Live rock questions

[Scrandrew]

I am stocking my 210 reef - from scratch - after I have been out of the hobby for 3 or so years. That being said, what are your suggestions on live rock? Namely:

1. What variety, Fiji, Tonga, etc., do you recommend?
2. How many pounds per gallon?
3. Should I purchase cured or uncured?
4. Where should I purchase the rock? Do you know of any particularly good sellers of large pieces?
5. I saw a guy selling Walt Smith Fiji live rock on ebay for $1.99 per pound - described as "pre-cured" whatever that means. Does anyone have experience with this seller?

All input will be helpful.

A~

[Ranzan]

i always use my LFS live rock a mix of kongo and tonga great stuff allways has nice goodies on it my friend actualy got some zoos on one piece but its is 11.50$ a pound. I wouldnt be to comfortable buying fiji for for 1.99$. Its my personal opinion but i have never liked fiji i find its usualy infested with tons of aptaisia i bought some for my first tank because it was cheap. For a reef 2-3 pounds per should be good.. Your rock should be CURED unless you have a fun time of rotten egg smell and skimmer overload for about 6 weeks, curing is just the process of die off if you are ordering rock you will always have a little bit of die off but not much. Hope that helps

Ranzan

[rlee81indy]

I would not recommend going 2-3 pounds per gallon, and I definately would not buy rock on ebay. Heres why: you should only have between 1 and 2 pounds per gallon anything more and you could have flow issues. Also with the ebay thing...I love ebay but when it comes to a major investment such as a reef tank you always want to see exactly what you are getting. As far as the price......you get what you pay for. Personally I like figi show rock and my favorite by far is kilini. Its very nice rock but its seasonal; and can be hard to find. I always buy rock at the lfs because there you can pick it up and smell it to see if its cured.

[rlee81indy]

Also, if you purchase cured rock and use LS for the dsb you will basically skip alot of your cycling!....(more neat stuff sooner)