Aquascape with Base Rock

Live rock is essential to the reef tank. It provides a place for beneficial bacteria to colonize, it helps seed your aquarium with bacteria, provides and place to attach your coral, and turns a plain tank into a living piece of art. Live rock is great, but it can be costly. Prices can vary, but I typically see live rock for about $5 per pound. This is not always friendly on the budget, and you never know what you're going to get hidden in the live rock.

CaribSea SouthSea Base Rock

Solution? CaribSea SouthSeas Base rock! Base rock can take many forms, but generally refers to aragonite or limestone rock that is dry and thus is not seeded with beneficial bacteria, Coraline algae, or other life forms. The lack of live critters and Coraline algae may be a drawback for some, but others see this as benefit. Dry rock is essentially dead;  there's no chance for harmful hitchhikers! That means no Aptaisa Anemones, Bristleworms, Mantis Shrimp, etc... You get a clean start! There are many great bacteria additives to seed your tank with beneficial bacteria, and Coraline Algae is easily attainable from another hobbyist. You can bring life to your tank by adding copepods to your tank. Given time, your base rock will be live! (It's ALIVE!)

Not convinced? Base rock is also less expensive compared to live rock. Compare $2 to $3 per pound for dry base rock versus $4 to $5 (if you're lucky) for live rock. I've personally seen live rock at local shops for $10 a pound. At 1 to 2 pounds of live rock per gallon, this can add up quickly. Let's do some simple math!

Let's say Johnny has a 40 gallon breeder. He wants about 1.5 pounds of rock per gallon:

• 1.5 lbs x 40 gallons = 60 lbs of live rock
• 60 lbs of base rock x $3 per lb = $180
• 60 lbs of live rock x $5 per lb = $300

While things can be a little more complicated in real life, in my example our fictitious friend could theoretically save himself $120. He could use this money to pick up a return pump, help pay for a skimmer, buy some light bulbs, or a few corals.

"But Chris, you bought live rock and then added base rock? What's the deal?"

Ok, so for my future aquariums I will probably start with all base rock. However, I already had live rock when I started my current aquarium. I needed more rock, and I was having a hard time justifying $5 a pound for live rock at local stores. I was looking at 20-30 pounds, or $100-150 for live rock- rock I'm mostly certain will have little hitchhikers that will leave me pulling out my hair. For under $3 per pound, I purchased 40 lbs of Caribsea South Seas Base Rock! Woohoo! While the rock is devoid of life, it will become "live" within several months to a year as my existing live rock will seed the new rock. Over time, it will color up to look like the rest of the rock in my tank, and I won't be able to tell the difference.

Good sized rock. (iPhone for reference).

Stacks "like Legos" according to my coworkers.

CaribSea says that, "South Seas [base rock] is a calcium carbonate base rock that is very similar to actual reef rock and at one point actually was, although it is obtained terrestrially from ancient coral reefs underground." The rock is very porous and stacks easily. Good enough for me!

Porous. One large piece had holes that were perfect for holding frag plugs!

Upon inspection of the rock, the rock was generally clean. My particular box featured beautiful, large pieces. No rubble at all. I was very pleased. As expected, there was some dust in the box, but there were no other surprises in the rock. I soaked the rock and rinsed it in RO/DI water. This step removed the dust, preventing my aquarium water from becoming cloudy. Rinsing will also ensure there are no chemicals or other items leached into the tank. Using RO/DI water instead of tap water is an extra safety step to ensure nothing from tap water is absorbed by the rock and leached into my aquarium down the road. Better to be safe than sorry.

RO/DI water. I just kind of liked this shot.

Soak and rinse to get off the dust

After rinsing, I allowed the rock to dry in the sun for a while. As the new base rock was drying, I started moving rocks and corals to make room for the new base rock I was about to add. Okay, time to add the rock! To be honest, It's not all that exciting. Aquascaping is my least favorite chore. I am too picky and I can never get the rock exactly how I envisioned it. So let's skip forward an hour or so... And the rock is in!

The rock is in. (Sorry for the terrible picture, moonlights and all.)

**Updated: Daytime photo of new rock

The rock looks great! While it does look different from my existing live rock (being clean and white), in time Coraline algae will cover the rock and it will fill with life. I am happy I was able to save a few bucks and not have to worry about adding unwanted hitchhikers. The new rock has offered more real estate for my coral, and more hiding places for my fishes.

Until next time...