THIS 150 GALLON REEF AQUARIUM WAS SET UP USING
ARAGOCRETE^TM COMBINATION TANK GROWN LIVE ROCKS
THIS TANK IS FIVE MONTHS OLD

ARAGOCRETE^TM COMBINATION ROCKS CAN SUPPLY CUTTINGS
THAT WILL STOCK AN ENTIRE REEF AQUARIUM FARM

Combination tank grown live rock is a piece of reef safe rock that has two or more invertebrates growing on it. The best combination tank grown live rocks have a heavy growth of coraline algae. Color is the most inportant single thing that sells reef rocks. The animals that you put on the rocks should be able to live close together. It is best if at least one of these cuttings has bright colors.

WE HAVE HAD GOOD LUCK COMBINING SEVERAL TYPES OF XENIA ON ONE ROCK.

SOME GOOD SPECIES TO PUT TOGETHER ON ONE ROCK

ZOANTHIDS - PALYTHOA

ZOANTHIDS - ZOANTHIDS

MUSHROOMS - MUSHROOMS

FINGER CORAL - LEATHER CORAL

GREEN STARS - BROWN STARS

POM-POM XENIA - BALI XENIA

We have been using sps corals on our larger Aragocrete^TM combination rocks. This reef now has 40 types of sps corals. Today we received 34 new corals from Steve Tyree. We have never had any corals with the color that these have. I used an Aragocrete^TM 'Tonga Branch' that I broke in half. I stood the pieces up and connected them by Super gluing five nice pieces of dead acropora rubble rock that came in today from Belize.

I added pieces of rubble until I had 34 places to glue the frags.

Steve ships in Coleman Coolers and everything came in perfect shape. He used Delta dash to ship from San Diego to Boise. I picked the frags up at 6:30 PM and I had them installed by 9:00. If I had tried build the structure that I made - and then attach the frags with epoxy I would still be down at the lab. It is now 3:00 AM and have been home coding this page for 5 hours.

I WILL HAVE PICTURES OF STEVE TYREE'S CORAL IN THE NEXT ISSUE.

THE THREE FRAGS IN THE FRONT WILL
LOOK LIKE THE ONES IN BACK IN 6 MONTHS

I am very excited about going in to see these new babies in the morning. We now have 3 species of Pavona and all of them look very different. The piece of Pavona cactus that Dick Perrin sent us last month has grown to twice as large as it was when it came in. We have now fragged it twice and it is still larger than it was when we got it.

This 150 gallon tank is the brood stock tank I have been writing about in the last few issues. Sally Jo bought me this reef and I have added 8 - 4' VHO bulbs. I have added a Gemini pump to the two Maxi-jet 1000 powerheads that move the water around in reef. I have 2 Rio 1700 pumps in the sump - one for the skimmer and 1 for the return.

I am removing 10 Xenia cuttings - twin bar - and twice that many Zoanthid combo plugs each week. I am stocking several research projects and I will report the progress during the next two years. I have been feeding the sps corals with Green water and rotifers. I can see an increase in growth in the reefs that I am feeding.

learn to grow your own live rocks

Part 2

BASE ROCK SELECTION

THESE ARAGONITE COMBINATION TANK GROWN LIVE ROCKS HAVE
SEVERAL SPECIES ATTACHED THEY DO NOT LOOK VERY MUCH
LIKE LIVE ROCKS YET. THEY WILL SOON LOOK LIKE THE NEXT PHOTOGRAPH

MUSHROOMS OF SEVERAL COLORS CAN BE ATTACHED TO BASE ROCKS TO FORM
FAST SELLING ARAGONITE COMBINATION TANK GROWN LIVE ROCKS
AS SOON AS THESE ROCKS ARE COVERED WITH CORALINE ALGAE THEY WIIL BE FINISHED

COLOR            - White to tan
REEF SAFE        - Very
HARDNESS         - From very soft to medium hard
CORALINE GROWTH  - Grows very fast
SHAPE            - Some pieces have great shapes depending on source

TUFA

COLOR            - Cream to tan and brown
REEF SAFE        - Most tufa is reef safe
HARDNESS         - From very soft to very hard
CORALINE GROWTH  - Grows the fastest on some pieces we have tested
SHAPE            - Some pieces have good shapes depending on source

LAVA

COLOR            - Black to red and brown
REEF SAFE        - Some lava is reef safe - only use tested types
HARDNESS         - From very hard to almost glass like
CORALINE GROWTH  - Grows well on some pieces we have tested
SHAPE            - Some pieces have wonderful shapes

ZOANTHIDS COME IN MANY COLORS. THESE DIFFERENT COLORS CAN BE ATTACHED
TO THE SAME ARAGONITE COMBINATION TANK GROWN LIVE ROCKS

THESE PALYTHOA ARE A VERY GOOD SPECIES TO COMBINE WITH ZOANTHIDS
TO CREATE ARAGONITE COMBINATION TANK GROWN LIVE ROCKS

Shape and texture are the two most important things to look for when you purchase base rock. Remember if you start with a lump of rock you will end up with a lump of rock covered with coraline. If you start with a fine looking base rock you will end up with a fine looking live rock.