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 Livestock: Live Rock and Live Sand
Mikes Aquatic World have searched the world for the finest specimens of live rock available. We specialize in cured premium Fiji live rock.
What is Live Rock?
Live rock is a usually coralline rock with marine organisms living on or within the rock, and is a term used mainly in the aquarium trade. Live rock is used in saltwater aquariums as the main source of nitrifying bacteria, important role players in the nitrogen cycle that processes waste from aquarium inhabitants into less toxic forms. Live rock is also usually the main decorative element in a saltwater aquarium, and can be used to build caves, arches, overhangs, or other structures in the tank.
Live rock is harvested for use in the aquarium trade; it may be collected wild from near reefs where it has become detached from the main body of coral, or small coralline rocks may be "seeded" by an aquaculturalist in warm ocean water, and harvested later. Live rock harbors a wide variety of corals, algae, sponges, and other invertebrates, when they are collected. Not all of these are desirable, and through a process known as curing, live rock is usually kept in observation tanks for several weeks to attempt to remove all undesirable organisms before the rock is placed in a display aquarium. Sometimes corals will be seen attached to live rocks. Live rocks are made of the calcium carbonate remains of corals.
What is Live Sand?
Live sand is sand that is collected directly from the ocean and includes all the living organisms that were in that sand at the time of collection. The transportation of live sand is very similar to how fish and corals are transported. The sand is not allowed to dry out, and it is placed in a durable bag and shipped in a manner that it arrives at the wholesaler, retailer, or your tank, still containing the life within the sand. The sand is then introduced into the tank as the substrate that lays at the bottom of the tank. The live sand contains microorganisms that help break down debris and stabilize your tank's environment.
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