In addition to being an excellent decorative element, live sea rocks serve a very important function in the marine aquarium ecosystem. The formation of stones in the ocean occurs through the accumulation of sedimentary rocks, amalgams of coral fragments or overgrowths consisting of aragonite and calcite layered over the years. This process is called an agglomeration of heterogeneous processes, as a result of which caves and cracks appear, in which life subsequently arises.
How Live Rock Works in a Saltwater Aquarium
Porous structure and huge internal surface, developed relief (many potential shelters), physical structure and chemical composition of the material (calcium carbonate with an admixture of other useful elements), high decorative qualities, unique in composition and diversity of animal and plant populations (micro-, meio- and macrobenthos) surfaces of living stones and their internal pores and cavities, adapted to living on/in such a substrate - these are the main advantages of this material.
This is short, but we will continue.
The inhabitants of the pores and cavities of a living stone (taking care of their nutrition, breathing and getting rid of metabolic products) actively pump water through its “body”. The result is a very efficient biochemical reactor with a bunch of useful additional options.
Organisms that enter the aquarium along with live rocks spread throughout the soil, decorations, hidden cavities, biological filter fillers and other substrates, dramatically increasing biodiversity and, accordingly, the stability of the aquarium ecosystem.
Unlike a classic biofilter, the beneficial activity of living stones is not limited to the oxidation of highly toxic nitrogen-containing secretions of fish and other aquarium animals to relatively harmless nitrates. On the surface and in the depth of living stones, there is a truly comprehensive processing of most of the biogenic compounds that pollute water (including nitrates, phosphates and organic acids) into simple and biologically neutral substances.
In addition, live rock can help maintain the buffering capacity of aquarium water and its pH stability. In the depths of the pores, as well as under algal fouling, dissolution of the material from which they consist can occur. That is, living stones, among other things, serve as an additional source of calcium and magnesium ions, bicarbonate ions and trace elements.
Using live rocks, you can “revive” DSB sand (Deep Sand Bed - a thick layer of sand - a system for maintaining water quality in marine aquariums, based on a thick layer of sandy soil).
Many inhabitants of living rocks are capable of eating pathogens of marine fish. The more live rock there is in the aquarium, the lower the risk of such diseases. Plants and invertebrate animals that live and reproduce on them serve as a valuable addition to the diet of fish and other animals kept in the aquarium.
At the same time, you can bring new settlers into the aquarium along with them, which are dangerous for some of your pets. These can be mantis crabs, carnivorous crabs, fire worms, aiptasia (glass rose anemones), planaria... Not all marine aquarists consider it desirable to add these animals to a community aquarium. Inspect the stones when purchasing, consult with sellers.
Indoor pomegranate
Spent millions at the store buying fruit again? Grow your own on your windowsill! Thus, on an indoor pomegranate, edible fruits appear in a thin peel with a diameter of 5 cm. The most important thing in care is lighting: it should be bright and diffused. During the growth period, you need to water the pomegranate actively: at least 1-2 times a week, and during flowering and dormancy, reduce watering. In addition, the bush should be sprayed with soft warm water from spring to autumn. Once a year, a young pomegranate must be replanted, otherwise it will not bear fruit. After three years, this need disappears. In spring and summer, do not forget about fertilizers with a low nitrogen content. And if the pomegranate leaves fall off in the fall, don’t worry! This means a period of rest begins, which will last until February.
Starting a Marine Aquarium Using Live Rock
Live rocks play a special role when starting a new marine aquarium and when restoring its ecosystem, in cases where it is suppressed by the use of medications, etc.
Bacteria and other organisms enter the aquarium with stones, providing biological purification of water. Moreover, immediately in an active state, and precisely those species and strains that are able to immediately begin to work and reproduce in the water of a tropical marine aquarium (with its characteristic hydrochemical characteristics, temperature and composition of pollutants). The latter circumstance favorably distinguishes living stones from artificial bacterial preparations.
Some of the organisms arriving with living stones die and, decomposing, provide the load necessary for the rapid proliferation of bacteria involved in the biological purification of water. Moreover, it highly accurately simulates the load on biofilters that occurs during the life of aquatic organisms kept in marine aquariums. Therefore, to start the aquarium ecosystem, freshly received stones are often used.
