Marine Inverts & Live Rock

We stock a very wide variety of inverts so many that Jeremy our photographer took three days trying to photograph them all!
The best way to choose the right ones for you is to come along to our shop and actually choose your favourites
The colouring & textures are a marvel to behold as well as bringing extra life & interest to your aqaurium as a whole.
We will happily advise you if required on the best items for your own environment & system.

We have one of the largest selections of inverts under one roof. Always a huge range of soft corals, mushrooms and polyps including brightly coloured and unusual varities. We have 64 tanks just for critters and this week (July 1st 2008) we have a huge shipment of cleaner and blood shrimps just in - ready for sale by the weekend. With a vast array of snails - turbos, pyramids, cerith, narcissus etc and hermits including red legs and blue legs, we have your clean up crew ready and waiting!

The majority of our live rock originates from Indonesia with occasional shipments of branching Tonga rock (always very popular). Live rock provides the best start your marine aquarium can get, providing the best form of natural filtration. All our rock available for sale is cured and ready to be placed in your aquarium. You can hand pick each piece of rock individually, or alternatively we offer a mail order service for 20kg boxes where we will pick each piece for you.

What is live rock?

When talking about live rock, it is a misconception that the rock itself is alive. What makes it live are the many forms of micro and macroscopic marine life that live on and inside of it. The rock itself is only made up of the calcium carbonate skeletons of long dead corals, or other calcareous organisms. There are different types of live rock. In J. Charles Delbeek's article "your first reef aquarium", published in 1994, under the Live Rock section he refers to "reef rock" basically as pieces of coral or coral rock from outside the reef that have broken off and fallen to the bottom that then becomes covered with encrusting organisms, such as coraline algae and sponges. "Inshore rock" Delbeek refers to as rock from inside the reef that has a tendency to be more dense and becomes covered with macroalgae, clams, mussels, crabs, shrimps, and other unwanted organisms.

Live rock becomes the main biological nitrification base or biological filter of a saltwater aquarium, while at the same time enhances the look of the aquarium and provides shelter for the inhabitants. To better understand what purpose live rock serves in an aquarium, Delbeek explains it like this:

"The use of live rock immediately introduces into the aquarium numerous algae, bacteria and small invertebrates all of which contribute to the overall quality of the aquarium water. Live rock has just as much, if not more, surface area for bacteria than a trickle filter. Since live rock in the aquarium contains various types of bacteria, algae and corals, waste products such as ammonia, nitrate and phosphate can have a number of fates. Ammonia, nitrate and phosphate are readily assimilated by algae and photosynthetic corals growing on and in the rock. Ammonia can also be quickly converted into nitrate by the bacteria on and in the rock. This nitrate can be either absorbed by the algae and corals, or it can be denitrified by bacteria in close proximity to the nitrate producing bacteria."

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All Images are copyright of Heritage Aquatics.com - Do not use without our permission - All images taken by JCG www.cliftongould.com