liverock
- Thread starter cowboy99
- Start date
egdevilboy
In Memoriam
2 places.
LFS (Local Fish Store)
someone local from the selling forums on RC
LFS (Local Fish Store)
someone local from the selling forums on RC
I'd suggest perhaps the Marine Depot Live 11# box of fiji.
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/fiprquunnali.html
Its 47.00 shipped 2nd day, and for another 12.00 you can get overnight shipping. So for 59.00 for 11 lbs = $5.36 a pound. Probably cheaper than most LFS.
This is uncured rock, which I like because you can get some hitchhikers, etc on it. It will take 2-4 weeks to fully cure though.
I plan on ordering a box of it sometime the week after this. If you haven't ordered/bought rocks by then, i'll check back and let you know how it turned out.
For anyone else reading this - has anyone bought this rock from marine depot live?
Thanks
Stewie
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/fiprquunnali.html
Its 47.00 shipped 2nd day, and for another 12.00 you can get overnight shipping. So for 59.00 for 11 lbs = $5.36 a pound. Probably cheaper than most LFS.
This is uncured rock, which I like because you can get some hitchhikers, etc on it. It will take 2-4 weeks to fully cure though.
I plan on ordering a box of it sometime the week after this. If you haven't ordered/bought rocks by then, i'll check back and let you know how it turned out.
For anyone else reading this - has anyone bought this rock from marine depot live?
Thanks
Stewie
Poorcollegereef
Future Doc
it depends, if you have little experience curing live rock or little patience I would suggest talking to a LFS and seeing if they have some TRUELY cured live rock or if they are willing to cure the live rock for you. This is easier but much more expensive. But on the other hand, you only need 10-15lbs so paying 3-4 dollars more for LFS's live rock isnt going to hurt you as bad as paying for 100lb of live rock. But like always, do some research about your LFS first.
Now if you do order online, then find the best quality LR, not the cheapest, since the cheapest is normally so bad that you wasted your money on dead rock. I would say that stewie and jasutton are both right depending on what you want. Most LR has been harvested many days/weeks before you recieve it so overnight isnt absolutely nessecary, but AVOID shipping that takes longer than 3 days. Overnight may give you better lifeforms if the rock is truely uncured and very 'fresh', but if it is older live rock that has been 'precuring" or sitting in a spray tank, then overnight isnt going to do you much good.
So LR is going to take 2+ weeks to cure and it is going to stink! so you will need a extra protein skimmer and alot of water changes (every 1-2days) so often it is smarter to get it from a LFS if you dont want to go through the trouble, but if you are willing to do the work, normally some online places have better quality stuff than the LFS.
In my case, I actually got my LR from Ebay. There was someone who was moving and needed to sell his tank, so I bought some of the live rock from him and it cost me 3.5 bucks per pound (including shipping) and since he live about 50 miles I was able to have UPS ground deliver next day, so the more you look the better deal you can find!
Now if you do order online, then find the best quality LR, not the cheapest, since the cheapest is normally so bad that you wasted your money on dead rock. I would say that stewie and jasutton are both right depending on what you want. Most LR has been harvested many days/weeks before you recieve it so overnight isnt absolutely nessecary, but AVOID shipping that takes longer than 3 days. Overnight may give you better lifeforms if the rock is truely uncured and very 'fresh', but if it is older live rock that has been 'precuring" or sitting in a spray tank, then overnight isnt going to do you much good.
So LR is going to take 2+ weeks to cure and it is going to stink! so you will need a extra protein skimmer and alot of water changes (every 1-2days) so often it is smarter to get it from a LFS if you dont want to go through the trouble, but if you are willing to do the work, normally some online places have better quality stuff than the LFS.
In my case, I actually got my LR from Ebay. There was someone who was moving and needed to sell his tank, so I bought some of the live rock from him and it cost me 3.5 bucks per pound (including shipping) and since he live about 50 miles I was able to have UPS ground deliver next day, so the more you look the better deal you can find!
smy168
Back to the habit
I went with aquariumarts.com, they're stuff really does come packaged nice, they can custom the rock sizes and generally toss in some rubble as well. They can be on the priceir side so it really depends on what you want to spend. Def. don't do the live packaged sand, pure garbage.
All Delight
New member
I would look for someone selling mature live rock. You can find lots of people breaking down their tanks and selling their rock. Seems like the going rate for that is $2 lb. I dont know where you live but in So Calif this guy is selling some:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=790353
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=790353
Stewie can you tell me how your shipment looks when it comes in?
good shapes? good coraline growth? lots of life or is it utter crap?
I've had a bad experience with my LFS so I am not too interested
in going with them this time.
thanks for all the advice it has helped a ton
good shapes? good coraline growth? lots of life or is it utter crap?
I've had a bad experience with my LFS so I am not too interested
in going with them this time.
thanks for all the advice it has helped a ton
cowboy 99,
I decided to order from premium aquatics. Ended up getting a pound less than the 11 that marine depot live ships with, and I seemed to get very little life on the rocks.
I'm thinking of using the rocks i got from PA in my display and ordering 11 lbs from marine depot for my sump/fuge rocks. (hoping to get more life).
If you order before I do, please post pics and describe the rocks.
My PA rocks had tons of coraline, 1 dead bleached sps coral, and a crab molt (maybe i'll find the crab?) 10 lbs plus ups ground (i'm in a 2 day ship zone) came out to be 62.50 for it. I'm wishing now I would have just went with my instinct and ordered from MDL.
Here's pics of my PA rocks. (marshall islands and fiji)
Stewie
I decided to order from premium aquatics. Ended up getting a pound less than the 11 that marine depot live ships with, and I seemed to get very little life on the rocks.
