Live Rock Help!!!!

aquaman2000

aquaman2000

Member
I went to the LFS and as i was walking around noticed the color of their rock was white
I know from reading here that the color of live rock is purple, gree, brown (unsure)
i asked them what tipe of rock was it they said fiji and it was from florida
I was wondering
is it live rock ?
what color should live rock be or uncured rock be ?
should i buy the rock ?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by aquaman2000
I went to the LFS and as i was walking around noticed the color of their rock was white
I know from reading here that the color of live rock is purple, gree, brown (unsure)
i asked them what tipe of rock was it they said fiji and it was from florida
I was wondering
is it live rock ?
what color should live rock be or uncured rock be ?
should i buy the rock ?
No, don't buy that rock. It should have lots of color and life on it. Rock is expensive, make sure you get quality! I hear the rock from this site is VERY nice!!!
 
aquaman2000

aquaman2000

Member
just for the record i have nothing in the tank yet,
deciding on what things i should buy
eventually ill have to cycle the tank but i don't know if the rock in the LFS is ok to buy
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
That is base rock. No life on it whatsoever besides (If you are lucky) a little coraline algae. What were they trying to charge?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Base rock should never cost more than about $1.50-$2.50 /lb Base rock is good to mix with your live because it is cheaper and yes the LR will seed the base rock and it will become "live" in time. If you just use base it will get algae, but will not be as beneficial to your system as Live Rock is.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by aquaman2000
but one can only buy so much base compared to the live rock right
thanks for the info
If you want to mix it, and alot of people do because of the cost of LR vs. Base, do a 50/50 mix with most of the base near the bottom, but you can mix some into the middle of your aquascaping. Did you scroll up to see the pic of what Fiji should look like?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
How big is your tank? I will not lie to you, LR is expensive. The rock from this site is nice and at a good price. LR is the most expensive part of this hobby. Once you have that the rest is much easier on you and your wallet. You don't have to buy it all at once. You can add on later.
 
aquaman2000

aquaman2000

Member
yes i saw it
thanks for the post and pic
one last question
the uncured rock would look the same as the live rock but with some spots missing the purple color
i went to another LFS and they had a brownish black color since i had never seen nor known what color Live or Uncured Rock looked like i did not know what to make of it
 
aquaman2000

aquaman2000

Member
i have bought a 140 tank
just ordered the parts to set it up last friday
skimmer
pump
ph
ovf
heater
etc.
they should be here in about a week from that friday
that should be around thurs or fryday
cant wait
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
It depends on how they cured it. If they just let it sit then yes it might have some black. IMO you should cure it yourself. You will be able to cycle your tank and also be able to preserve some of the life still on the rocks. During shipment to you or to the lfs there will be some die off. That will be the ammonia source to start your cycle. But if you do water changes to keep the ammonia down you will find all kinds of ocean life on your rocks! There was someone that posted tonight that she had a baby brittle star come in on hers, you can get crabs, urchins, feather dusters, all kinds of stuff that the lfs may kill off by not doing water changes on the rock while it is curing. If you get quality rock and cure it yourself you can find all sorts of amazing life on there.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by aquaman2000
i have bought a 140 tank
just ordered the parts to set it up last friday
skimmer
pump
ph
ovf
heater
etc.
they should be here in about a week from that friday
that should be around thurs or fryday
cant wait

LOL I see you are excited!!!!! Have you done some reading on keeping a system? The most important thing is to take things very slow!!! Get your rock, base and or live and let it cycle your tank. Did you get a liquid master test kit yet? You have about a month or so before it is time to add any fish, inverts, etc. Use the time to read and research. You will not regret it.
 
aquaman2000

aquaman2000

Member
ive been reading for the past 3 weeks a book and this site
i think i prety much now what to do (i think) :notsure:
i bought a fw tank 1 month and a half an had it running with no dead fish in the first 3 wks i kneew about swf two wks after that and here i am 1 1/2 mont later trying to make a change from a 36 to a 140 swt
i heard sw is more hard to keep but ill eventually get it like i got the fw tank
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
FW is WAY different. I came from many years of freshwater experience and flopped my first two months at salt because I went too fast. Trust me. Saltwater takes WAY more time for everything to happen. I could not understand why it took almost 4 months for my salt tank to cycle when FW always took less than a month. Saltwater has less oxygen in it, the rules of how many fish to keep don't apply, the time of cycling, again doesn't apply and nor do many of the other freshwater "rules" You cannot use any chemicals to treat anything in a salt system. Have you picked up a Quarentine tank yet? Get one and get it cycling as well because any new purchase needs to be quarentined.
 
aquaman2000

aquaman2000

Member
got the tank already will use my 36 fw as a qt
trying to save $ for the sw expense
man are my pockets going to be hurting for a while

but it will be well worth it
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
lol you will love it. You seem to be progressing in the right direction. While you are waiting for your tank to cycle, cruise around this site. You can read about problems and sucess stories others are experiencing. This truely is a rewarding hobby! I wish you the best of luck and any and all questions that you may have always ask! There is a great collection of experienced people on this bord that are always willing to help. You may get people every now and again that are, shall we say, less than helpfull, but the majority of the people on here are great! I am always around as well, whenever you need help just ask!!!!
 
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