Live Rock Opinions and Advice

[Inquisitive]

hey guys,

Have a few questions and am looking for advice and opinions...hopefully the questions aren't too stupid...grins

I'm figuring in about two weeks the tank set up will be ready for live rock....I've been looking around and pricing live rock at the local shops and online....thus far, MarineDepot has come in ahead on uncured live rock as far as price and shipping goes

I was under the impression (please correct me if I'm wrong) that when you buy uncured rock you can get some awesome hitchers and part of the joy of curing it in the tank is watching to see what you'll get on the rock...where as if you buy cured rock from someone elses tank, you may not get the hitchers and it won't take as long to cycle...is this correct?

I'm thinking I want to go with figi live rock and I don't mind it taking 3 or 4 weeks to cycle...rushing the cycling process isn't really important to me...as this is my first reef tank, I want to be able to watch the rock come alive in the tank and want to be able to see life forms grow....so, what would you do? buy the uncured rock or try to get rock cheaper from someone elses tank?

Thanks for the opinions! The tank I have is 55 gallons. If I go with marine depot, due to price, I'll put in 55 lbs of rock...if I go with rock from someone's tank and it is cheaper, I may put in 65-70lbs of rock. Does it really matter as far as filtration and what not go?

 

[shipwrecked]

I've done my tanks with a half and half method...half of whats called base rock,which has no growth of anything,and do the top pcs with "live" rock.or if yr wealthy you could do all live rock..lol (jk) I've seen rock from peoples tanks look really good,ie with lotsa "things like spaghetti worms,tiny starfish,sponges,cope's" and the like. I believe its hit or miss..hope this helps

 

[Inquisitive]

ship...you've been very helpful to me...thank you, I appreciate it....

where does one buy this base rock?...I never hear about it when I ask shops if they sell live rock and I haven't seen it in the catalogues that I get....I'm somewhat familiar with the seeding concept as I just bought my sand from ocean gallery and the gentleman advised me to get 40lbs of sand and only 10 lbs of live sand to "seed" the sand bed...said it was cheaper adn would work fine and make all the sand live....

 

[Phyl]

We bought base rock from Tropiquarium. We got our live rock (way back when) from LiveRocks.com who is no longer in business. Dr. Mac sells rock and Bernie from Seatrademarine, who is local and supposed to be a great resource.

 

[Edwardw771]

The Hidden reef will have Live Fuji rock for close to $2.35 a pound next Saturday for their blow out sale. There normal price is still $2.89 a pound. Even with all the limits on exports. I was there today. They had some nice stuff and they are a sponser on NJReefers

 

[Inquisitive]

perks...where is this hidden reef located?

 

[Phyl]

Pennsylvania, just on the other side of the river, not far from Trenton.

 

[Hawkeye]

hey guys,

Have a few questions and am looking for advice and opinions...hopefully the questions aren't too stupid...grins

I'm figuring in about two weeks the tank set up will be ready for live rock....I've been looking around and pricing live rock at the local shops and online....thus far, MarineDepot has come in ahead on uncured live rock as far as price and shipping goes

I was under the impression (please correct me if I'm wrong) that when you buy uncured rock you can get some awesome hitchers and part of the joy of curing it in the tank is watching to see what you'll get on the rock...where as if you buy cured rock from someone elses tank, you may not get the hitchers and it won't take as long to cycle...is this correct?

I'm thinking I want to go with figi live rock and I don't mind it taking 3 or 4 weeks to cycle...rushing the cycling process isn't really important to me...as this is my first reef tank, I want to be able to watch the rock come alive in the tank and want to be able to see life forms grow....so, what would you do? buy the uncured rock or try to get rock cheaper from someone elses tank?

Thanks for the opinions! The tank I have is 55 gallons. If I go with marine depot, due to price, I'll put in 55 lbs of rock...if I go with rock from someone's tank and it is cheaper, I may put in 65-70lbs of rock. Does it really matter as far as filtration and what not go?

I'm going to generalize here since there are lots of definitions.

Pick up LR either from the Pacific or the Atlantic:
Denser, heavier material is found in the Gulf of Mexico. A seller like TampaBaySaltwater will place dry rock in the gulf, wait a few years, then "harvest" this rock with whatever critters are growing on them to be delivered to the customer. This rock will come with lots of hitchers because the rock is shipped in water.

Pluses: Short cycle, amphipods, copepods, porcelain crabs, emerald crabs, serpent stars (the big ones and tiny ones), feather dusters, may all arrive with the LR. I've even seen a fish accidentally included in a shipment.

Negatives - the rock is heavy. Boulder like. Bad hitchers like cirolanid isopods, hungry crabs, all kinds of bristle worms (good and bad), mantis shrimp, pistol shrimp (not necessarily bad -but the clicking annoys me), whelks, and the list goes on.

On the other hand you could have rock shipped from the pacific. Within this area you can choose rock that is completely dead/dry (MarcoRocks) - that you would cure yourself.
Pluses: No bad hitchers, nice shapes, lighter rock.
Negatives: No good hitchers, you have to cure it which can be a pain.

