[ladybus301]

the fish store said i could use something called tonga rock along with live rock to cycle my tank. is this just as good as live rock? He said that it is from another region and would introduce different bacteria into the tank which would be good. Any thoughts?:confused:

[volitan_fa]

tonga rock is just another form of live rock, nothing more. There's usually tonga, fiji, Lalo, and Caribbean live rocks available to us marine aquarists. They all have their own properties and benefits.

Is it tonga branch or deepwater rock? This will make a difference. Both are comprised of mostly CaCO3, so they act as a pretty good buffer, not to mention they're very porous. The drawback is it's usually more expensive than Fiji rock. The different bacteria theory I kind of doubt though. If they have them sitting in a tank at the store with all the other live rock, it'll contain the same bacteria.

[ladybus301]

Hey thanks for the info on the tonga rock.I'm learning slowly, just purchased a couple of books to read, but so far havent found one that tells me if i should do a water change before my tank finishes cycling or not.. My tank has been up for 2 anda half weeks now. I only noticed a slight spike in the ammonia the day after adding some additional live rock so i guess it hasnt cycled yet. I have 2 damsels and a banded shrimp in the tank, thanks to some misinformation from a fish store, but so far they are doing ok