Live rock being sold at LFS

[inachu]

All live rock I have seen so far are all yucky brown and sometimes with stuff(life forms) on it.


But I never see a LFS selling live rocks with any type of medium growth of hard corals on it.

Or do they just like to frag them?

Would be nice to see some coral not in its infancy when buying rock.

 

[snorvich]

That is probably not going to happen. Sorry.

 

[Tswifty]

Most of the fish stores I have visited keep their live rock in low lit, or non-lit tubs or tanks. As you can imagine this would be less than ideal (to say the least) for coral growth... and that's just from the lighting aspect. Also, they are constantly dumping new shipments of rock in with it.

Basically... there's pretty much no chance that a "developed" coral would be able to survive in those conditions. Your best chance at finding corals on Live Rock are usually mushrooms or some type of polyps.

Also... if your talking about your LFS selling Live Rock out of their display tanks with SPS or LPS mature corals on it... Don't plan on paying $7.50 per lb or whatever they charge for the normal stuff. :lol:

 

[inachu]

yeah you guys are right they just use low light and keep the rocks on low life support.

thanks.

 

[abulgin]

Think about where they get live rock and you'll understand why you get what you get. The Pacific live rock you get is mostly reef rubble. By that, I mean portions of reefs that have broken off in storms or because of other natural causes. Collectors don't, and I think it is illegal to, break off rocks from established reefs. To get the kind of rocks you're talking about, collectors would have to dynamite mature reefs . . .

And, LFS do sell live rock with coral on it--it's called a frag

If you want live rock with a lot of coralline and other life, get Florida Aquacultured. Read up on the differences, though.

 

[rustybucket145]

in most cases live rock is going to be sold separate from corals. Buy the liverock, then buy the coral.... then glue the coral onto the liverock with superglue gel.

 

[RondaGP]

I've had larger, reputable stores sell us live rock with coral growth visible before. But all other stores I've seen, it obvious some of their "frags" are just pieces that they got as LR.

 

[seapug]

The collection, transport, and curing process that live rock goes through makes it very difficult or most corals to survive. That said, I have bought live rock with various types of living coral colonies attached, but it was when I lived near a primary import location in So Cal. There was a place I frequented that sold super-premium live rock for 5.50/lb that often had a number of living corals attached. I once got a piece with a beautiful sky blue encrusting Montipora on it. I do miss that place.....