live rock...

[pochanike]

i dont know if this is the right forum to ask this question in but where is the best place on the internet to order great live rock??

[kjswift]

i wouldnt mind some tonga rock

[GaryP]

The problem with ordering live rock on the net is that it needs to be cured when it arrives. Its not tank ready. I know of some people that orfder it on the net, and cure it in a trash can, but you're going to need the space and a spare protein skimmer to do that. IMO its not worth the hassle when there are a couple of fairly inexpensive sources of LR locally that has already been cured.

The other problem is that you never know what you are going to get until it lands on your doorstep.

Gary

[StephenA]

I cured live rock in my house one time! Big mistake. It smelled like red tide for about 1.5 weeks.

[scuba_steveo]

I am about to cure 400 lbs in my house. I have no choice. I can not afford 400 lbs of already cured rock. I am using Marshall Island from premium aquatics because I know the guys there and feel good about their guarantee.

[wkopplin]

Tim Marvin can get some good stuff. CB Pets also has some rock that has been there for a whie so it is "mostly" cured. You will still have to cure it a little.

[captexas]

Scuba Steveo - 400lbs? Are you building a small saltwater lake? Seriously, what are you going to do with all that rock?

Best to cure it in the garage or back porch with a fan to blow out the smell.

[StephenA]

Best to cure it in the garage or back porch with a fan to blow out the smell.


True!!! My house was unbearable with just 80lb of rock.

[BA]

are you going to sell the rock - i need quite a bit for my big tank - when will yours be ready

[Tim Marvin]

This time of year, you can cure it outside. Get a big tub so you can run a pump for good circulation, a large skimmer, and waterchanges. I will typically do 30%- 50% water changes after the first week, 2nd week, and 3rd week. Then you can usually let it run from there. I like to change the water so it will save some of the life on the rock. (my theory only) I do have a few BIG damsels I put in with the rock to judge water quality without having to test. I have been curing it like this for some time and have yet to lose a damsel, if they appear stressed or slow down on eating I do a water change.

[fishhawk]

I'mnew here,but just my 2cents. TBS(Tampa BaySaltWater) ships the live rock in water, will ship to the airport freight office so shipping is probably around $35.00 for 100lbs. since they are in Fla. you would get the shipment in water the next day. Curing is notreallya problem from what I've heard. Lot's of pics and testimonials on Reef Central. They will even dive and look for the size & shapes you want. I have heard some say it's a little denser but some people have weighed both figi and TBS and say the difference is negligable... By the way...A Big Hello fromWindcrest and a new member here.

[scuba_steveo]

well the rock has been curing for a few days and the smell is not too too bad. it is in my new 215 with a total water volume of about 400 gallons. So far so good. I bought marshall island and kaelini tonga from premium. very awesome stuff!

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=L-MARSHALLUC&Category_Code=Liverock

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=L-KaeliniUN&Category_Code=Liverock

[Ram_Puppy]

fishawk,

Tampa Bay rock is incredibly dense from what i have heard, and comes w/ a lot of pest species. Not only that from an ecological standpoint, it is a non renewable resource (the rock the mine to aquaculture will eventually run out) where as buying reef debris (storms and wave action break it off the reef and it falls into deeper water where it would eventually be ground into sand (as I understand it) is a much more viable and ecologically sound choice.

Now, I hear Tampa Bay rock has some incredible diversity on it, so I won't argue with that, but i have also heard much of that diversity dies off within a year or so as it is unsupportable in the aquarium. I can't say for sure since I have no experience with this rock per say, but I did do a lot of research for my last purchase.

IMHO, you can't beat indo pacific live rock. The names really aren't important, from what i understand Kalini, Tonga, and Lalo all pretty much hail from the same location, and don't be decieved by words like cured and premium, and ultra premium.. it all comes down to a few things:

The less dense, the more porosity, the better.
The less time spent dry on a dock or at a distributer, the better
The faster it gets to your front door the better

When curing, always put the coraline face up, and those dark loving worms and what not face down, and of course, remove all obvious dead matter in a seperate bucket or tub before putting it in your curing tank.

aquacultured rock has it's place, don't get me wrong, just for me, the only choice is indo-pacific rock (or wild florida / carribean rock if it was still legal) Research your liverock purchases carefully, both what you want, and who you want to get it from, like scuba stevo did w/ his purchase, premium aquatics is a great outfit from all i have heard. I trust richard and mark at CB pets, and they have had some gorgeous pieces in, so I am comfortable and confident going with their distributor.

Nothing is set in stone (no pun intended) but a buddy and I are probably going to order several hundred pounds of kalini and tonga through CB pets september or october (we are building new tanks simultaneously) I think the bigger the order, the bigger the discount... I'll let you all know when the time comes.

[matt]

Fishhawk, welcome! to maast. If you order caribbean rock, the one thing you want to be SURE of is that there are no mantis shrimp in there. Man, will that cause a headache. I'm sure the guys at TBS deal with that all the time.