Live Rock

[bikencamp]

Well I believe by this weekend, I will be ready to get my new tank going. I was wondering were I should get my live rock. I have about 20lbs of base rock at the house already. So i'm probably needing around another 80 or so. Any suggestions or anyone have some laying around that they would be interested in parting ways with. Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Todd

 

[phljess]

I dont have any suggestions in where to get the rock. But I would suggest getting Fiji rock and some Tonga Branch. The Fiji is much more porous than most other rocks and the tonga branch is just cool looking and good to put frags on. You could also make your base rock if you want.

 

[bikencamp]

Yea the base I have is old fiji that was just dried up. Fiji and toga was the direction I was thinking and headed

 

[LtPiper]

Personally if you can get it I'd go with around 50 more pounds of base and just seed it with 30-40 live. Will be a lot cheaper.

 

[Tazbader]

My only suggestion would be to get the best and freshest you can afford. I used the florida aquacultered in the first layer and tonga branch in the second. The life and plants and corals that came with the florida aquacultered is worth the extra expense IMO. Plus when you have rock thats only been out of water for 24hrs you have very little dieoff. Mine cured up in a week and was ready for my reef and is loaded with coralline, sponges etc. It's really good stuff.

 

[Tazbader]

My only suggestion would be to get the best and freshest you can afford. I used the florida aquacultered in the first layer and tonga branch in the second. The life and plants and corals that came with the florida aquacultered is worth the extra expense IMO. Plus when you have rock thats only been out of water for 24hrs you have very little dieoff. Mine cured up in a week and was ready for my reef and is loaded with coralline, sponges etc. It's really good stuff.

 

[Tazbader]

My only suggestion would be to get the best and freshest you can afford. I used the florida aquacultered in the first layer and tonga branch in the second. The life and plants and corals that came with the florida aquacultered is worth the extra expense IMO. Plus when you have rock thats only been out of water for 24hrs you have very little dieoff. Mine cured up in a week and was ready for my reef and is loaded with coralline, sponges etc. It's really good stuff.

 

[carb850]

If I wanted fresh rock, I would be looking for rock shipped directly from LAX. Something like Reefer Madness or other LAX drop shippers. The Florida rock I have seen has been very dense and not pourous at all. Plus, it is common to have some undesirable hitch hikers on Florida rock.

Premium Aquatics and Pacific East Aquaculture both have good reputations. Also, I would check into all of our favorite LFS and see how much a box of rock is. The price per pound on a single rock is very pricey local, but it seems like our Nitro friend does have some decent prices on entire box lots.

 

[bikencamp]

I'll looking into it thanks

 

[igotsalt]

There is a place in Columbus that has "dry" lace rock for a very reasonable price. You can purchase the dry 50lbs very cheaply and finish off with fresh live rock. Look at Reef Systems website. He also carries lace rock that hase been aqualcultured in his in his bins. The rock is seeded and covered in coraline. Light weight and very porous.

 

[bikencamp]

Thats a very neat website. I'm going up that way in a few weeks I'll check it out. Anyone every use lace rock for there tanks.

 

[carb850]

I have dry Fiji rock from Marco Rocks. I believe the stuff is beautifully shaped however, I'm fighting hair algae and I think it might be coming form this rock. I did a traditional cooking of the rocks but if I were to do it over again I would soak it in vinegar for a short time. That should completely clean the top layer of rock and take a lot less time than cooking it.


This is how it looked when I got it.

 

[bikencamp]

I've thought of using Marco rocks also. I don't see no real advantages or differences than Marco rock or lace rock. Or am I missing something bigger

 

[carb850]

I have never seen lace rock in person nor have I seen that many pictures of it even online so I cannot say much about it.

The Marco is dead coral heads therefor sea based. I believe it to be mostly calcium carbonate. Not only are the shapes nice, but I think the calcium carbonate helps buffer the water. Does that really matter in the end, i have no idea. I just chose the dry Fiji Pukani for the shapes. I think it is the best looking rock available. But I also have regular Fiji rock and some Unavia rock to go with it. I hope to add some Tonga Branch as well.

One thing about the Marco rock, I haven't seen too many pictures of stuff people received this year. Most likely it is the same as always, but I do have some doubts. I have seen a few people post pictures that I thought looked terrible but there were a few that were spectacular.