Dry Limestone Base Rock for the Marine Aquarium

Dry Limestone Base Rock

**This product is currently unavailable.**

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We have a pure limestone dry base rock available. From an ancient reef, it is an excellent alternative for those who either want a reasonably natural appearing reef without taking live rock from the wild, or for those building a large reef where there may be hidden, unseen rock as a support structure under the reef.

If you need a big pile of rock, and money is an issue, it is worth considering getting a portion of a high-grade, dry base rock for the inside underneath of your reef ... saving you lots of money over $5-$10 a pound live rock that you will not see.

The key is that it is equally high grade from a calcium content, and a lack of undesirable impurities standpoint. Our new dry base rock meets these requirements with flying colors. It is Grade "A" pure calcium carbonate limestone rock. Limestone is calcium carbonate, often with aragonite as the other key mineral in it.

If frugality or being green is an issue, you can use a high grade of pure limestone base rock, or put a layer of pure limestone dry base rock down on the bottom, and cover it with the real deal fresh air-freighted five-star Vanuatu or Indonesia live rock. It will be seeded with bacteria from the 5-star live rock in a very short time. It will eventually be colonized by coralline algae, and some of the same things living on the "top shelf" rock you place above it, as well as colonizers from your corals themselves.

With the closing of the Marshall Islands in '07, and Tonga in '08, and no more air-freighted Fiji, there are fewer good alternatives available. If money is no issue, we suggest to fill your tank with Vanuatu or Manado live rock. Or, use that for the icing on the cake and use either the boat rock from Fiji or dry base rock as a base.

If you cover a pile of inert base rock with some good live rock, and or a box of corals, in a year, many of the life forms from the bases of the corals and all kinds of stuff from the live rock will be growing all over your base rock. Sponges, corallines, even corals, and everything growing on the coral bases, will colonize the base rock, **as long as it is proper chemically acceptable base rock.** Not all rock will accept growth, it must be loaded in calcium. That is what we offer. The right stuff.

(after a few weeks in water)

(after several months)

(after a few more months)

(close-up after a few more months)

We have found as much neat wild stuff grows onto rock that comes off of the bases of coral pieces, as any other source. In fact, sharp buyers don't just choose a coral by the type and health of the coral, but as important, and more sometimes, is what is growing on the base of the coral piece. As a rule, the various life forms on those miniature pieces of live rock cannot be ordered, and are exactly what you are looking for to colonize your rock. I had some awesome neon yellow slime I got that way once, and some jet black goo too. Just try ordering that!

Average assortments will have pieces mostly of 1 to 6 pounds or so. The 2-4" size is perfect sump or refugium rubble, and great for a caulerpa tank.

Our photos are taken under sunlight, or in shade outdoors so as to naturally represent the color. Note it may look different under your lights (with lots of blue, it is less yellow = whiter). Most are also dry, so the rock often looks whiter than it does when wet, under water, when it is more like the light gold pieces. Of course, when it gets coralline growing on it you won't see it.

It absolutely must be cleaned ... soak it for a day or two in a bucket or tub, **throw that water out, and put new, clean water on it before you wash it.** Only use water above neutral, 7.0 pH for this, add baking soda to your water if you think it is not alkaline. Soak stubborn grunge another day, if required, after first cleaning. I use a fish cleaning glove to hold the rock while I scrub. Scrub it thoroughly before placing it in your tank. Use a toothbrush (not that one ... the old ones you save for this type of stuff

) to get in the crevices, crannies and holes.

There is hardly a higher calcium content dry base rock available to you, and certainly if you don't want wild live rock, this is the perfect alternative.

It will also work great for hidden rock, or sump, refugium, and filter medium or chamber rock.

Here is a picture of 25 lbs. of the refugium rubble (2-4" pieces) in a 10 gallon tank to give an idea of the space it fills ... to 3-4" deep. Just add your caulerpa!

Ten-gallon aquarium with 25 pounds of 2-4" pieces

To see some more photos, please see below ... there is also a link at the bottom of this page that leads to our Aquascapes article for additional photos.

ORDERING INFORMATION

Our apologies ... this product is currently unavailable.

Here are some pictures that give you an idea of the size of a pile for a given weight.

Check out the pictures in our AQUASCAPING article
for an example of the look of the rock when built
into a reef. It appears quite natural.
It was a reef once before!

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