What is culture rock?

[dustint]

Well I have made the decision to go fish and liverock instead of full blown reef. I only have a 29 gallon so I felt it better to stick with easy corals and fish. So I have a nice live rock aquascape, and want to add a nice center piece of live rock with green stars or the like, and saw what the LFS called culture rock.
It looked like tonga with thick purple macro algae and orange looking stars. Pretty awesome looking stuff, at about $100+ a piece. Each rock was a foot or two long, and would make a great top layer to an aquascape.

So my question/needed advice is 1. if anyone has heard of "culture" rock and knows what I am talking about and 2. If this type of rock has any special needs other than live rock.

I think this is just a fantastic piece of live rock with some stars and great looking algae on it, but it does look like something different.

Thanks alot,
Dustin
Atlanta, GA

[Neal358]

its rock that is mane made for the nost part. if you were to get some dead brown rock and put it in your tank for a few months get some good coriline alge and benificial bacteria on the it would be calutured rock. the special thing abut it is its not taken from the ocen thats what makes it special. and because of the time it takes to make it "live" it can cost more then rock like fiji tong ext

[dustint]

I know what your saying Neal, but this is very different. I am talking about an insane piece of purple tonga with tons fo small soft corals on it. Now maybe it has been in someones tank/ or picked from the ocean, but I have seen excellent cured live rock and this aint it. For the LFS to call it culture rock I have to think its 1)tonga rock that had been planted/proped with soft corals under mh lights, or two, this is a hard to find type of live rock thats worth cash, or a little of both? Any other ideas?

[Neal358]

my lfs sells a rock like that but its covered ALL over with muchroms of all difrent kinds. a peice of it the sive of softball sells for about $120.00. it just were some one has planted the mushroms on the rock and it is very cool looking but this is not what i would considered culuted live rock when i think of it is the kind that ffexpress sells

[Agu]

Aqua cultured live rock is terrestrial rock planted in the gulf in leased location until flora and fauna colonise it and it becomes "live". There are a few companies that market this rock. The life is supposed to be very good according to people who have purchased it.

The "cultured" rock you describe sounds like rock someone has had in their tank and seeded shrooms onto. You can do this yourself if you're so inclined, or you can pay the LFS for someone elses work.

Neale, $120 for a shroom rock? I'm getting ripped off :mad: I get $10 for a rock with 5 shrooms at the LFS. Granted it's smaller, but I'm doing four different types of shrooms.

Find a local reef club, members will give you free mushroom polyps if the club is worth a darn.

Agu

[Neal358]

the one i saw hade between 20-30 and problably 5-6 difrent typs it was truly a stuning peice if i only hade the $$$ i would have got it

[dustint]

Any know what I am talking about?

[OodleyBoodely]

You might want to look at this site, garf.org and look at their aragocrete arches and caves. You can make these yourself or buy from garf. Garf usually has pakages that include the arch and great corals of your choice to go on them. Their prices are good-I would definately take advantage of this myself if I were financially able.

[OodleyBoodely]

P.S. The rocks you are talking about are probably handmade. Someone sliced-n-diced a few mushies and polyps, superglued them to a piece of rock, gave it a few months to mature, then sold it. You can do this yourself once you are ready to tackle a new, money-saving/money-making hobby. Good luck.;)