buying live rock

[alexk3954]

I am going to be getting some live rock for my first reef in the near future and was wandering, what do you look for when you buy rock at the lfs? Should the rocks be completely purple and covered in coralline? Anything I can see that would signal "don't buy this rock"?

 

[reefnetworth]

how old is tank? what size tank? are you going full reef? what kind of lights? protein skimmer? do you have live sand?

 

[reefnetworth]

buying, i got cured show rock. the base was turned to the sides showing the most coralline's. its about $.50 higher per lb. but worth it, life is establishing when you get it. less cycle time if any. test water for nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia daily for about a week to make sure.

 

[BadOleRoss]

I have purchased about 500 lbsof R in the last 6 mos. and have gotten it all from Live Aquaria.com. I have always purchsed the cured premium rock instead of the uncured rock. You will still have die off after shipping but you can usually recure it in aweek or so. Unless you can get a better price from you LFS go with a recommended online supplier. Folkson these forus will give you several. You will need 1.25-1.5lbs per gallon generally.

 

[alexk3954]

NANO4BRAINS- The tank is so new that it doesn't even have water yet! I am going for a full reef w/ lots of softies. I have an aquaC remora skimmer. I am getting live-ish sand ( I am getting the carib sea arag-alive, which is supposedly live, but I don't really know)

BADOLEROSS- Sounds like you really like that live aquaria! I actually had my eye on that highest grade fiji rock. Is liveaquaria good enough that you would reccomend it to others? How big is the average rock? Is there a lot of rubble in the box, or is it mostly good rock that you can actually use?

 

[boodwah]

I would have to reccomend Tampa Bay Saltwater. I have put it in a new tank and had a minimal cycle because they ship it in water via air freight. It takes 2-5 hours submerged to get to your house versus 24-48 hours moist-dry like most other suppliers. Plus you get so many hitchhikers that are quite entertaining to watch. And they are as cheap as any other live rock out there.