liverock, decor rock, base rock??

[ajwaters]

Found a place that had some rock for a good price my main question is...... is decor rock the same as live rock?? they had about 5-7 different names for the rock but I was having trouble figuring out which one was live. The web site said the decor rock grew the most. But when I called to order some she said coral rock has stuff on it. I know the base rock will grow if live rock is with it.
Thank you
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[dsa_mom]

I think its gonna depend on the site. Some places have different "grades" of live rock--depending on how nicely shaped the rocks are, how large, how much coralline present, etc. Sometimes if you order the more basic (cheaper) stuff, you might get more pieces of smaller chunks rather than a nice, shaped piece. You were right to call and check.

 

[nyy fan]

One more thing to be careful of regarding "base rock" is the quality vs. quantity. Base rock is always cheaper but, it is very plain and dense. Nice, quality LR is more expensive, but it will have nice shapes, critters, and look more natural.
Examples:
You may buy one piece of base rock that weighs 6 lbs. for $3/lbs equaling $18.00. This rock will probably take up very little space and be very plain in appearance.
You may buy one piece of quality live rock that weighs 3 lbs. for $6/lbs equaling $18.00. This rock will probably have some nice algae, critters, shape and take up more space than the base rock.
HTH...and makes sense.

 

[ajwaters]

Helpful information everyone. I'm getting 25lbs of the decor and 25lbs of the base rock. To start with for a 90g tank. The rock is on Tampa Bay Saltwater web site. Pretty good prices..and I'm in driving distance so that makes my pocket book happier... I heard another guy on this site said he did a 50/50 with the rock and its nice. And since I know I will probably want more rock in the future I will be able to have a better idea of what looks nice with the tank...
thanks all for the info