,sugar or all the above.And what will you have? All the above encased in concrete for the next thousand years lol.Coral has been evolving on this planet for millions of years and live rock is the dead skeletons of those corals.The porousity comes from the bodies of thousands of dead coral that made the rock.These little tubes go all the way thru the rock so that if you had a bowl made of live rock it wouldnt hold water.I actually think aragrocrete is pretty cool stuff and that some special interest pieces in a tank are a great idea.An lfs here sells some nice looking pieces that have what appears to be styrofoam pellets in it.Patrick,I just dont want you to expect that this stuff will do what live rock does,you cant recreate nature from a shelf at lowes.As a side note,the first known corals were called stromatolites and are responsable for all of the oxygen on earth.Some examples of these still live in a few shallow bays around the world principaly in Australia.

[patrick1234]

Ok but why is it that most live rock they sell frome florda is lace rock they put in to the ocean? since the gov put a ban on harvesting what you call real live rock then right?

Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock - Aquaculturing Process

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Patrick umless they have started doing something different the rock they are using comes from ancient coral beds that are nowout of the water.

[patrick1234]

[SIZE=2]Three natural limestone rocks used: Ocala ;Homestead; and Bahama.
[/SIZE]

[patrick1234]

that is what i have found that the live rock is made with

[patrick1234]

Table 15. Bahama Rock coverage of organisms per centimeter.
Rank
Organism
Cm coverage
Substrate
1
Coralline algae
1517
Bahama
2
Red Bryozoan
912
Bahama
3
Red Algae
337
Bahama
4
Serpulid worm
258
Bahama
5
Boring Serpulid Worms
240
Bahama
Table 16. Clay top coverage of organisms per centimeter.
Rank
Organism
Cm coverage
Substrate
1
Coralline algae
703
Clay
2
Red Bryozoan
374
Clay
3
Serpulid worm
219
Clay
4
Black Bryozoan
178
Clay
5
Red Algae
147
Clay
Table 17. Concrete coverage of organisms per centimeter.
Rank
Organism
Cm coverage
Substrate
1
Coralline algae
662
Concrete
2
Red Bryozoan
553
Concrete
3
Barnacle
295
Concrete
4
Striped Barnacle
256
Concrete
5
Serpulid worm
185
Concrete