Fiji vs. Aquacultured LiveRock

Cosine · 01-18-2005, 12:47 PM

What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?
Is aquacultured a good replacement for Fiji or Tonga rock.
By this I mean will it have the porosity and biological advantages of "real" live rock.
All I know about the stuff I am considering is that it is calcium carbonate.
and is cured with fresh live rock.
Well I guess the question is
Would you consider it as a substitute or is it better to go with the real deal?

Thanks everyone. I was considering actually going about half this stuff and half fiji.

Opinions?

traip93 · 01-18-2005, 01:21 PM

If you are looking for decorative rock with a bunch of cool stuff and also some very bad stuff go with Aquacultured rock.

If you are looking for the best rock for filtration (pourus), cool shapes and little bad stuff go with fiji.

You can get almost double the surface area of rock in fiji compared to aquacultured rock. I have both in my tank and I like the fiji rock much better.

Cosine · 01-18-2005, 03:31 PM

whta exactly do you mean by bad stuff?
so the aquacultured just doesn't filter as well.
The reason I ask is because it seems quite cheap. So by going with some of each I can save some cash
but it is worth the extra cash to go with the real fiji?

yardboy · 01-18-2005, 03:35 PM

Because the aquacultured usually has it's origin in landbased quarries, there is the potential for high phosphate levels in the rock. Also because it has been removed from the water, kept in water and shipped to your door, it can have crabs and mantis shrimp still alive in it, that is not entirely good. I got one piece of aquacultured and (thank goodness) put it in a prop tank. Thre were 8 crabs and two mantis shrimp in it. The shrimp didn't make their presence known for six months, so they must have been little when they arrived.

Cosine · 01-18-2005, 03:38 PM

I see
maybe I'll stick with the real stuff
thanks guys

tims · 01-18-2005, 03:46 PM

just a side note. not all figi rock is porous..

Cosine · 01-18-2005, 03:58 PM

why would aquacultured rock have mantis shrimp
in this case they are curing with fresh rock. So wouldn't it only have stuff the fresh rock has. They seem to have a small scale system going on. They are culturing the rock in a tank not in a bay or cove or somewhere like that?

make sense?

SPC · 01-18-2005, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cosine

why would aquacultured rock have mantis shrimp
in this case they are curing with fresh rock. So wouldn't it only have stuff the fresh rock has. They seem to have a small scale system going on. They are culturing the rock in a tank not in a bay or cove or somewhere like that?

make sense?

Most of us think of the Florida Aquacultured rock here, Cosine. You are talking about something different I presume?
Steve

Cosine · 01-18-2005, 07:37 PM

Okay thanks Steve.
That is an uderstandable assumption
Sorry for the confusion
I'll email the company itself to get a better idea of what critters/potential dangers might be a problem

Thanks

VWD · 01-18-2005, 09:52 PM

I Think that they do the same , I Think it time that we llet the natural reef be and cause no more demage to our reefs and use Aquacultured rock , That just the way I feel , Florida Aquacultured rock seem fine , Not to say that I don't think that figi may look better and all. but sooner or later the reef are going to be gone for our pleasure .

yardboy · 01-19-2005, 04:58 AM

Oops, I didn't read the first post good enough. If the rock is "aquacultured" in a tank with other live rodck, I see no reason why it wouldn't be fine, with the possible problem with phosphate. Might be more expensive too. I'm experimenting with making live rock now myself, using manufactured rock, and using aragonite base rock from the Keys.

Andrew3 · 01-19-2005, 03:26 PM

I've gotten very nice walt smith aquacultured fiji in the past and been very happy with it.

andrew

btang · 01-19-2005, 03:57 PM

aquacultured rock comes from the ocean (at least the rock from TBS and GulfView). Thats why good and bad stuff get into it. A lot of folks are very happy with this stuff. Tough decision.

Ace's Reef · 01-19-2005, 06:20 PM

I have 90 pounds of the florida aquacultured and have had no problems with it except for the mantis shrimp in the begining but i took that rock back to the store. But the bottom line is i would never buy it again just because the structure of the rock is round and doesn't stack well.