live rock good for newbies?

[gottabemyway]

i've noticed reading these forms that alot of people strongly suggest live rock for saltwater aquariums. Being a newbie i had no idea what it was and did some research.
from what i've collected it contains an assortment of invertebrates among other things. but as i was reading around, alot of people suggest that invertebrates are not for newbies.

can anybody give me some feedback on what they need that a fish only tank wouldn't have, and what makes them so hard to keep?

 

[valdok]

well, most of the inverts on the live rock,after it's cured, die off [it's part of the process]. when you go to your LFS, you will see the live rock and be able to pick your pieces. just avoid ones that have feather dusters or anything else that looks difficult. Inverts need good, strong lighting, and more often then not require special feeding techniques and a lot of elements added to the tank that fish don't need. This makes it harder.

 

[wayne at home]

I can assure you a live rock system called FOWLR is by far the easiest to maintain. FOWLR = FishOnlyWithLiveRock, but it also includes real hardy inverts live shrimp, crab, tube worms, some snails plus some other that might come with the rock. Some inverts are hard or require special lighting, feeding, some are easy, equally some fish are easy, some have a near zero survival rate.
It's the easiest because it works, it doesn't need a skip load of maintenance, and it's stable. Older style setups with UG filters, wet dry and so on can be made to work , but typically have a ton more problems, and require a load of fiddling around.
If you get a chance , read Mike Palettas book , New Marine Aquarium, step by step guide (not correct title). This is absolutely essential reading for newbies, and near the start he describes the pain of older style systems compared to live rock based. I'm old enough to remember before live rock, and it was HARD to keep stuff alive, and he is a damn good aquarist. It's stupid to see LFS's recommend it now

 

[spikekillifish]

Live rock is a must IMO. You should have little problem keeping some inverts as well. Good luck!!!

 

[aquatic-store]

make sure the live rock does not stink or it is not properly cured

 

[ClarkiCavalier]

live rock makes your tank look natural and puts cvarious bacteria and plankton in the water that is essential for growth. It is good that you aren't trying to go straight to inverts, but the level of care for inverts that generally come on live rock is non-existant. I would recommend live rock to anyway who can afford it. Shop around first for sure. I bought a pound of live rock fragments today at a saltwater fish store for $1.50. In one of these little fragments i found a baby (half inch) green carpet anemone. A true treasure that I intend on rasing to 12" and selling for a small fortune. I can't stress it enough. Shop around!