Best Type of Live Rock

[hitachi753]

Just wondering that everyone thinks is the best type of live rock I have a 150 gallon tank that I need to order rock for. Caribbean seems to be the cheapest and Lalo seems to have the most coloring. Also I have heard Fiji rock has been picked over so bad for so many years that there is not much good rock left... Any opinions?

 

[teresaq]

I heard nothing but good things about the rock from here. With a tank the size you have, Just like mine, you can do half or more in base rock and the rest in live. It will all become live very soon. Good Luck with your new tank
T

 

[scsinet]

I used carib rock in my 55g reef years ago and it's been just fine.... in fact I just ordered 350lbs for my new reef project.
Live rock is live rock. As long as it's live as advertised, IMO it makes very little difference where it came from, other than asthetic.

 

[1journeyman]

Caribbean rock is much more dense and heavier than Pacific. It often arrives more "fresh" howeve, so you get a greater chance at getting bizarre surprises in the form of good and bad hitchhikers.
Fiji rock is great. The island is coming to terms with the idea that live rock is a precious natural renewable resource and you can get some great stuff from Fiji.

 

[hitachi753]

Has anyone heard of Lalo Rock, a certain website offers it but have never heard about it on here

 

[salty blues]

Originally Posted by hitachi753
Just wondering that everyone thinks is the best type of live rock I have a 150 gallon tank that I need to order rock for. Caribbean seems to be the cheapest and Lalo seems to have the most coloring. Also I have heard Fiji rock has been picked over so bad for so many years that there is not much good rock left... Any opinions?
I have Fiji branch rock in my set-up. Large, nice shaped pieces. Very porous rock.

 

[rcoultas]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Caribbean rock is much more dense and heavier than Pacific. It often arrives more "fresh" howeve, so you get a greater chance at getting bizarre surprises in the form of good and bad hitchhikers.
Fiji rock is great. The island is coming to terms with the idea that live rock is a precious natural renewable resource and you can get some great stuff from Fiji.
Agree 100%
There are dozens of others such as Marshall Islands, Tonga, etc that are high quality rock but are a bit pricier - however the density of the rock means that with some of them you get twice the volume for the same weight.
Also, the lighter rocks are so due to the increased porosity which lends to their bio-filtration capacity.

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
Live rock is live rock. As long as it's live as advertised, IMO it makes very little difference where it came from, other than asthetic.
I totally agree. Live rock is live rock. Some is more dense or porous etc., but ultimately it comes down to asthetics. Purchase live rock of your choice from a reputable source and 'cure' it yourself regarless of whether it says 'cured' and you and your aquariun inhabitants will be happy.. Just MHO.

 

[snipe]

the more porous the rock the better. Meaning you can fit less amount of weight in your tank and just as much rock and not as much weight on the tank.

 

[hitachi753]

What would be the most porous type of rock available?

 

[salty blues]

Originally Posted by hitachi753
What would be the most porous type of rock available?
Don't know what the most porous is but I used South Pacific Bamboni base rock under my Fiji LR. The Bamboni is extremely porous.

 

[saltwaternewb]

You can get some stuff called Texas Holey rock that looks like chunks of Swiss Cheese that is very light and I would think should work as base rock. I have seen it on the internet for pretty cheap.

 

[snipe]

but isn't holy rock actually a form of lime rock? I am pretty sure its not an actuall reef rock.

 

[maelv]

One of my favorite type of rocks, personally is Marshall Island...but it is a bit more $$, and I haven't seen any here at the LFS. So for my small tank I got Marco Rocks, which are dried Fiji rocks....but you would not be able to tell that 3 months ago these things were white....
For my 220 gallon, I just finished purchasing 200 lbs of Walt Smith Fiji. A LFS here ordered about 2,000 lbs of the stuff....and it came a day late...so because of that extra day and extra die off, he gave me a GOOD price on (4) 50 lb boxes.....
So all those rocks are in my garage curing. I am hoping to have my tank up and running in the next couple of months....I am finishing up my stand (hopefully this weekend, stain it, and then probably bringing it in the house and aquascaping and letting it cycle.
But I digress, Marshall Island is VERY good looking rock...but Fiji is also nice and a little more cost effective....

 

[flywithpride]

There is a lot of talk on hear about the density and weight if LR. Let me just say that the density of rock plays a big part in what rock to chose. The density is a measure of the raito of mass to volume of the obect in this case rock. so it you add more dense rock 100 lb will not take up as much room as a less dense rock. there for the less dense rock also makes it so less water is also in your tank but there is more suface area for the organism that grow on lR. Just something to consider. This idea is also is how we can measure the the water loss in the tank due to the rock displacement.
Ps Sry about my spelling im a math/sci guy not english.

 

[faleshockjp]

Originally Posted by hitachi753
http:///forum/post/2436171
Has anyone heard of Lalo Rock, a certain website offers it but have never heard about it on here
Okay I have some experience here. When I first started my journey in the world of saltwater fish i wanted colorful rock. And by my reasearch lalo was very coloful and not that it matters a little cheaper. I bought it from probably the same place you are looking at and it came to my house. It came as one giant 30 pound rock. Let me tell you I was a little disapointed in that. Then I thought I needed more rock. So I ordered another 20-25 pounds from this very site. It came in many different rocks with different shapes that made a perfect addition to my tank. So I have both Fiji and Lalo in my tank. Personally though I like the Fiji better. However like someone said above live rock is live rock. However I am no expert this is just my little piece of experience.