Arka Rock vs Live Rock

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

When I was last in my LFS getting the order in for my new 75 gallon reef tank, one of the girls mentioned Arka Rock instead of live rock.

Has anyone here used it? Or anything like it? It was recommended that I could use Arka rock in the tank to get the shape and look I want, and then place 1 piece of live rock in the sump to "seed" the arka.

Price-wise I don't think it will work out any cheaper or any more expensive, so that isn't a concern.

The benefit of the Arka is that I can get the shapes I want and these shapes are constructed with "shelves" to make placing corals easy.

Advice please?

 

[PSU4ME]

ceramics are cool but do a little research, some of them are not made right and leach out some stuff.

You could also use dead/dry rock and still seed with a deli shrimp.

 

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

Been reading up on these and they are guaranteed not to leach.

Yhe girl at the shop, who is a good friend, recommends it. Just wondering if anyone here has used it.

 

[Squatch XXL]

Has anyone here used it? Or anything like it? It was recommended that I could use Arka rock in the tank to get the shape and look I want, and then place 1 piece of live rock in the sump to "seed" the arka.

Personal opinion:

I do think that part of your concern is the ability to have shelves, and this is something that could be simply done with real rock rock as well.

Nothing beats the real deal, either from dry base rock or fully cured LR. Another thing that would make me skeptical of stocking a tank with this is the first sentence of the description of the product:

"Treat your tank to some of the highest-quality marine decor available"

I don't think I have ever seen any mention of "decor" in the same sentence as Base rock or Live rock.

There are more than a few "types" of base/live rock for tanks that have certain shapes that are expected.
Tonga shelf rock, Fiji rock etc. With the different types comes differing (usual) densities, shapes and sizes.

Poke around on the net at the types and sizes of different rock. Every shape from the porcelain is random, but you can dictate certain variables.....this is no different than real reef rock.

In the end I think it would be a personal decision, and I don't think that either real rock or manufactured would matter biologically. From how most of the advertisement reads (they wrote it) it sounds like a great idea. However if it costs any more than uncured base rock, than I wouldn't even consider it. This seems to be a man-made analogue, however it is not made of the same material (calcium carbonate) Also shop around. It is not hard at all to aquascape, and part of the enjoyment is getting a pile of random rubble and attempting to make it look natural. This is going to be the same issue with the porcelain unless you get one or 2 custom pieces to fill the entire tank.

 

[DaveK]

This seems to be a UK product, so I have not used it. In looking at the online description of it I'm not impressed for several reasons.

It seems to be very expensive, but I could be wrong here, because I don't know what live rock sells for in your location.

Personally, I think it's ugly. I don't care for the shapes at all, but this is very subjective. This is not an issue if you like how it looks.

It is a ceramic product. I wonder how it will work long term with fish that feed off of live rock.

I would say my choices in descending preference would be regular live rock, dry base rock, agrocrete rock, and then everything else.

Check out the prices of live rock and go with that if your not going to save big money.

 

[reefer gladness]

Ceramics seem to be more popular in Europe, it hasn't really caught on yet in the US. Pricewise it is expensive compared to live rock (in most areas anyway).

Opinions vary when it comes to using live rock. Some folks enjoy the diversity of life that comes with the rock, good and bad, and know how to remove unwanted pests and algae's. Some folks didn't have as much success with that diversity of life and would prefer to use a sterile substrate on the next tank.

Personally I will probably always use live rock but if were to use something artificial it would be ceramic. Check out Mischko's tank, he uses a different brand of ceramic rock, there's a link in the thread somewhere.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/mischkos-new-tank.89343/

 

[KaCee Bunn-Smith]

Thank you all for the thoughts and opinions.

To answer a few of the comments, the cost is no more than getting live rock, in fact, pound for pound (in weight and money) they are almost identical.

Regarding aquascaping being part of the fun, I realize that it is for some, but to be honest, that is probably the one part of the setup that I dread the most.

Regarding the appearance, I like it, and my wife loves it.

I would also be using some live rock to keep biological diversity, and my understanding is that the live rock will "seed" this ceramic as if it were base rock, effectively making it "live" over time as well. At least that is what I am being told in the shop about it.

I would be looking to start with 2 ;large pieces of the arka, as well as a piece of live rock in the tank as well as in the sump.

These two pieces stand approximately 20 inches high, and should weight approximately 35-40 pounds each. I am thinking about adding a 10 pound live rock to the tank as well, then a 15-20 pound live rock to the sump.

That would give me 80-100 pounds of "rock" once the bacteria spreads.

I don't know at this point. On paper this stuff looks great.... but everyone keeps saying live rock, and I don't want to screw my tank up from the start......

 

[DaveK]

One additional factor to keep in mind.

With live rock it's fairly easy to use 1 to 2 pounds of live rock per gallon of water. Do that and your all set.

With anything else, you need to take into consideration how dense it is compared to an equal volume of live rock. You may need a lot more of the other product by weight to get the same volume of live rock. This is not a bad thing as long as your aware of it.

You generally want to add all the rock all at once to the system since it is the biological filtration system. The tank should look like it's got a decent amount of rock in it.

 

[Squatch XXL]

To answer a few of the comments, the cost is no more than getting live rock, in fact, pound for pound (in weight and money) they are almost identical.

If you are looking to save a few dollars, base/dry reef rock will save you substantially. If you like the look of this product, go for it. I can't fault you for that. I don't think that there would be any major difference in the long haul vs base rock/live rock. Im a yankee who has never herd of this type of thing, so Im just guessing.