Can you use artificial rock to save money, or do you need live rock in an octopus tank.:snorkel:

Ideally any saltwater tank should include live rock. It is THE FOUNDATION of your filtration. Otherwise all that money you saved not buying live rock, is going to be spent on excess filtration equipment, and actually will probably cost you more in the long run.

Beside the fact that live rock is a godsend for filtration it looks so beautiful and it usually comes with a host of creatures.

There are no substitutes for live rock, but I have been successful "cloning" some.
It takes time and patience, but you can get alot more good quality live rock for alot less money.

I got some good uncured live rock, about 30% of what I actually needed finished. I mean the stuff with the most tube worms and algae that you can imagine. I choose "uncured" because most of the curing process is killing off stuff and I wanted everything I could try to cultivate. I then went to a store that sells rocks and stone for yard use and picked out "holey limestone" pieces that would look nice. Avoid rocks that look cut or have straight edges-the more organic the better. Wash it REAL good.
I used this limestone as the base rock and put the purchased live rock on top and went through the curing process. After 6 months you couldn't tell the difference between the two types.

The key to live rock is 2 things: The live bacteria and animals that inhabit it, and the high surface area in the stone itself for them to live.