Live rock VS?

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

So I really need opinions on these options, I'm getting ready to order 60lbs of rock and I'm torn between live rock, cured live rock. I would like the adventure of live rock but I'm scared of unwanted Hitchhiker's that I will not know right off. This will give you a hint...I'm my dreams the mantis shrimp is 10 feet tall and going to eat me.lol. where I live we have praying mantis a in our back yard and they freek me out, so back to rock, is it really awsome?

Valkyrie · Sep 19, 2016

My rock was live. Then a malfunctioning heater killed everything. So now I have dead rock. For all the times I freaked out at the thought of a giant bristle worm in my rock somewhere, I wish today that I had my live rock back. I've been waiting since that day for my water parameters to settle down and be able to support life again. I'm seriously considering going to my lfs to get a few live rocks to help things along.

Some people will say to stay away from it. Some will say it's the best thing since sliced bread. I say that when there's such opposing views on something, the best thing is to find out for yourself if you like it or not.

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

I guess that is very true, when I started this venture I was thinking a small tank, but after I started getting the stuff in the mail I kinda went crap i went from simple to 75 gallon heck with the stuff I got I could support a 200 gallon tank.

stunreefer · Sep 19, 2016

Here's some info to help you make your choice.

If you want live rock, I suggest going all in choosing rock with lots of life.

'Cured live rock' around me locally is pretty dull, providing only beneficial bacteria. Leading me to recommend dry rock + beneficial bacteria as it will be the same in a few months at a fraction of the cost.

aaron23 · Sep 19, 2016

Truth is all dry rock becomes living.
The difference is the time it takes to get there.
So if you want to save yourself some money, go with the dry rock and go through the curing process. Afterwards when the tank cycles add a piece of live rock and presto! It's live!

And get the dry rock online

Valkyrie · Sep 19, 2016

aaron23 said:
And get the dry rock online

Why? Isn't shipping expensive?

RJinPV · Sep 19, 2016

I started my reef tank with Real Reef rock from a LFS. It came with stomatella, bristle worms and asterina starfish. When I was moving some rock a year later I came across a 1/2 inch transparent shrimp of some sort. Skunk cleaners ate most of the stomatella, I rarely see the worms, and I pull 1-2 starfish a day out of the tank because they eat the coralline algae (at least my variety does). I wish I didn't have to bother with that

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

Well I think I'm leaning towards live rock because I want the Christmas surprise and the cost isn't that bad I'm looking at the live rock from Fiji is about $300 and then about $600 shipping and then there's another couple of the Caribbean places that have live rock, I'm just searching stuff online

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

sorry text-to-talk not working right. I don't have a LFS near me I have to goto another state for that

aaron23 · Sep 19, 2016

Valkyrie said:
Why? Isn't shipping expensive?

Unless you think free is expensive...

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/customer-center/customer-service/shipping-delivery

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

aaron23 said:
Unless you think free is expensive...

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/customer-center/customer-service/shipping-delivery

That's awsome site, im looking at spending 300 to 500 on just rock, so seeing free shipping makes me giddy ty

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

Super thanks guys, it's so refreshing to talk to ppl about this addiction with not having a LFS. My hats off to you all

tom reilly · Sep 19, 2016

Valkyrie said:
Why? Isn't shipping expensive?

Look at Billy's coral connection. That's where I got dry rock. Very satisfied.

Daniel@R2R · Sep 19, 2016

Marcorocks.com is another great option for dry rock. You can't go wrong with them or BRS.

Valkyrie · Sep 19, 2016

All the online links are awesome and saved in my bookmarks, but my question is still unanswered. What is the reason advising us to order online instead of getting it from a lfs?
I don't mean a big box store, I mean a local small business dedicated to saltwater.
Thanks!

Daniel@R2R · Sep 19, 2016

Valkyrie said:
All the online links are awesome and saved in my bookmarks, but my question is still unanswered. What is the reason advising us to order online instead of getting it from a lfs?
I don't mean a big box store, I mean a local small business dedicated to saltwater.
Thanks!

IME (and I may be shot for saying this in public) the fact that a store is an LFS is not an automatic reason to shop there. Some of them are awesome and absolutely worth your loyalty, but some of them are quite awful and should shut their doors unless they can get their act together. Also, a lot of your online dealers (most of them actually) aren't huge operations (when it comes to livestock many online businesses are just an LFS that is willing to ship). I think if you have a good option available locally, go for it...by all means, please support local business that is worth supporting...but if not, then order online from a reputable vendor that has something you like.

Does that help to answer your question?

Valkyrie · Sep 19, 2016

mdbannister said:
IME (and I may be shot for saying this in public) the fact that a store is an LFS is not an automatic reason to shop there.

Of course not, I wouldn't think so and would hope that no one else would either.

mdbannister said:
Also, a lot of your online dealers (most of them actually) aren't huge operations (when it comes to livestock many online businesses are just an LFS that is willing to ship).

I imagine that the same can be said for any online shop, that some are good and some are bad. The difference is we aren't visiting their store, just their online presence, which means very little.

mdbannister said:
I think if you have a good option available locally, go for it...by all means, please support local business that is worth supporting...but if not, then order online from a reputable vendor that has something you like. Does that help to answer your question?

I do shop there when I can and it does help answer my question. It was just that the instruction was, "order online". Not, if you have a good lfs that you like, shop there. There were no ifs ands or buts...order online. So I thought maybe there was a reason and wished to be enlightened.

lion king · Sep 19, 2016

I would say in a years time, aesthetically you would be hard pressed to see the difference in any rock. Life will begin to cover everything, whether it be coraline or corals. Rock is just a foundation and provides filtration. I got tired of cleaning and prepping, inspecting and still getting bubble algae or phosphate leaching. On all my recent tanks I used caribsea liferock, you can find it online shipping included for around $3/lb. Alot cheaper than real live rock, I've got about 500 lbs of rock in my house. No pests, no phosphate, and with some live sand, a bottle of bio-spira, and a bottle of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride you are cycled in 2 weeks.

skybears · Sep 19, 2016

Valkyrie said:
All the online links are awesome and saved in my bookmarks, but my question is still unanswered. What is the reason advising us to order online instead of getting it from a lfs?
I don't mean a big box store, I mean a local small business dedicated to saltwater.
Thanks!

I have to go to a different state to go to the local salt water fish store when did not have one where I live

lion king · Sep 19, 2016

If I were to buy live rock I would go to one of my lfs, that way you can hand pick your own rock, that's really the only way I'd do it. My lfs breaks up the caribsea liferock boxes and sells it by the pound, if I were to go that route it is substantially cheaper to order the 20 or 40 lb boxes online.