It is recommended to place live stones in a new aquarium 3-5 days after it has been “salted”. In case of a very big rush, you can reduce the waiting period to 1-4 hours, but you need to understand that freshly prepared artificial sea water is quite aggressive and losses among the population of stones will increase.
There are different opinions regarding the order of laying and selection of live stones. It is difficult to give clear recommendations. A lot depends on the amount of dead organic matter on specific living rocks, the design and performance of the life support system of the aquarium and its inhabitants.
You can use both freshly received and over-seasoned living stones in various proportions.
Freshly received stones of particularly high quality (no abundance of characteristic fouling, dead animals and plants are observed, no putrefactive odor) are used without special restrictions, almost the same as overexposed ones. Both stones can be placed in the aquarium in large quantities, up to a one-time placement of the entire planned volume of stones at a time.
If there is a lot of dead organic matter on or inside the rocks, the excess can poison the water and seriously disrupt the aquarium's ecosystem.
Based on the realities of the domestic market, for novice marine aquarists, for whom it is still difficult to determine the quality of live stones, we recommend that you first place a small amount of overexposed stones in the aquarium. A few days later, after the initial “revitalization” of the aquarium ecosystem, you can add freshly received stones, preferably in several stages and in a mixture with overexposed ones. Remembering to monitor the concentration of ammonium and nitrites in the aquarium water.
The first fish and other animals begin to be carefully planted in the new aquarium approximately two to three (sometimes four) weeks after laying the live stones. Having previously made sure that the content of ammonium and nitrites in the aquarium water is steadily decreasing and is either equal to zero or has reached values acceptable for your pets.
If it is necessary to add live rocks to an aquarium already inhabited by fish and/or sensitive invertebrates, this should be done carefully, in accordance with the capabilities of the life support system and monitoring the water quality with tests. Adding well-seasoned live rock is the least dangerous. If freshly received live stones are added, this is done in small portions.
Laying LCD
There are several ways to install liquid crystals in an aquarium. To reduce the load on the bottom of the aquarium and ensure water circulation, you can use plastic platform gratings or glue strips of glass on which stones are installed. If the bottom of the aquarium is a structure made of double or reinforced “floating” glasses and the load is distributed evenly over the entire area of the bottom of the aquarium, you can do without stands for stones. If soil is used, the LCD needs to be deepened into it almost to the very bottom and then the entire structure must be adjusted in length and height, selecting according to the structure and joining the stones together. When using stands under stones, sand should be poured after laying the residential complex.
It is important to install the stones so that there are free spaces everywhere between them - cavities, cracks and caves, which will ensure free circulation of water throughout the entire structure. Do not forget to take into account the expected location of the flow pumps, otherwise, to organize proper washing of stones, it may be necessary to install additional pumps.
If necessary, especially in tall aquariums, you can fix and join the stones using various devices: plastic clamps, titanium pins (nails) or PVC pipes. When choosing devices, you should choose only materials that are inert to seawater.
Choosing live stones when purchasing
Relief
Usually they try to choose living stones with the most developed relief - an abundance of protrusions, depressions and cavities. Sometimes they give preference to openwork structures, which are based on the branched skeletons of long-dead corals.
Such stones provide the mobile inhabitants of the aquarium with a large variety of shelters. As a rule, sessile invertebrates are easily attached to them. They are easy to lay, creating beautiful surfaces and shapes.
We should not forget about the strength requirements. This is especially important for living stones placed as the base of the decoration.
If you intend to keep large pelagic fish in a multi-ton aquarium - fast and agile, such as blacktip reef sharks ( Carcharhinus melanopterus
), it is better to stay on smooth stones with a minimum of protrusions. This will help reduce the likelihood of these fish getting injured or becoming stuck.
Fouling and mobile population
Abundant and varied living fouling on the surface of living stones is an indicator of their quality. Advanced life on the surface usually corresponds to an equally abundant population of internal voids.
Freshly arrived stones have the richest and most diverse populations. During storage in the store, even if good conditions are created there, some of the inhabitants of live stones leave them or die (including those that could survive in your place, since the conditions in your aquarium are different from the aquarium in the store).
On the other hand, by placing unexposed stones in your aquarium, you take a risk - the decay products of their inhabitants that died during transportation can lead to poisoning of the aquarium water.
