Live Rock

[Gandalf123086]

Hello Everyone
I have a question about buying live rock from an online dealer. I have about 30-40 lbs of live rock in my 75 gallon tank and i want to get some more. The LFS sells live rock for $8 a lb. I know it can be found much cheaper online. My question is this, if I buy live rock online and put it in my tank could any of the organisims on the rock mess up the stuff on my other rock or will they all be compatible. Thanks

[DarwinTheDog]

In the words of Forrest Gump: "Live rock is like a box of chocolate...you never know what'cha gonna get". :)

Bottom line you never know exactly what you are getting when you buy live rock. You may see a lot of the life on the rock when you first get it, but you may also see new life forms months down the road. Therefore it is hard to say whether anything on new rock would hurt anything on the old rock. You could have things now with the rock you aready have that would be considered undesirable. I have had rock for months before, and suddenly noticed a mantis shrimp or an evil crab lurking in the rock.

You are running no greater risk of adding bad or undesirable creatures when buying more rock than you have already taken. So you should be fine to get more rock from a reputable source. This doesn't mean you wont find any undesirable creatures, but it shouldn't increase the risk.

I hope what I am saying makes sense. If not I'll try to clarify.

Good Luck!

:D

[Pomacanthus1]

premium aquatics has cured fiji for $4 a lbs, and marshall for around 7, i believe. Heard good things about their rock too.

[jimi]

I highly recommend www.gulf-view.com for really beautiful live rock nothing compares.

[Gandalf123086]

Thank you all for your replies
If I did get some live rock online would i need to cure it once i got it even if the company said it was cured. If so how would i go about doing this, What size tank would I need to cure it in, What kind of light would i need, What Filtration etc. Thanks

[chromis]

go with premium aquatics, it isnt the cheapest but you will not be disapointed. There rock is fully cured but during shipping there will be dieoff so it would be best to cure it in a separate system for a day or 2 if you have any fish or corals in your tank. If you dont then just go ahead and put it in. I have discovered all kinds of life on my live rock from them.

HTH
Andrew

[villious]

When it comes to live rock, I can only think of two words.
Gulf-View.

Everyone that has ordered Gulf-View rock has raved about it. I've seen a few post on this board by people that think it's Gulf-View propaganda or a conspiracy or something.

I'm not the end-all/Know-all of live rock. But I have seen a lot of it, and nothing else I've seen comes close.

Just my .02 :)

[jimi]

When I got my Gulf-view shippment I was completely happy. I put it all in a rubbermaid garbage can with a strip light , a 802 powerhead ,heater, and does it with calcium. It did have an ammonia spike as any shipped rock will so I did a partial water change on days 2 and 4 and it was completely cured in 7 days retaining almost all the life on it. I cant say enough good about Dale's rock. He is a great guy that takes the time to talk to you and find out exactly what you want. Wish I would have known about him along time ago. His rock beats fiji hands down.