Infested live rock (Hong Kong)

[Hexabonal]

Hello everyone,

I live in Hong Kong and I'm looking to make the dive into reef tanks. From everything I read everyone seems to be very worried about vsriouv nasties being transferred into their tank via live rock. Here in Hong Kong there are many, many, many dodgy practices in fish stores and so I have little faith in getting a high quality product. I have not seen dry rock for sale here, only cured live rock in a small number of shops - but in all it is kept in one gigantic container with all the shop's other rock and it is surely utterly infested with whatever else is in the tank (unless they put nasty chemicals in the water or something...).

What precautions should I take when purchasing the rock?

 

[skysoblue987]

Buy whatever is cheapest or whatever looks good to you. Then soak them in a bucket of bleach. That will kill everything in the rock. Make sure the bleach gets into every crevice of the rocks. Then rinse it really good and dry it in the sun. You should be good after this.

 

[mcarroll]

From everything I read everyone seems to be very worried about vsriouv nasties being transferred into their tank via live rock.

Picking up worries that way is a form of hypochondria – it's something that most of us go through.

Any real pests can be dealt with and are RARE.

Keep reading until you find some actual how-to guides on live rock.

Here in Hong Kong there are many, many, many dodgy practices in fish stores and so I have little faith in getting a high quality product.

If they can drag a rock from the ocean to their tank without letting it dry completely out, then that's all there is to it. No need for expectations.

I have not seen dry rock for sale here

You're better off IMO. You may as well cement a bunch of sand or De*Nitrate together as DIY rock if that's the experience you'd prefer.

but in all it is kept in one gigantic container with all the shop's other rock and it is surely utterly infested with whatever else is in the tank (unless they put nasty chemicals in the water or something...).

What precautions should I take when purchasing the rock?

You just need to keep reading until you're past the hypochondria stage.

Buy whatever is cheapest or whatever looks good to you. Then soak them in a bucket of bleach. That will kill everything in the rock. Make sure the bleach gets into every crevice of the rocks. Then rinse it really good and dry it in the sun. You should be good after this.

Holy cow that's not how to use live rock!!! That's how to make dead rock.

Leave the bleach at the laundry. ;Happy

Here's a much better much cheaper way to make dead rock:
Build your own rock for practically free

@Hexabonal: In a nutshell, the whole point of live rock is to introduce the widest array of reef life – from microbes on up – to your tank all at once, right from the start. This is what makes live rock tanks better than dead rock tanks. This is why folks historically have spent around 1/3 of the total budget of their new tank just on live rock.