At the same time, you can bring new settlers into the aquarium along with them, which are dangerous for some of your pets. These can be mantis crabs, carnivorous crabs, fire worms, aiptasia (glass rose anemones), planaria... Not all marine aquarists consider it desirable to add these animals to a community aquarium. Inspect the stones when purchasing, consult with sellers.
Algae An abundance of living crustose algae (calcareous algae of various shades of red, reminiscent of terrestrial crustose lichens) is desirable and is considered one of the indicators of the quality of stones.
“Fleshy” algae, such as caulerpa, do not withstand “dry” transportation. It is better to refrain from purchasing live rocks that have become overgrown with them (unless these algae have already grown in the seller’s aquarium). If you still have to buy, then dead algae must be carefully removed so as not to spoil the aquarium water.
Sessile invertebrates Small living stony corals and other coelenterates are often found on the surface of good rocks. Their composition may vary depending on the region and the specific place of extraction. More often than others you can find porites, zoanthids and small sea anemones, sometimes clavularia. If you manage to place such a stone in good conditions, then these animals will take root in the aquarium and begin to grow.
Sponges and ascidians, bivalves and other filter feeders, as a rule, do not find the conditions they need and die. Although there are exceptions, a place suitable for their life is most often found not consciously, but by chance. If an animal from this group has taken root, leave it alone. A change in location or other conditions will most likely ruin it.
Mobile invertebrates The vast majority of mobile invertebrates that can survive transportation are very skilled at hiding (those who couldn’t do this were eaten in the ocean, a long time ago). Even if you carefully examine the stones, you can find only a few of them. However, the longer the time passes from the moment the stones are delivered from the place of extraction of live stones to their placement in your aquarium, the fewer of them will remain (they die themselves, eat each other, move...). This is especially true for “large” (from 1 cm) crustaceans.
Unwanted inhabitants of live rocks With live ones, you can bring new settlers into the aquarium that are dangerous for some of your pets. However, the possible damage is not nearly as great and probable as it may seem to inexperienced aquarists. In any case, it is incomparably lower than the benefits brought by living stones.
Mantis crabs The devil is not as scary as he is painted. Only large specimens can cause serious damage to your pets. But they rarely arrive alive, and it’s easier to notice them when buying them. If a large mantis does end up in the aquarium or grows on the spot, it can be detected and, if necessary, pulled out along with a stone or caught with a trap.
Carnivorous Crabs Crabs can be a problem. They are found quite often in living rocks, and due to the abundance and diversity of species of these crustaceans, it is very difficult to distinguish “pests” from beneficial small herbivorous crabs. It is better to immediately place those who can be found and check their food preferences by offering different types of food. If some “villain” does end up in the aquarium and manages to cause significant damage, he will have to be caught (most often with the help of a trap).
Dangerous polychaete worms Polychaete worms, also known as polychaetes, are a whole class that includes a huge number of species. The vast majority of those that can get into the aquarium and survive in it are of great benefit. Rare exceptions (some fire and predatory polychaete worms), as a rule, either do not cause much damage or can be destroyed without any problems.
Aiptasia (glass rose anemones), planaria, filamentous and blue-green algae... These animals can only become a problem in a poorly balanced aquarium. In favorable conditions, they are able to quickly increase their numbers and can worsen the condition and even kill some of the animals contained in it.
The main remedy is to normalize the general condition of the aquarium. In addition, you can have animals that will feed on them.
In any case, it is almost impossible to prevent them from entering the home aquarium, for example when purchasing live corals. Therefore, there is no need to become paranoid if you discover the slight presence of these unwanted live rock inhabitants in a commercial aquarium. However, if their number is really large, it is better to think about the feasibility of the purchase.
Pathogens of diseases in aquarium fish The risk of transmitting diseases to aquarium fish is relatively low, since the inhabitants of live rocks happily feed on their pathogens. However, it is, of course, better to refrain from purchasing live rock from an aquarium that contains sick fish.
Region
The region of origin of living stones, in our opinion, is not very important. The main thing is a specific supplier: it is he who must ensure the quality of living stones and its stability.
Seed propagation method
Living stones reproduce only by seeds, which are collected after flowering or purchased in a specialized store. They retain their viability and quality for a long time if stored correctly: in a dry place, in paper bags. They are best stored in fruit boxes - natural capsules. To get the seed, carefully open the fruit, separate the seeds and sift through a sieve.
