Lr Order Or Lfs

[daniel27407]

WOULD YOU SUGEST GETTING LR FROM YOUR LFS OR ORDERING ONLINE...
ALSO I'VE SEEN SEVERAL POSTS ABOUT HITCHHIKERS THE ROCKS AT ALL OF THE LFS DON'T REALLY LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE ANYTHING ON THEM WILL STUFF JUST POP UP OUT OF NO WERE... HOW DOSE THAT WORK...

 

[nas19320]

Online ordering is usually cheaper but the trade off is that you don't get to pick and choose your pieces so your kinda stuck with whatever the company chooses for you.

 

[infalable]

I have asked the same question and most replies have been very positive about ordering from SWF. I will be making my first order at the end of the week. I will also buy a piece or two from lfs just so I can have some specificaly from my choosing. Hope this helps.

 

[tlk]

Last time I ordered lr from an online source, I called the folks there and told them what I was looking for. They did an excellent job giving me the type of rock I wanted in my tank. True, you may not get exactly what you want, but I had a very good experience buying from an online retailer (by calling over the phone and telling them exactly what I was looking for)

 

[daniel27407]

thats cool that they will try to get somthing like what you describe
but what about hitchhickers would you expect more from an online order or lfs or about the same...becauce ive seen some posts of stuff that people said were hitchhikers but the rocks at the lfs ive seen dont look like they have anything on them.

 

[treg]

I ordered mine. Saved ALOT of money and it come full of stuff on and in it. Very nice looking pieces.
Every LFS I have been in the rock looks to have no life at all.
My vote is to order it.
Put the extra money towards other stuff for the tank and most likely get better rock!

 

[chef jaysen]

I find this an interesting post. Lets talk price since thats the true judge of the rock.
For lfs prices:
Florida live rock. 4.50 - 6.50 a lb
Fiji live rock is usually 6.50 a lb
Carribean base rock is 4.00 a lb
Base rock is 2.50 a lb
And a new source is 4.50 a lb for tonga branch.
My suggestion is if you can get lr for 4.00 a lb make a friend at the good lfs in the area and he will hook you up for the rest of your aquarium days. JMO ofcourse.......cheers

 

[elan]

hitchhickers come on almost all rock... this may be a good thing or a bad thing, all depends on how you look at it....
I find that fl. aquacultured seems to be known to come with some "unwanted" hitchhickers such as aptasia, pistol shrimp, and mantis shrimp....
Fiji, IMO, is the best.... its one of the more less dense rocks...(meaning per pound, it will look like more rock) and its easy to break apart (which will come in handy when you start fragging corals)

 

[serpentine5]

I got 45# from SWF.com and it was shipped directly from Walt Smith. So you would not be able to call SWF to get them to pick out the rock you want, nor do they accept calls (bad buisness IMO). It is good rock, but no hitch hikers. Price wise, mose of the LFS in my area want a minimum of $8.00 per pound, so my only option was to get it online. Now I have found a place just over the state line in GA that sells LR for $2.50 - $3.00 per pound and I will be going back to pick up a few pounds.