Live Rock Conundrum

[Ross B Reef'n]

Hi everyone,

So my custon 170g aquarium has just been finished, and I'm currently in Florida on vacation. With all the new laws and bans in place regarding our hobby, I've been having a hard time deciding what I'm going to do for rock. I see the abundance of man made rock available on the web, but this is all quite different from the last time I setup an aquarium. Fiji rock was common place.

Like I mentioned previously, I'm in Florida and i found an aquarium shop that has boat loads of natural reef rock. I see three different paths I could go.

1) Buy all the natural rock I need while I'm here and be done with it?

2) Buy a few seed rocks and do the rest artificial?

3) Pass on the natural and go all man-made and use bacteria in a bottle?

If you were me, what would you do?

 

[cvrle1]

For me it would be either 1 or 2. If seller could guarantee that I would not get any unwanted pests with LR, I would bite the bullet and go with option 1. It gives you best start and a lot of good hitchhikers. However as stated, you can get some bad ones as well depending on the source.

In regards to Florida and vacation, keep in mind that there will be some die-off during transport, so if you have 10 hour drive or something like that, perhaps LR may not be the best choice.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

I would go with #2. Buy a bunch of dry rock to build my main structures. As it’s dry, this gives you the time to really work with the rock outside of the tank. I would also drill the rock to receive frag plugs. May look silly initially, but over time you wouldn’t even notice.
Once you get your structure installed in the tank, I’d fill the system with water and start running a reactor with phos remover. Run for a month with no lights, then add live sand and some choice live rock to seed. Then just leave it with a shorter light cycle for a few months to mature. WWC style..

 

[AlexG]

I went the route of buying dry rock for the display tanks so I could take my time aquascaping ahead of filling the tanks. I think got about 60lbs of live rock and live sand to add to the refugium and display tanks which did a great job seeding the tanks.

 

[Ross B Reef'n]

After a day or careful deliberation, and consideration of the appreciated input from my fellow reefers, I've decided to wait. My tank isnt setup yet, and I just need to "slow my roll" a bit. Take things a step at a time. Rock will come soon enough, and I'm sure I'll find the right rock at the right time

 

[Matt Carden]

If you get all live rock from gulfliverock.com or
https://www.tbsaltwater.com/ or
https://www.kpaquatics.com/
You will skip cycle without the uglies.
The cheapest is gulfliverock.com
You have to pick up tbsaltwater at the airport but it should have the least die off. Kpaquatics promises no Apstasia.

If you can afford it, true live rock is the best start you can have.

 

[Ross B Reef'n]

If you get all live rock from gulfliverock.com or
https://www.tbsaltwater.com/ or
https://www.kpaquatics.com/
You will skip cycle without the uglies.
The cheapest is gulfliverock.com
You have to pick up tbsaltwater at the airport but it should have the least die off. Kpaquatics promises no Apstasia.

If you can afford it, true live rock is the best start you can have.

Thanks for the links! Having a bit of IT knowledge, it's hard for me to take more basic websites as legitimate. It's a downfall of mine, I know! But I'll take a testimonial over aesthetics any day. Thanks again

 

[ScottR]

Hi everyone,

So my custon 170g aquarium has just been finished, and I'm currently in Florida on vacation. With all the new laws and bans in place regarding our hobby, I've been having a hard time deciding what I'm going to do for rock. I see the abundance of man made rock available on the web, but this is all quite different from the last time I setup an aquarium. Fiji rock was common place.

Like I mentioned previously, I'm in Florida and i found an aquarium shop that has boat loads of natural reef rock. I see three different paths I could go.

1) Buy all the natural rock I need while I'm here and be done with it?

2) Buy a few seed rocks and do the rest artificial?

3) Pass on the natural and go all man-made and use bacteria in a bottle?

If you were me, what would you do?

I’d seed. Live rock can bring crazy things with it. I put live rock directly into my display. Have fought fish eating (gorilla) and coral eating crabs. Recently found another. Recently found an asternia star. Some chitons. Just a plethora of things and who knows what else. I feel it’s better to go dry and sump some LR.

 

[ca1ore]

1.5 ..... mostly actual live rock, but foundational pieces that will be at the bottom or even under the sand can be dry rock. Most pests are easily handled, but the lack of beneficial micro flora and fauna makes for a spectacularly dull tank IME.

 

[Ross B Reef'n]

I’d seed. Live rock can bring crazy things with it. I put live rock directly into my display. Have fought fish eating (gorilla) and coral eating crabs. Recently found another. Recently found an asternia star. Some chitons. Just a plethora of things and who knows what else. I feel it’s better to go dry and sump some LR.

I've delt with asternia stars and aphasia in the past. The latter being the reason for me building a high powered (blue) laser.

Are there instances where seeding in a sump can export baddies to a display? I'm afraid its inevitable to at least have one problem pest or another.

 

[jefra]

Hi everyone,

So my custon 170g aquarium has just been finished, and I'm currently in Florida on vacation. With all the new laws and bans in place regarding our hobby, I've been having a hard time deciding what I'm going to do for rock. I see the abundance of man made rock available on the web, but this is all quite different from the last time I setup an aquarium. Fiji rock was common place.

