If you start the tank with live base rock, you can do SOME aquascaping. I would use the 2-part epoxy putty and superglue method used to bond corals onto rock. You are probably not going to be able to build big old NSA type aquascapes, but you can get caves and some height if you try. Personally, I think the rock is just a spot for placing corals, so really intricate aquascapes just aren't my thing anymore.
This is a big reason why i like a small portion of live along with the dry. You get the best of both worlds. Its not a big ugly pile of rocks that doesnt allow the fish to swim through and create detritus traps. But the diversity griwn onto the dry with time. It cycles faster with live, and yes i remember my first live rock back in 2003 wrapped in newspaper and smelled like death.
It does make it a bit harder just because you don’t want to cover up the beauty of the LR while you stack. You have to choose your favorite side of each LR. Set aside the best looking LR in your order and put them in prime locations in your tank. Some mentioned earlier to use DR for base. I would just use Live Base Rock. It’s just as good as primo LR just not as good looking or covered in sea life.
It depends on the live rock. If you’re hoping to keep most of the sponges and whatnot, best to scape underwater. I just stack my rock (no glue or anything). If you’re wanting more of a custom scape, as long as it’s kept wet, you can scape it out of water but you will likely loose most of the sponges (they’ll grow back…they always grow back lol) and some other organisms but your bacteria will still be fine (again if kept wet)
My friend ordered gulf live rock and he had the worst experience for some reason. He tried to cure it, and the whole room was smelling like rotten eggs, his water turned brown too and it was all messed up
I've ordered from Tampa Bay Saltwater and KP Aquatics. Good experiences from both.
I've placed 3 orders and never had issues but I did pay for the overnight shipping. I always "cure" it for at least 2 weeks in a rock tote before I put it into a system. If you do not overnight the rock, you will have a lot of die off and experience such smells.
*All this LR was shipped in wet paper towels/ newspaperI always got my LR from Gulf Live Rock. I watched the LR In separate smaller tanks for a couple of months. I moved 1-2 pieces of “cleared” LR as I felt necessary to DT.
You end up getting corals and other things on LR that you can’t find elsewhere. I think it’s even illegal to sell certain Gulf corals unless they are attached to legal LR.
I was actually doing a little research on corals and how they used to ship them. I read in a couple of articles that scientists prefer their corals to be shipped out of water in damp conditions. They claim the water goes fowl first and starts to affect the corals. Corals can survive out of water for awhile as long as they stay damp and temps are steady. Anyone else have any info or facts on this?
