Live Rock Question!

[f1restarter]

Hi everyone, I have always been wanting to have a saltwater aquarium but I was always a bit intimidated by the various requirements and equipment and I really am glad to see so many AIO saltwater systems available that tales care of a lot of guesswork. I'm looking to buy a Cadlights 39 Gallon Pro tank so hopefully that should be a good start for my FOWLR system.

I am going to include hard/soft corals down the road since everyone tells me that they are much more difficult to keep. Right now I'm thinking of either ordering a live rock online or just going to my LFS to get one. Is there any difference in the quality of live rocks and if so then what kind do you recommend and which online store would be a good choice?

Also how do I get rid of all the nasty worms and crabs (gorilla) mantis shrimp etc from the live rock? I saw some member here post pics of finding an almost 2.5 ft Eunice worm in his 25 gallon tank and that gave me nightmares!! That's insane. I don't ever want to deal with that. I am hoping to learn a lot from so many experienced members here as this site is truly a treasure chest of saltwater knowledge.

 

[reefworm]

no way to anticipate what will come in on your LR, and some stuff doesn't show itself until months later. fortunately the horror stories are not too common. aiptaisia is more likely than a eunice, for example - aiptasia being horrible enough in it's own right. but don't declare war on all the critters that don't look appealing! many of them, such as bristleworms, do a great service in cleaning up. just to start a list that others may add to, I've had great service and product in liverock from Premium Aquatics. also look through other RC sponsors.

FYI: don't neglect the folder at the top of this forum for newbies - lots of excellent, and vital information

 

[Flipper62]

AAAAAAAAaaaaaa......Newbe...Freakout...

First, you never know what will come out of live rock & yes it might come out right away....or in a year. BUT.......Its not going to be anything that you can't deal with...Most are going to be just fine & just part of a reef tank.

As far as the 2 1/2 ft worm........Trust me....if its a 2 1/2 foot worm, you better be able to see it at the time that you buy the Live Rock....OR that is one big *** rock.

 

[f1restarter]

Thank you so much for your answers. Flipper62, thats what I was thinking that I better be able to see that damn worm before I get my face too close to inspect the live rock! LOL but I think I'm gonna put it in some heavy salt water just to make sure! reefworm thanks for the website info and yes they really seem to have good prices and great reviews too. Hmmm maybe I'll order a flamethrower along with my live rock.

 

[schoch79]

Keep in mind though that as stated above there are lots of good things that come in on live rock too so dont go trying to kill everything on/in the rock. Some of the good things that come in (that I've heard of anyway) are bristleworms,pods, mini brittle stars, the odd coral here and there, I've even heard of fish and octopus hitch hikers. I know there are others but I can't think of them off the top of my head. So many good things come in on rock that I would rather deal with the pests as I see them then to kill everything on the rock willy nilly.

 

[stricknine]

I had a lot of life come out of my live rock like bristle worms, brittle stars, etc but after I introduced my arrow crab it only took a few days for everything that was in there to disappear. then again he also ate one of my smaller cleaner shrimp so I am still not too sure if taking the hitchhikers out of the rock is a good thing!