Live Rock
- Thread starter fla. keys
- Start date
lordofthereef
Member
i would rather buy live rock locally rather then off ANY internet site!! i like too pick out my own rocks so i can figure out where they go, rather then hoping i get good ones from some web site. know what i mean?? 
sylock
Member
Well, I'm getting a 180 gallon tank. I will not pay $8-$10 a lb for 300 lbs of live rock that bascially has nothing but bacteria in it from my lfs. I will buy good shaped pieces, but for the majority I will buy online where the after shipping price is more like $5 a lb. If you order for a good place than you will get some good pieces, some not so good pieces. But when you are building your system, no so good pieces are ok to build up your reef.
lordofthereef
Member
well inthat case get some online for base rock. but you should really get the rest of it locally so you could customize the rock work how you like. try ffexpress.com for the rock. they have pretty reasonable prices.
ky
Member
I have bought a ton (well, not actually a ton) of LR from Premium Aquatics (***************.com) and have never been unhappy. They give you a great assortment and their prices are about half that of my lfs. The rock is full of little surprise critters and fully cured. Also, they use airborn express, which is about half as expensive as UPS. After you pplace your order, you can call them and tell them what kind of assortment that you would prefer. Another nice thing is that they ship out your order that day, no week long waiting period. There are times that I have gotten my stuff the morning after I ordered it.
kijak
Member
I started with fiji Purple rock from the LFS. Got a couple of feather dusters on 50 lbs, then took the chance on TBsaltwater, and ordered 50 lbs of coral/live rock, and was very happy, my tank is a 125, so There is as lot of room to arrange everything, I am ordering a couple hundred lbs again from there, I've been dissapointed with the lfs selection, Just my opinion. But I was very happy with what I received. Maybe I just got lucky.
byrself
Member
to anyone with experience in ordering live rock from tampa bay saltwater: is it as good of quality as they state on their website and ads?? i've been debating on ordering some from them. i like the fact they say you get the rock with whatever is on them, and not "cured" rock from lfs. the rock quality is okay, but you don't get very much in the line of good "live" rock. i feel better about calling it reef rock instead, because it doesn't have a whole lot of life on it. maybe a few feather dusters if you are lucky. i also didn't care too much for how it was packaged to me to take home: it was just put in a bag with no water. it was only in the bag for 30 min tops, but it still was out of water for that long. does this affect the rock at all?? i'm kinda just jumping into reef keeping, and would like to use the best quality ingredients from the start. any help from you guys would be greatly valued. <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />
jimi
Active Member
I highly recommend <a href="http://www.gulf-view.com" target="_blank">www.gulf-view.com</a> live rock. Dale is the diver and he will ask you exactly what you want and gets it, I promise you will not be disappointed. After buy fiji and pacific rock for years from all over nothing compares or comes close to gulf rock. I have heard mixed reviews about TB saltwater but never anything bad about gulf-view.
byrself
Member
cool, thanks. i'm gonna check it out. i'm still debating on getting rid of the 20 gallon, or the 10 for that matter, and getting a 55 gallon. if i can get a good enough deal on live rock for a 55 gallon, then the rest will be a matter of time. i still have to decide on filtration though. like the way algae scrubbers are presented as being very natural and organism friendly, but still trying to weigh out all the options. i want to take my time and get the best bang for the buck (of course). thanks for the recommendation.
fshhub
Active Member
i agree with lord of the reef, and as for buying rock that is dead except for bacteria, you seem to be misinformed, lr is lr, and unless somone actually cleans everything off(which is nearly impossible), it will regrow, which after the die of, you won't be much further ahead, by ordering online,
on my lfs rock, i got polyps and feather duster, a crab, good coraline(in 6 months), a nudi, lots of pods, a mushroom, worms, and some macro algaes, as well as some clams, admittedly it was brown when i bought it but now it isn't
and on my MO, i got coraline(most of which had died), a nudibranch, some worms and pods, and the size was the only thing i did not like(most pieces were smaller than fist sized), and it took mcuh longer to cycle with(in my case)
now, every piece you get will be different in life and everything, so ordering online or locally just depends on the piece you pick up
as for the type, i have mostly fiji, it is cheaper in most cases, and has a smaller chance of carrying a mantis than fla(IMO), now i do not live in fear of the mantis, so i do not solely base my decission on this(price is very important to me too) because in all instances there are chances and normally they are very small
i have bought both, and am not completely disappointed wiith either, with the exceptin that many online places do not give you the option of size and shape, this is important to me
and i have heard nothing bad(in fact alll good) about swf's lr
HTH
on my lfs rock, i got polyps and feather duster, a crab, good coraline(in 6 months), a nudi, lots of pods, a mushroom, worms, and some macro algaes, as well as some clams, admittedly it was brown when i bought it but now it isn't
and on my MO, i got coraline(most of which had died), a nudibranch, some worms and pods, and the size was the only thing i did not like(most pieces were smaller than fist sized), and it took mcuh longer to cycle with(in my case)
now, every piece you get will be different in life and everything, so ordering online or locally just depends on the piece you pick up
as for the type, i have mostly fiji, it is cheaper in most cases, and has a smaller chance of carrying a mantis than fla(IMO), now i do not live in fear of the mantis, so i do not solely base my decission on this(price is very important to me too) because in all instances there are chances and normally they are very small
i have bought both, and am not completely disappointed wiith either, with the exceptin that many online places do not give you the option of size and shape, this is important to me
and i have heard nothing bad(in fact alll good) about swf's lr
HTH
kijak
Member
I bought TBSaltwater live rock, 50lbs, They ship in water in triple baggs, and I picked up at the airport the next day. It was everything they said, and more. I was very happy with it, My tank cycled in less then a week, now stuff is growing like crazy, sponges, corals, algeas.
I will get more from them. Hopefully soon.
I will get more from them. Hopefully soon.