The Best Live Rock

[fastnine]

I was looking for a place to buy some good rock ...Since i live in Tampa Fl ..i was going to get it from Tampabay saltwater ...But some local guys say that they like imported rock better then the gulf rock due to the unwanted things that come with the gulf rock ...so lets here your thoughts guys........

[Andrew]

Premium Aquatics has good rock.

[kindafun]

I've got Tampa Bay Saltwater rock. It came with lot's of cool stuff on it. It also had 3 mantis shrimp but we saw them before they got in the tank.

You could get some really great rock by going there and personally picking it out.

[Cokeman69]

I've heard that tampa bay saltwater has some nice stuff, but, as kindafun stated, they usually have mantis' in there, if ya want to set up a species only mantis tank, this is the best place to get you a mantis...

I would go w/ TBS, because then you get to save on shipping, and pick your own rocks, and not rely on what someone else picks out for ya....

HTH

[fastnine]

I was thinking about going there but they say there no longer open to the public i may have to call them .....also people ive been talking to say the rock from feji is alot better in terms of being from the reef ....im not sure im not a big suporter of tearing up the reef for rock eather............just not sure what to do

[waytoodeep]

http://www.oceanproaquatics.com/videos/videoindex.htm
check out that place ,,good ppl great rock ,,with video to tell oyu abou thte rock ,look at the Buna rock !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fastnine]

im new to the hobby also whats the deal with mantis ...????

[wrott]

Most LFS have Fiji, etc. and you can hand pick "mostly" cured rock for 5-6$/lb.

[wrott]

Mantis shrimp are predators that can kill fish/snails---I believe there is a hypersalinity treatment you can do to rid of hitchhikers.

[fastnine]

I think the hardest thing about this picking out rock, is to pick out the right ones i have no idea what to look for ...or what i want the reef to look like.......how long or high..or how to place the rocks once i get them .....

[kindafun]

Nearly all live rock you'll get from a LFS has little on it in terms of sponges, corals, etc. There's nothing wrong with it. You put your reef animals on it and all is good.

There are two things that I like about TBS rock. 1) it is aquacultured so you're not contributing to the removal of natural reef. 2) It has lots of cool stuff on it.

There are a few bad things that can come, mantis shrimp being one of them. Mantis shrimp are very cool creatures but they're not "reef safe" as they are very aggressive and have the power to break open shelled creatures to eat them. Cool, but not what you want in a reef tank.

[wrott]

Doesn't really matter--the rock will support bacteria--just get long ones, round ones, etc., and build--rearrange--build again until you're tired. Need lots of flow.

[fastnine]

so if i put the rocks in there and the mantis come out are they hard to catch..??? can i get them out ?

Also i heard about this animonie < Spelled wrong.. that is bad and spreads fast in the tank ....i forgot what its called

[wrott]

Yea, the mantis will be hard/impossible to catch---Aptasia is a nuicence anemone--get a peppermint shrimp and Joe's Juice----not a big deal, but the mantis could be a bad thing. You may have to take every piece of rock out to kill it.

[kindafun]

I'm not trying to talk you into anything, likewise I don't want you to be scared for no reason. We had two shipments of TBS, a total of 120 lbs. The second shipment had some mantis in it. We looked at the rock very carefully before putting it in the tank, found the shrimp and removed them. We kept them in the sump for a long time, they were very cool, but as stated, you don't want them in your main tank. We also had a few aptasia anemones which our peppermint shrimp got or we killed with lemon juice (injected, see 'em and kill 'em).

We also got other things with the rock that we did like. We got about a dozen porcelain crabs, several kinds of sponges (green, purple, orange, white), hard corals, 3 different kinds of coraline algae, clams, worms and feather dusters.

We've been please with the rock. If you can't get in to pick your own out though then I guess there's not a lot of advantage to going with them other than the shipping costs would be less.

[fastnine]

I agree.. Since i Live right here local you would think they would let me come pick out my rock ..that would be the smart deal ..But its still Good to know that you living far you are getting good rock from them here in tampa ........That makes me feel a bit better ...

[gkarshens]

My LFS said that their Fiji rock supplier adds rock to the ocean lets it become live and then harvests it. They aren't cutting up reefs. Could be BS but he has been very up front with me on everything else.

[jimbo045]

Live rock is good to have. My whole tank is running on it without a Wet\Dry filter. JD

[fastnine]

This whole rock thing is driving me nuts but thats the fun of makeing it all work out i guess

[Gill2Gill]

I have bought rock from TBS and Fiji rock from my LFS, and I found the rock from TBS is HEAVY...not as porous, or exoctic as the Pacific rock. That's my humble opinion! Go Pacific rock!

What's up fastnine!

[reefclown]

buy some "cooked" live rock, it's alot sweeter and leaves less to chance

[kindafun]

The Fiji rock I've seen is more porous, in general, compared to the TBS.

[toonces]

you might want to buy a nice reef book before you start investing in a reef tank.

the conscientious marine aquarist by fenner is a good intro book.

the reef aquarium vol. 1 by delbeek and sprung is more advanced, but also a very good reference.