Rocks removed from a tropical coral reef with all of the life intact on them - including algae, sponges, worms, feather dusters, small crustaceans, polyps and urchins. An important part of most marine tanks and all reef tanks.
A term used to associate the many strains of bacteria on rock which has been removed from part of a tropical reef. Live rock is essential for reef aquaria as it initiates and maintains the nitrogen cycle. It is the main element in the berlin method of filtration.
Calcium carbonate skeletons of corals or other calcareous organisms colonized by beneficial bacteria and micro and macroscopic marine life that live on and inside it.
Rock that has been taken from a coral reef that contains life forms on them.
Pieces of rock that are encrusted with coraline algae with the detritivores living in the porus holes in the rock, tube worms, gammaras shrimp, etc.
These are rocks removed from the vicinity of a tropical coral reef with all of the life intact on them. They commonly have algae, sponges, worms, feather dusters, small crustaceans, polyps and urchins on them. Live rocks are an important way to build up a complete and stable ecosystem for a coral reef.
A term used to describe the associated strains of bacteria on calcareous (primarily) rock which has been removed from part of a tropical reef. Usually contains algae, coralline growth, various microorganisms, and assorted invertebrates. Live rock is essential for maintaining a Berlin style reef aquaria, as it functions as the main bacterial filter.
Rocks removed from the ocean that usually have a variety of sea life attached to them, including sponges, algae, coralline algae, worms, and starfishes. Live rock is commonly used in reef aquariums because it contains bacteria that can help filter the water through nitrification.
"Live rock" is rock from the ocean that has been introduced into a saltwater aquarium, which confers to the closed marine system multiple benefits desired by the salt water marine hobbyist. The name sometimes leads to misunderstandings as "live rock" is itself not actually alive, but is made simply from the calcium carbonate skeletons of long dead corals, or other calcareous organisms, which in the ocean form the majority of coral reefs. When taken from the ocean it is usually encrusted with Coralline algae and inhabited by a multitude of marine organisms.