Like I mentioned previously, I'm in Florida and i found an aquarium shop that has boat loads of natural reef rock. I see three different paths I could go.

1) Buy all the natural rock I need while I'm here and be done with it?

2) Buy a few seed rocks and do the rest artificial?

3) Pass on the natural and go all man-made and use bacteria in a bottle?

If you were me, what would you do?

Along with California, we're lucky to have a ridiculous number of LFS in every major metro area here in Florida. But I've been having trouble finding quality live rock. All of the aquacultured Florida live rock I've seen is infested with hitchhikers and the nasty ones too like gorilla crabs.

If you aren't going to buy, mind sharing shop name/location and how much per lb?

 

[Ross B Reef'n]

Along with California, we're lucky to have a ridiculous number of LFS in every major metro area here in Florida. But I've been having trouble finding quality live rock. All of the aquacultured Florida live rock I've seen is infested with hitchhikers and the nasty ones too like gorilla crabs.

If you aren't going to buy, mind sharing shop name/location and how much per lb?

In Panama City beach, suncoast aquatics had 3 ~120gal tanks full of rock. Saw some nice shelf pieces speckled in too. One of the tanks also had extra large pieces. They looked to be at least +20lbs and ~$300 each

Gulf Coast aquatics also had some nice pieces from tear downs after the hurricane :..(

 

[Art2249]

I would go with #2. Buy a bunch of dry rock to build my main structures. As it’s dry, this gives you the time to really work with the rock outside of the tank. I would also drill the rock to receive frag plugs. May look silly initially, but over time you wouldn’t even notice.
Once you get your structure installed in the tank, I’d fill the system with water and start running a reactor with phos remover. Run for a month with no lights, then add live sand and some choice live rock to seed. Then just leave it with a shorter light cycle for a few months to mature. WWC style..

Wish I had drilled mine to recieve plugs,

 

[Rick.45cal]

If I had to do it over I would probably build my entire tank from two little fishies Stax. I did my entire tank from dry rock this time and while it was plain jane for a long time it has grown into something beautiful (at least in my opinion). If I found some really amazing live rock somewhere I would have jumped on that, but most “live rock” these days is nothing more than dry rock some fish supplier has tossed in a giant tub of saltwater for a few months (at most). There are some folks that farm some nice stuff around here, dry rock was just far too convenient for me this time around. .

 

[jsvand5]

I recently set up a 210 with about 90% dry rock. I’ll never do it again. Battled Dino’s for months. Still have a little even now. It was my first tank using dry rock and my last. The benefits of live rock far exceed the drawbacks.

 

[ScottR]

I've delt with asternia stars and aphasia in the past. The latter being the reason for me building a high powered (blue) laser.

Are there instances where seeding in a sump can export baddies to a display? I'm afraid its inevitable to at least have one problem pest or another.

Eventually everything will get in your tank anyway. As for sumping, you’ll have less bad guys making it into your main tank.

 

[ScottR]

If I had to do it over I would probably build my entire tank from two little fishies Stax. I did my entire tank from dry rock this time and while it was plain jane for a long time it has grown into something beautiful (at least in my opinion). If I found some really amazing live rock somewhere I would have jumped on that, but most “live rock” these days is nothing more than dry rock some fish supplier has tossed in a giant tub of saltwater for a few months (at most). There are some folks that farm some nice stuff around here, dry rock was just far too convenient for me this time around. .

+1 on fake LR. I saw a LFS with dry rock in a brute trash can. It was obviously not real. Went next door, LFS had real LR with purple, red and green all over. Clams, barnacles, you name it.

 

[ca1ore]

Are there instances where seeding in a sump can export baddies to a display? I'm afraid its inevitable to at least have one problem pest or another.

Depends. Aiptasia generally proliferate via spores and WILL travel. Majano, on the other hand, spread by fission and mostly won’t travel.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

The way I look at it after 17 years, if you build it they will come. You will always get pests. It’s just the nature of nature.
I’m not a big fan of most of the FL live rock as it is very dense and not very interesting in shape. It comes loaded with sponges, tunicates and various corals already growing on it. And this is why I think it’s so popular, it feels like you already have a small reef instantly. But I’ve found that you loose quite a bit through cycling and the maturing of your tank. Mainly because your system is immature. Common pests have been gorilla crabs and mantis shrimp.
Another type of rock that has been common down here in FL has been Caribbean Leaf rock or Haitian. 9 times out of 10 you are getting rock that is rather bare of attached organisms. Maybe some half dead sponge and mud. This rock to me has been a bit more attractive visually in shapes and not nearly as dense as FL live rock. Very easy to work with in the tank.
My current display, I started with 75% dry rock and the rest was live from my old system. It was a nightmare dealing with the dry rock reaching maturity. But in turn, I was also rushing my system along as I had transferred everything to the new display rather quickly. Honestly it took almost 3 years for everything to stabilize. Again I leave this to rushing and causing complications trying to save corals and fish.
That being said, yes I would start another system with a majority of it being dry rock. I have about 300 lbs boxed up waiting. Only this time I would keep my current system running and let the new system mature before any transfer. I would definitely purchase some more Live Rock to help with the seeding and to add to the bacterial biodiversity of the new dry rock. But I would wait 6 months to a year before doing the transfer.