Lithops are easy to pollinate by hand. Take two flowers located next to each other and use a brush to transfer pollen from one specimen to another. The fruits ripen and the seeds ripen within 9 months. If you purchase commercial seed, you can get several types of plants in one bag.
It is better to sow in early spring. The execution technology is simple:
- To germinate seeds, use wide, shallow containers that have drainage holes at the bottom.
- The soil substrate is prepared from a purchased universal mixture, sand and perlite, stirring them in a ratio of 1:2:2.
- The soil is well moistened. Then the seeds are distributed over its surface as little as possible. Tapping the edges of the container allows it to sink into the soil.
- The crop is sprinkled with a layer of sand on top and covered with film or glass to create a greenhouse effect.
- Every day, the covering material is removed to allow fresh air and moisture to come in, which is done 3-4 times a day using a spray bottle.
- The containers are placed in a sunny place.
To grow seedlings, maintain a temperature of +20-25 degrees. Seeds germinate unevenly; the first shoots may appear within a week. Living stones grow very slowly. Sometimes they fall to the side. In this case, they are carefully leveled and slightly pressed into the ground. True leaves grow 4-6 months after germination. The older the plants become, the less they should be watered to prevent weak roots from rotting.
The first year, young lithops are not touched, leaving them in sowing containers. When the leaves change, they are planted in new soil. Healthy seedlings grow if they are grown in greenhouse conditions with good lighting and constant ventilation. Living stones bloom three years after sowing. Since they grow slowly, they make up compositions that will remain unchanged for several years. By placing them in an aquarium, you can dream up a marine theme or create Indian patterns from groups and single specimens of different colors.
Calculation of the required number of live stones
It is generally considered optimal to place enough live rock in the aquarium so that its volume is between one-third and one-half of its volume. However, for financial reasons this is not always possible - stones are not cheap.
In addition, the needs of the aquarium population must be taken into account. Active swimmers require a lot of free space. Moray eels are insensitive to water quality; on the other hand, the abundance of shelters can lead to the fact that, except for the moment of feeding, the owner will almost never see his pets.
The specific gravity of live rock is quite variable. Usually for stones of good quality in a wet state it is approximately 1.6-1.7 kg/l (for some reason I have not come across such data in the literature - I had to measure it myself, taking a couple of samples from a batch of overexposed Indonesian stones).
However, when we talk about the volume occupied by living stones in an aquarium, we most often do not mean the total volume of all stones, and certainly not the volume of water displaced by porous stones (who can say how much water is enough to drain or evaporate from a stone before moment when he ceases to be considered alive?).
We are talking about the volume of the aquarium, limited by a curved surface tangent to the external projections of the decoration, laid out from living stones. And to put it more simply, what part of the aquarium (“by eye”) is occupied by the mountain of living stones lying in it.
In this case, very approximately, we can assume that one kg of live stones occupies one liter of aquarium space.
How many of them are needed for a particular aquarium is a creative question. However, for aquariums from 100 liters to several tons, we recommend the following ratios:
- for reef aquariums - from 20 to 50 kg of live stones for every 100 liters of volume (or, if you express the number of stones as a percentage of the volume of the aquarium - 20-50%);
- for aquariums inhabited by fish and invertebrates resistant to captivity conditions - from 10 to 20 kg of live stones for every 100 liters of volume (10-20%).
The larger the volume of the aquarium, and the higher the resistance of the animals contained in it to captivity conditions, the smaller the relative (per volume) amount of live rock can be used.
Tea Jewels
The cult of food in Taiwan can only be rivaled by the cult of tea: the first set of the island’s traditional tea set, the “Formosan pair,” displayed in the windows of the National Museum, dates back to the reign of the Qin dynasty—which, for a moment, is the 12th century. Cut off from the mainland's cultural revolutions, a small fragment of land has managed to retain all the viscous charm of traditional Chinese ceremonies. more like Oriental Beauty (“Oriental Beauty”). The intrigue of tea drinking will be given not only by beautiful long leaves, as if dancing in a cup (tea got its name from this “dance”), but also by the knowledge that the depth of this drink is given not so much by fermentation, but by cicadas - they eat tea leaves and, covering the edges leaf saliva, make the taste of the tea leaves exquisitely tart.
