Base Rock

ackermsb

Member
Where is a good place online I can get cheap base rock to build up a tank? How much does it usually cost per pound?
 

jonthefb

Active Member
honestly best place is your lfs, or local landscaping supply place, cause if you bought it online, sure it might be cheap, but at the same time youd have to pay extra for shipping, and you dont even get to see what you are buying!
good luck
jon
 

trebor126

Member
I bought base rock off of ---- and have been very happy with it.
Here is a link to one of the auctions:
http://cgi.----.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=20757
The rock is from Hawaii and has many holes and great shapes.
Depends on where you live but $50lbs of rock delivered to my door was $60.00.
Some of the pieces were very large, like show pieces. My tank did go through a diatom bloom when I added them, but now they are turning green and pink.
Here is a pic of my tank with 50lbs of BR and 40lbs of LR
:)
 
i got some of that rock last week and i should have it delivered by tuesday. how did you put it in your tank? did you had some live sand with LR on top ? and how long did it take to turn colors?
 

northshore

New Member
you can find 45-50lbs of live figi rock to use for your base... online for around $163 which includes shipping and handling....
 

prater

Member
I have 150Lbs of the rock from them, be sure and wash it thoroughly. I soaked mine for two days in fresh water to kill any critters that may be lurking, then washed it again and put back in fresh water for another soak. I like the looks of mine. I think once the coraline starts growing that it will be great looking rock.
 

rane

Member
I also ordered the base rock from them all 100lbs of it and I too am very happy with the order, just make sure you wash the rock,
I washed the rock with fresh water and just put it in
 

ackermsb

Member
Awesome, that base rock from Hawaii looks like a steal even with the cross country shipping. Thanks a lot
 

dattong

Member

Originally posted by northshore
you can find 45-50lbs of live figi rock to use for your base... online for around $163 which includes shipping and handling....


The rock looks really nice if you're using it as base rock. The rock's quality also depends on the carrier.
 

overanalyzer

Active Member
I use the HI rock as well and I love it!! I jsut rinsed mine with a hose then soaked it in fresh water. The sutff I've had in my five gallon came to life very quickly - I used 3 pounds of HI rock and 2 pounds of LR and also added a pound of live sand/substrate to the tank and within a month the HI rock was full of critters.
I would highly recommend it as a great alternative to ripping rocks out of the ocean!
I have also made mine own rock and it is currently curing in fresh water right now ....
 

hunterdaddy

Member
Soaking base rock in fresh water is ok I guess but I thought one of you said you soaked live rock in fresh water to kill any critters. That defeats the purpose of buying live rock. You buy it for the critters use it for bio filtration. No sense in forking out the dough for live rock if you are going to kill everything that lives in it. Minds well go to your garden and take rocks from it.
 

prater

Member
Hunterdaddy,
This rock has been out of the ocean for 20-30 years, I meant bugs that walk on dry land. There is nothing live about this rock, but lots of fossils and footholds for new life.
 

trebor126

Member
califishdude,
I have about 40lbs of LS as the top layer of my DSB that I placed the rock on top of. I mixed my LR in with the BR, instead of laying down the BR and placing all the the LR on top.
This balanced out the tan color of the BR with the greens and purples of the LR. Also I thought this might help the coraline(sp) algea spread faster onto the BR.
I have also been adding a LS/LR activator, calcium, and Reef Vital DNA. My BR started to green and purple in about 4 weeks.
 
i just recieved my HI base rock a couple of days ago and i got about 10 pieces. a few are really heavy though. i washed them and sprayed them and soaked them and washed them . i mixed my Lr and my HI together and made cliffs and caves and it looks awesome. great buy
 

overanalyzer

Active Member
I got about 12 pieces but thinking of breaking some of the larger ones with a hammer .... of course I might then have some high quality rubble .....
 
T

thomas712

Guest
overanlyzer - I had a peice that came from HI rocks that was about 13 inches across and almost as wide. I used a 1/8th inch drill bit and a masonry chisle to break it in half only wound up with three small chunks from the main large two peices...worked great, and made great tops of caves.
Thomas
 

trebor126

Member
I had about 12 pieces. I also had a few very large, or show pieces. Worked out great. I would get more if I had another tank :D
 

overanalyzer

Active Member

Originally posted by Thomas712
overanlyzer - I had a peice that came from HI rocks that was about 13 inches across and almost as wide. I used a 1/8th inch drill bit and a masonry chisle to break it in half only wound up with three small chunks from the main large two peices...worked great, and made great tops of caves.
Thomas

Thanks have thechisels need to pick up a drill bit
 
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