The other option is to get rock from say MarineDepot and have them ship it to you wrapped in newspaper. This would be no different than getting LR from Dr. Mac, the Hidden Reef or any number of places that sell Fiji LR. The difference here is whether you buy it online or from an LFS.

LFS:
Pluses: Lighter rock, some hitchers, you get to cherry pick the rock.
Negatives: Can't really think of any.

online fiji LR:
Pluses: Typically cheap, rock is lighter than Gulf, some good hitchers
Negatives: You can't pick the LR.

Finally there's always the option of buying off someone who is selling theirs. I just picked up mine from another reefer in ny.
pluses: rock already cured, and typically with lots of copepods/amphipods, coralline. You also get to cherry pick whatever pieces you like more so fit in your tank.
negatives: you never know if the seller is honest about any issues in the past (red bugs, flat worms, or treated the tank with medication, etc.)

Hope this helps!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Inquisitive, I bought all my LR from Bernie (seatrademarine) when I set up my 75, and I absolutely loved it. It came fresh from the airport, was still wet, and it was fully cured in under a month. I had hitchhikers (the good ones only), and loved watching things pop up. It seemed as if my tank was coming to life without me even buying any critters. It was a lot of fun.

I also bought pieces from the Hidden Reef. Do yourself a favor if you go and handpick the pieces from them, check each and every piece of rock and smell it. You'll know what I'm talking about once you get that certain whiff.

 

[shipwrecked]

No problem Doc...er...a...Ma'am... you have some great responses to this post Marco Rocks for base rock...lol Wendy....can we say "stinky feet rock?"..

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

i'd say just wait, bide your time and buy it from club members selling theirs... it'll already be cured, and probably more habitated with life than you would get from most lfs, and the average seems to be like $3.00/pound

 

[JRWOHLER]

I did a combination like some are suggesting.
Out of 180 lbs of rock I got 120 from a NJRC member, 25lbs base from Trop(heavy but cheaper had a nice flat shape to it), 30lb from my old tank various LFS, 15 lbs from another NCRC member who was downsizing with some corals.

Upside was win win with NJRC members lower cost and they sold their rock. No negatives at all IMO because they were from good guys. Great hitchers corals ect.

Base from Trop was less expensive but got the shapes I wanted at lower cost. No good or bad hitchers.

 

[Inquisitive]

thanks for all the replies everyone! great info, hawk....

at this point, I guess I'll just bide my time...I figure I have at least another week or so before I'm ready to get some rock anyway....I don't want to do the messy rubbermaid holding area in the mean time...

oh, and please...feel free to refer to me as Kristi or Inqy....Inquisitive is just too long to type out...*winks*

 

[Hawkeye]

Out of 180 lbs of rock I got 120 from a NJRC member...

who lives like 1/4 a mile away from me in the same town. I soooooo wanted that LR but was not ready yet. LOL. Oh well...first come first served...

i'd say just wait, bide your time and buy it from club members selling theirs... it'll already be cured, and probably more habitated with life than you would get from most lfs, and the average seems to be like $3.00/pound

reeflections has a point - it's the sad truth but a lot of people jump into the hobby and then later find they are too busy or just not as interested anymore. I guess this is true in all pet areas (given the number of animal shelters). Hopefully we as a club can encourage each other to stay the course and help one another out when things get tough.

 

[calaxa]

I'm surprised no one gave another option:

Make your own out of aragonite + cement

Pros: Dirt Cheap, no bad hitchhikers
Cons: Will need to cure (concrete has high pH and needs several weeks sitting in freshwater to cure), no good hitchhikers. Very ugly to look at until coralline grows in (or at least diatoms, then it looks as ugly as any new cycling tank does)

Alternative to this is CaribSea base rock which if you can find somewhere is about $50 for a 50 lb. box. Basically, it's their man made base rock that has already been cured.

 

[JRWOHLER]

I don't know how close you are to NY but Manhattan Reefers has more people selling rock then here.

Maybe they don't get the encouragement that we give here. ;D.

Sorry Phil, well sorta, it was great rock especially if you like GSP. :-\

 

[Hawkeye]

LOL....oops I didn't know that. Just borrow Malv's angel - it'll probably mow all the GSP down...lol. That stated - it's a good thing to point out to Inqy since even buying LR from friends within the club doesn't guarantee that the LR will be without some kind of hitcher you don't want.

 

[JRWOHLER]

I like it OK, just have to corral it. I have made a nice power head cover out of it. I admit I didn't understand how invasive/annoying it can be. Thought of course I want it, but then it just takes over an area and you feel sorta bad thinning it.

Yes you should be careful and I was told it was good buy a few members who knew Dan so felt pretty good about it. I got a lot of cool coraline algae and whatnot.

 

[Inquisitive]

hey...I'm in Union....NY is only like 40 mins away or so....but, I just spoke to Dad and it looks like I won't get the stand til the day after Thanksgiving....so, I have a little time to play with....

thank you all for the great advice....and I'm not to keen on the idea of makin my own rock...grins...good suggestion though