Decorative qualities of living stones
The use of living stones as decorative elements makes it possible to imitate the surface of natural reefs with high accuracy. In addition, decorative structures made from live rocks provide aquarium inhabitants with plenty of shelter. This is especially important when keeping aggressive and predatory fish together with small-sized fish or those that are poorly resistant to stress.
Installation of scenery
Easy installation
If the decoration is not too steep and high (especially if you managed to make the aquarium wider and lower - which is generally what you should strive for for many reasons), you can stack live rocks on top of each other to your taste, creating a beautiful topography and providing places for placing motionless invertebrates (the base can be laid out, for example, with limestone). This option is used most often and is attractive because it does not require any additional devices, and if necessary, the decoration can be easily disassembled or remade.
Individual stones are sometimes placed in a spacer between the decoration and the glass. However, this may cause scratches.
On pins
You can attach living rocks to each other by drilling holes in them and inserting plastic or titanium pins (usually cut from titanium wire). In this case, a large number of holes are immediately drilled into the stones. However, it should be noted that in good reef aquariums, these holes will eventually become overgrown with calcareous algae and other “living material”.
On a frame
You can assemble a mounting base from PVC pipes with holes and other bulk plastic elements. Or attach a strong, rigid plastic mesh to the back wall. And then attract living stones to this base with plastic self-tightening mounting belts (often used for fastening cables and pipes) or tying them with cambric, if necessary, sawing the living stones and drilling holes in them. When sawing and drilling live rocks, be careful not to leave metal particles in them.
On glue
The adhesives used are two-component epoxy glue. It is offered especially for marine aquariums, for example, by the German companies Aqua Medic (“Reef Construct”) and Tunze. The glue consists of two “sausages” with a consistency reminiscent of plasticine. They are kneaded like plasticine and mixed in equal proportions. It, of course, hardens in water, but it sticks quite poorly to wet surfaces, and it hardly sticks at all to the surfaces of living stones covered with organic matter. In addition, when trying to glue under water, it becomes blurred and dusty. However, this glue can slightly bind the stones by clinging to irregularities.
It is more convenient to assemble the decoration from live stones using epoxy glue “dry” - before filling the aquarium with water or outside of it. The gluing areas on wet stones are dried with a rag or napkin and then glue is applied.
In addition, you can assemble the base of the decoration in a dry aquarium by gluing together dried purified sea limestone stones with two-component epoxy glue. Artificial “rocks” made of ceramic slag, such as “Grotten Ceramic” and “Grotten Lava” from Hobby, can be fixed with the same epoxy glue, but easier and cheaper - with aquarium silicone sealant. In this case, it is necessary to specially provide platforms and crevices for the subsequent placement of live stones.
Attaching sessile animals to live rocks
Of course, first of all it is necessary to take into account the ecology of these animals. Not everyone will agree to live on a rock - some, for example, like sandy soil. Almost all invertebrate animals have their own preferences regarding water mobility, lighting and nearest neighbors.
The easiest way to lay out decorations from living stones is to provide special areas and recesses for placing corals and other stationary invertebrates. However, this is not always enough. Not all animals can reliably “grow” to a hard substrate. In any case, it will take time. Until self-reinforcement occurs, they can be knocked down by persistent or clumsy fish, hermit crabs, gastropods and other aquarium “elephants”. The current of water can also turn them over and throw them off. And the owner himself, putting things in order in the aquarium, may not be careful enough.
Soft fastener
Soft corals, colonies of zooantharians and some other “soft” coelenterates (not sea anemones) can be secured with simple packing rubber bands or plastic mounting belts. Just don't squeeze them too hard. If it is possible to ensure the immobility of the animals, then they subsequently grow to the substrate and the fasteners can be removed.
Sometimes this method works for stony corals.
Two-component epoxy adhesive
This type of glue has already been discussed a little higher. This type of fastening can apparently be considered the most reliable and convenient for stony corals (especially branched forms) and gorgonians. The glue consumption in this case is small. Its surface in the aquarium quickly becomes covered with fouling and becomes practically indistinguishable from the surrounding substrate.
Cyacrine based adhesive
Of the adhesives of this type at the household level today, the most accessible are “Super Glue Gel” and “Super-Moment”. In addition, various types of such glue are sold in stores selling modeling supplies.
The method can be used for attaching small fragments, but it is not too simple and the attitude towards it is ambiguous. At the Aqua Logo marine forum, this option for attaching live stones was discussed in some detail.
