Live Rock

[kmgriff72]

I had someone call me from my LFS about a guy that was getting out of the SW hobby. I met him to look at his LR that he was going to sell (or so he said) "cheap". When I went to look at the LR it was already out of SW and had been for several hours. I know that LR can be out of water for some time but what made me decide to not buy it was for one thing, all of the pieces were huge and at $5.00/lb (that is not that cheap to me) the rock per piece would have been at least $30-50. I decided against it because he commented to me that the tank in which he just broke down had not been maintained in months.

My question is, will LR continue to be LR if the tank is not properly maintained for a long time. I don't know if the filter etc....were even running on this tank while it sat for months not being taken care of. I assume that at least the filter etc... were running on the tank but I know that they never turned any kind of lights on or fed the tank and I was just wondering if anything in the rock could survive like that for that long?

Anybody out there know??

I hope that I didn't pass up a good thing but it just didn't feel right and I didn't know what kind of cycle it would have caused my tank to have and I finally have fish living in it and doing good.

 

[kraze3]

It most likely still would have been live rock. It may have had some algea due to the "not being maintained" comments. If you had purchased you would have been better to xure it in a rubbermaid container for a few days. Anything thats been out of water can have some die off and can cause a cycle. Once you cured it it would have been fine to add to your aquarium.

Im not sure about the prices in texas but my LFS sells LR for $5 a lb. Most reefers selling rock sell for around $3. Like I said I dont know about prices there, its jsut for comparison.

 

[Iphis]

What makes live rock is the presence of bacteria on it. That bacteria is used in the nitrification process of your tank.

A tank that has not been well maintained can have an excess of things like algae and such that will come into your tank, but so long as you maintain it, you can take care of that.

It is possible for some kinds of bacteria to grow on the rock with the lights off all the time. With the filter off, though, the water would have lost all of the oxygen without that movement the gas exchanges would have choked everything.

So long as it was in the water, or at least moist, it probably has some kind of good bacteria on it, so long as it was not choked.

If all else fails for you, you can get base rock (non-live rock) fairly cheaply, if you have time the bacteria will grow on there. You can simply place a raw shrimp in the tank from your grocer and let the tank go. Watch the ammonia levels and such and when they even out for a while, you're good to go.

Iphis

 

[Amy83820]

I think you did the right thing by passing on the rock. Usually 'used' live rock around here goes for about $3/lb. From a lfs it is usually between 5 and 7/lb. If you have doubts about the integrity of a product, then it's always best to pass on it.

 

[kmgriff72]

Iphis, my tank has already cycled and I have fish in it. I cannot place a raw shrimp in the tank to make it cycle. I just didn't know if it would still be live rock without being maintained. As big as that rock was it would probably cause a large cycle in my tank and that is the last thing I need.

 

[kmgriff72]

Amy83820, that actually is an ok price in Tx. Our LR at the LFS sells anywhere from $12.99-9.99/lb. I just didn't feel right about the rock and did not want to screw up my tank by getting it and adding it in that night. I don't have a way to cure it like you are suppose to so all I would have been able to do was to scrub it off and add it to the tank. I didn't want to take the chance of killing off my fish just for some rock. I would rather pay a little more for cured rock from the LFS and know that hopefully it would not cause a major cycle. Thanks for the info...

 

[reefcapnnick]

You can get Walt Smith Premium Fiji LR from liveaquaria fr $2.50/lb BTW.

 

[kmgriff72]

Well, I may have to check that out. It was funny that the guy told me he wasn't looking to get a lot of money out of the rock he had and said he was going to practically give it away but yet when he met me at the shop, he had a scale and started telling me how he had paid over $1,000.00 for it. I was thinking, you really did not mean what you said over the phone and are looking to make a profit from this. I would rather pay a LFS or order online and get higher quality rock for the same price.

 

[reefcapnnick]

Correction: It's vividaquariums that has the $2.50/lb fiji LR. My bad.

 

[Iphis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7398979#post7398979 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kmgriff72
Iphis, my tank has already cycled and I have fish in it. I cannot place a raw shrimp in the tank to make it cycle. I just didn't know if it would still be live rock without being maintained. As big as that rock was it would probably cause a large cycle in my tank and that is the last thing I need.

Sorry man, I assumed you were starting a new tank, you didn't mention you weren't and I didn't ask.

Unless the rock has really good life on it, I won't pay more then 3$/lb on "live rock"

I have paid up to 10$/lb for live rock that had all manner of soft corals and such on it that came out of someone's existing tank.

Iphis

 

[kmgriff72]

Iphis, read the bottom part of my post that says: I finally have fish living in it and doing good but, thanks for the info.