I'm thinking of using the rocks i got from PA in my display and ordering 11 lbs from marine depot for my sump/fuge rocks. (hoping to get more life).
If you order before I do, please post pics and describe the rocks.
My PA rocks had tons of coraline, 1 dead bleached sps coral, and a crab molt (maybe i'll find the crab?) 10 lbs plus ups ground (i'm in a 2 day ship zone) came out to be 62.50 for it. I'm wishing now I would have just went with my instinct and ordered from MDL.
Here's pics of my PA rocks. (marshall islands and fiji)
Stewie
yeah the thing that keeps me from ordering from PA is their shipping. I live in California and I really don't want to end up paying 90+ dollars for 10lbs.
I probably won't be ordering lr any time soon. Right now I am still gathering equipment and such.
thanks for the pictures.
I probably won't be ordering lr any time soon. Right now I am still gathering equipment and such.
thanks for the pictures.
No problem.
I'd go with the uncured fiji from marine depot still. You can't beat that price. 47.00 for 11 lbs shipped 2 day (its on sale, but usually its only 50.00), and another 12.00 for overnight shipping. So do the math - 62.50 for 2 day ground 10 lbs marshall island/fiji rock from PA or 59.00 for 11 lbs fiji OVERNIGHT from marine depot live.
Keep in mind, the rocks will take a week or two to fully cure.
I got those rocks this morining, have my skimmer crankin, and the ammonia is at around 1.00 ppm. I'm assuming since they were out of the water for 2 days it's gonna take 2 weeks or so to cure.
Please let us know how your order goes if you order from them.
Stewie
I'd go with the uncured fiji from marine depot still. You can't beat that price. 47.00 for 11 lbs shipped 2 day (its on sale, but usually its only 50.00), and another 12.00 for overnight shipping. So do the math - 62.50 for 2 day ground 10 lbs marshall island/fiji rock from PA or 59.00 for 11 lbs fiji OVERNIGHT from marine depot live.
Keep in mind, the rocks will take a week or two to fully cure.
I got those rocks this morining, have my skimmer crankin, and the ammonia is at around 1.00 ppm. I'm assuming since they were out of the water for 2 days it's gonna take 2 weeks or so to cure.
Please let us know how your order goes if you order from them.
Stewie
Ok,
So my rocks from marine depot live come in today. Its typical fiji. Lots of algaes on it, some i've never before seen.
Overall its nice rock for the price. BUt they do pack the rocks in a styro box without newspapers.. thank goodness I opted for overnight shipping.
Total: $59.00 for 11 lbs shipped overnight.
Here's the pics:
Stewie
So my rocks from marine depot live come in today. Its typical fiji. Lots of algaes on it, some i've never before seen.
Overall its nice rock for the price. BUt they do pack the rocks in a styro box without newspapers.. thank goodness I opted for overnight shipping.
Total: $59.00 for 11 lbs shipped overnight.
Here's the pics:
Stewie
flameangel88
New member
Stewie,
How many pieces did you get from marine depot on that 11# package? Any good live crawlers?
Thanks.
How many pieces did you get from marine depot on that 11# package? Any good live crawlers?
Thanks.
Flameangel,
Marine Depot actually is supposed to package thier live rock in wet newspaper. (and that would prevent the styrofoam balls from being everywhere).
Only life on the rock that i'm seeing now is a ton of copepods on my glass. I'm still cycling so i'm sure more will pop up when the cycle is over.
As for the pieces. I got one large piece (about maybe 8-9 inches long), and 5 other small pieces.
Its not too bad of a rock for the price. If you get it, i'd go w/ the overnight shipping. (total comes out to be 59.00 shipped for 11 lbs overnighted).
Stewie
Marine Depot actually is supposed to package thier live rock in wet newspaper. (and that would prevent the styrofoam balls from being everywhere).
Only life on the rock that i'm seeing now is a ton of copepods on my glass. I'm still cycling so i'm sure more will pop up when the cycle is over.
As for the pieces. I got one large piece (about maybe 8-9 inches long), and 5 other small pieces.
Its not too bad of a rock for the price. If you get it, i'd go w/ the overnight shipping. (total comes out to be 59.00 shipped for 11 lbs overnighted).
Stewie
flameangel88
New member
Stewie,
The batch you got looks great and that was the reason I went ahead to buy a box. I took your advice and went with overnight option for a total of $52.50 + 12 = $64.50 but they never shipped the order so they wavied the overnight charge and got mine yesterday. The rocks didn't have any newspaper and must have been out of the water for a while and a couple of black bugs came out of the box and that was the only life left. The rocks I got didn't have the color your have and some of the pieces look like it was broken very recent as they look very clean on the edges. I got 5 pcs and they were pretty much the same size and have lots of holes for the critters to build home. Given their weight is so light it may not be a good idea for me to use them as base so I will probably build one section just for them. Right now I've them in a separate tank with high flow and will stay in for a week before going into the main tank but will test parameters before moving them. How are yours coming along?
The batch you got looks great and that was the reason I went ahead to buy a box. I took your advice and went with overnight option for a total of $52.50 + 12 = $64.50 but they never shipped the order so they wavied the overnight charge and got mine yesterday. The rocks didn't have any newspaper and must have been out of the water for a while and a couple of black bugs came out of the box and that was the only life left. The rocks I got didn't have the color your have and some of the pieces look like it was broken very recent as they look very clean on the edges. I got 5 pcs and they were pretty much the same size and have lots of holes for the critters to build home. Given their weight is so light it may not be a good idea for me to use them as base so I will probably build one section just for them. Right now I've them in a separate tank with high flow and will stay in for a week before going into the main tank but will test parameters before moving them. How are yours coming along?