If the stone to which the coral needs to be glued cannot be removed from the water, a drop of glue must be applied to the base of the coral or other spineless creature that has a “hard and dead landing site”, quickly lowered into the water, and firmly and firmly planted in the chosen place. Everything can work out if you manage to preserve a drop of glue (in water it hardens instantly, but on the drop the hardened layer can form a protective film). Judging by the reviews, this is not possible for everyone, not always, and not with every glue. Thick glue is apparently preferable. The thinner its layer, the better the glue holds - it is better to choose flat surfaces for gluing.
If the base stone can be removed from the water, the task is simplified. The surfaces to be glued should be slightly blotted/dried, glue should be applied to them, applied, and squeezed. The joints are lightly spilled with glue. The finished product is placed in water.
Features of the flower - description and popular types
The homeland of lithops, called living stones, is the deserts of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. Growing in desert and rocky areas, the flowers are often buried in sand, which affects their appearance: they resemble a flat stone split in the middle. The plant is a pair of fused fleshy leaves about 2 cm in size. They grow opposite, attached to the root, and do not have a stalk.
Like all succulents, the thick leaves are capable of storing liquid for use in times of drought. On the side they are gray-green, on top the plates are light, partially or completely translucent. Often plants are buried in the soil, and only leaf windows remain on the surface, through which the processes of photosynthesis and air exchange take place.
Growing up, many lithops form clusters consisting of 10-20 heads. These cultures live for a long time; there are examples of specimens that have lived for more than a hundred years. Since their habitat is desert, they have very long roots that go deep. This is explained by evolution: it was necessary to extract water from great depths. During drought, the flower hides in the ground to save moisture.
In the gaps between the leaves there are meristems from which daisy-like flowers grow. They are white, yellow, and less often orange. The flowering period is from July to October. Among Lithops there are species that differ in shape, size and color of inflorescences and leaf openings. The following species are grown at home:
| Name | Description | Photo |
| Aucamp | Small rounded leaves 2-3 cm in color, brown, green or bluish with dark spots on the upper surface, reminiscent of chocolate truffles. There is a deep gap between them. The flower is bright yellow, fluffy. | |
| Beautiful | The yellow-brown leaves grow 3 cm in height, reaching a diameter of 2.5 cm. They form groups of several plants. The inflorescences are white and have a slight aroma | |
| Leslie | Small brown leaves 1-2 cm in size with a pink, white or gray tint, greatly shortened. There are also red and green specimens. The surface is covered with a mesh pattern. Yellow large flowers grow up to 5 cm, have a pleasant smell | |
| Divided | Green leaves with an oblique upper plate, covered with large spots of gray-green color. The sizes range from 1 to 3 cm, there is a deep hollow between the pairs. They form small groups consisting of several heads. Yellow flowers | |
| False truncated | The leaves have different sizes: diameter and height from 1-3 cm. There is a deep gap between the pairs, they grow in small groups of several pairs. Colored in pinkish, gray or brownish shades. The upper surface is flat with a dotted or linear pattern of dark color. Inflorescences are bright yellow | |
| Argyroderma | The paired leaves are slightly pointed at the tops, loosely adjacent to each other. Its appearance resembles sharp chipped pebbles. The name reflects the silver color of the leaf surface | |
| Olive green | Olive leaves are tall, round in shape, resembling a heart with the tops cut off. The plate has patterns of white, chaotically located specks and strokes. Blooms with yellow, shaggy inflorescences growing on light peduncles | |
| Soleros | Gray leaves grow 2-2.5 cm in height and diameter. They are grouped in several pairs. The gap between them is shallow. The leaf blade is flat, olive green, with dark green spots. White flowers | |
| Marble | The gray leaves have a bluish tint and look velvety. On the surface, the pattern looks like marble veins, which gives the plant its name. Blooms with large white daisy-shaped flowers | |
| Optics | They grow up to 2 cm in height, the leaves are round in shape and have a variety of shades: from greenish-gray to crimson. The inside is a little lighter. The couples' hollow is deep. Small white flowers with yellow stamens look like daisies |
Lithops have an interesting feature: they, like deciduous trees, shed their leaves every year and grow a new pair. It grows from the same crack as the peduncle and gradually replaces the old one, which dies and falls off. This is the natural cycle of living stones.
You should only buy flowers in the store that have young leaves.
Active growth in Lithops begins when winter ends. At the end of the spring season or at the beginning of the summer, they prepare for hibernation. As daylight hours decrease and cold nights approach, living rocks enter their flowering period. After its completion, old leaves die and new ones form. In the dormant stage, the plant does not sleep like other succulents, but grows slowly.
Storage, transportation and preparation of live stones
Storage and transportation
The supplier company must ensure proper storage, holding and transportation of live stones all the way from the mining site to the aircraft.
Live stones are transported, as a rule, without water, in a damp state (wrapped in polyethylene or wet newspapers), packed in insulated polystyrene containers. Thermal insulation is usually not as thorough as when transporting fish and invertebrates.
It is advisable that the delivery of live stones packaged in this way does not exceed 36 hours. Staying in the transport package for too long (many days), as well as overheating (for example, in direct sunlight at the departure airport) or severe hypothermia (if improperly placed on the plane, and/or at the arrival airport in winter) lead to the death of many organisms and a significant decrease in quality of living stones.
Preparing Live Rocks
As a rule, this part of the work is undertaken by the pet store.
The stones are pre-cleaned of dead organic matter (not “brutally”), then placed in a separate container with sea water (neutral plastic or an aquarium), good lighting (day cycle) and aeration using a compressor, pump or pompofilter (sometimes, systems for holding stones equipped with foam separating columns and biofilters). Then it is maintained, if possible, with daily water changes. Once most of the dead organic matter has been processed, water changes can be kept to a minimum.
Overexposed stones do not require preparation.
Trachyander
A rare plant twisted at the top into a tight spiral. Its height can reach two meters. During the flowering period, small bells appear on the stems, which have a vanilla aroma. Trachyandera is easy to care for. She prefers ventilated rooms, but without drafts. The temperature should not fall below 18 degrees. If the room is too hot, the plant will stop curling. A special approach is needed to moisten the soil. It is necessary to use bottom watering once a week: place the flower pot in a pan of water for 15 minutes. When purchasing, it is important to find out what period the plant belongs to: winter or summer, since the lighting is individual for each.
Lifespan of living stones
Unfortunately, over time, living stones can “age” - their filtering abilities decrease. This is due to the fact that not all of their inhabitants are capable of reproduction in an aquarium, and the lifespan of any living organisms is limited. In addition, the surface of living stones is often overgrown with algae and other living organisms, which can lead to blocking of the entrances to internal channels and pores. If the life support system of the aquarium is based primarily on the cleaning ability of live stones, this fact should be kept in mind and periodically (every 1-3 years) add new stones and/or replace old ones.
Diseases and pests - how to fight
If living stones are properly cared for, they are rarely affected by diseases and pests. It is important to carefully monitor the appearance of the plants, and if signs of the disease are detected, cut out the affected part with a sharp instrument down to healthy tissue. Dry the wound and sprinkle with activated carbon or ash.
During the dormant period, scale insects sometimes attack. They are combated by applying a mixture of garlic, soap and water to the leaves. The second option is spraying with yarrow infusion. To prepare it, take 100 g of dry and crushed plant, pour in a liter of boiling water, cover tightly with a lid and leave to infuse for two days.
Interesting! An amazing plant - perennial garden yarrow.
If overwatered, Lithops can be attacked by fungus gnats. A weak manganese solution helps to fight them, which is used to water the soil and then dry it.
Where do living stones come from - growth, production
Reef rock formation
The rock that makes up a coral reef, contrary to popular belief, consists not only of the skeletons of dead hard reef-building corals.
A coral reef is a wave-resistant calcareous structure formed by hermatypic (reef-building) organisms on shallow-water platforms in the tropical zone of oceans and seas. Reef builders are represented by both animals and plants. In most of them, the active deposition of calcium and magnesium carbonates is functionally associated with photosynthesis (reef-building animals often contain unicellular symbiotic algae in their tissues).
The process of formation of a rock reef structure includes two successive stages, which are carried out by different types of hermatypes.
First massive corals (some forms of Favia
,
Siderastrea
,
Hydnophora
,
Porites
,
Symphyllia
...) or corals with massive and strong processes (
Porites
,
Acropora
,
Pocillopora
...) create the skeletal basis of the growing part of the reef.
Some calcareous algae also participate in this process, forming massive growths ( Lithotamnium
,
Porolithon
), which, however, play a supporting role...
The second phase of the formation of the rock structure of the reef consists of cementing its skeletal base and turning it into a solid monolithic structure. This function is performed mainly by red calcareous algae ( Lithotamnium
,
Porolithon
,
Peyssonellia
...), as well as foraminifera, calcareous sponges (
Astrasclera
), molluscs (
Tridacna
,
Vermetidae
...), polychaete worms (
Sabellidae
).
The skeletal elements of dying calcareous algae and their reef-building assistants, as well as the so-called “coral sand” and other detrital material, are packed into depressions, crevices, cracks and fill the cavities of the growing living rock. They are fixed and cemented by the living crust, the growing surface, as well as by the numerous inhabitants of the internal pores, burrows and cavities of the newly formed rock.
As a result of these processes, a monolith is formed that has a complex, but most often far from openwork, surface.
Calcareous algae are characterized by high rates of growth and metabolism. Their rate of calcium carbonate deposition is higher than that of corals. Accordingly, they create the bulk of the carbonate rock of the “coral” reef. Living corals usually cover only a small part of the rock surface of the reef: no more than 30-50% in areas of active growth (reef edge and slope) and less than 5% on the reef plateau (rifflet), which occupies the bulk of its surface.
The main part of the surface of the bottom of lagoons and a significant part of the “foot” of coral reefs are covered with loose sediments called coral sand. However, the greatest importance in its formation is played not by corals, but by red corals ( Amphirhoa
,
Corallina
,
Goniolithon
...) and green calcareous algae (
Halimeda
,
Codium
...). After the death of these algae, their organic part is quickly eaten and rotted, while small calcareous skeletal elements remain. Halimeda, for example, is one of the main sources of calcareous sediment material on the Western Atlantic reefs. A great contribution to the formation of coral sand is made by the skeletons of dead corals, starfish, urchins, shells of bottom mollusks, as well as the shells of ostracods, foraminifera, and pteropods processed by the surf.
In addition, many varieties of calcareous algae (including green algae - halimeda and others), when dying, leave behind “coral” sand - small particles of rock containing calcium carbonate.
Various gnawing and boring animals play a significant role in the formation of the “face” of coral reefs and the formation of “coral” sand. Of these, the most noticeable and famous are parrot fish. These tireless “rodents” crush corals, calcareous algae and simply the surface of living stones in large quantities - pass this material through the gastrointestinal tract, extracting the living and not very organic matter contained in it. Other animals crush mollusk shells, bite into the thickness of the reef rock in search of shelter, etc., etc.
The final contribution to the creation of sculptural reef forms is made by the wave surf, which cuts off everything unnecessary from the “self-growing” stone blocks. In addition to breaking down overconfident structures created by corals and other calcium carbonate-depositing creatures, waves and currents move and sort debris and bottom sediments.
Stone rose
After purchasing, it is advisable to let the stone rose adapt to new conditions and remove it from other plants for 10-14 days, and then you can replant it. At the beginning of summer, after several years of replanting, the stone rose blooms. A peduncle rises 15-20 cm from the rosette and smells pleasant. We hasten to disappoint you: the rosette blooms only once, after which the peduncle dies. But you still have to take care of the stone rose. She loves bright, diffused light and rare watering: once every two weeks in the summer and once a month in the winter. You need to pour water strictly at the root, otherwise the sockets will rot. If you notice lethargy and drying of the lower leaves, it means the plant has excess moisture, which may cause it to die. The stone rose is tolerant of temperature changes, so if you left the window open on a cold night, the flower will not notice.
Tillandsia blue
A tropical plant that blooms with blue-violet flowers. Its amazingness lies in the fact that the flowers bloom one by one, usually 20 per period. Tillandsia is accustomed to warm climates, so it must be kept at a temperature of 25-28 degrees in summer and not lower than 18 degrees in winter. If you are a fan of gatherings on the balcony, then this tropical plant will be an excellent company, as it loves fresh air and ventilated spaces. But she won’t thank you for the cold drafts! It is important to pay special attention to watering: in summer you need to pour water into sockets and into the soil daily, and in winter 2 times a week. In this case, the water should not contain lime, otherwise lime deposits will appear at the base of the leaf.
