Live rock

[Devaji]

"Live sand" that you buy in a bag at the store is sand with bottle bacteria added, so won't bring in much. Live sand that's actually from the ocean should have a lot of life in it, but that life will, of course, be life that lives in sand. You'd probably get less beneficial algae, for example, and you almost definitely won't get any macros.

yes I was speaking & thinking about real LS direct from the ocean shipped in water.
of course no macros, sponges or coral but we where talking about bac. biodiversity.

 

[areefer01]

So I guess my next question would be if things are going pretty well do you risk adding in ocean rock? I don’t want to add something and it make more of an issue especially since things are going well.

That is a fair question and the answer really comes down to one or two questions. Source of purchase and how do you feel about management of possible hitch hikers.

Personally speaking I added 25 lbs of live rock from KP Aquatics about a year ago to my 4 year old established mixed reef without hesitation. I know the source. Trusted the source. Understood the risk hitch hikers. Ways to manage and/or mitigate. Set budget and plan in place. Never had any issues.

1 decorator crab
4 to 7 red/pink mithrax crabs (similar to emeralds)
2 unknown gorilla crabs (moved to overflow box - turns out a male/female and spawn/egg regularly)
Unknown macro algae - my urchins made short work

All in all nothing made it into the display that I couldn't manage or was able to find before placement. I did place rock in my refugium for observation which is how I caught the gorilla crabs. Once I didn't notice anything scare I moved them into the display and the rock blended in perfectly fine. Actually a noticeable difference between my dry rock of 4 year maturity to what I received which is why I ordered it to begin with.

TL; DR - know the source, trust the source, know the risk, understand how to manage or mitigate and you will be perfectly fine. Quality live rock, in my experience, is the bees knees if one has a budget for it.

 

[bvanfish]

@areefer01 would it be possible to put the live rock into a 5 gallon bucket with heater and pump for a while to monitor or would it need the tank setting?

I would love to try it out but I am not very versed in hitchhikers and their protocol.

 

[areefer01]

@areefer01 would it be possible to put the live rock into a 5 gallon bucket with heater and pump for a while to monitor or would it need the tank setting?

I would love to try it out but I am not very versed in hitchhikers and their protocol.

Hmm....I've not personally done that but assuming aeration, flow, and heater I guess it could work. Again I've not done that before so can't really say one way or the other. My refugium is about 18 gallons and I placed the rock on egg crate that I elevated from the substrate using 1" pvc couplers.

The only thing I'd note is that we are paying a premium for the rock, and shipping, so it is ideal to get into a more normal environment as soon as possible to reduce loss of the biome and micro fauna. I would say if the concern for hitch hikers is high then maybe a rubble solution may be safer, and wiser.

Apologies that I can't be more specific as I've not isolated mine in a bucket.

 

[Tired]

You can absolutely put live rock in a temporary holding setup, same as you can with fish. You'll want some form of light over it to keep photosynthetic life alive, but that can be a cheap LED or probably even a desk lamp, at least for the algae. Heck, indirect sunlight could work on a temporary basis.

 

[bvanfish]

Hmm....I've not personally done that but assuming aeration, flow, and heater I guess it could work. Again I've not done that before so can't really say one way or the other. My refugium is about 18 gallons and I placed the rock on egg crate that I elevated from the substrate using 1" pvc couplers.

The only thing I'd note is that we are paying a premium for the rock, and shipping, so it is ideal to get into a more normal environment as soon as possible to reduce loss of the biome and micro fauna. I would say if the concern for hitch hikers is high then maybe a rubble solution may be safer, and wiser.

Apologies that I can't be more specific as I've not isolated mine in a bucket.

I figure I heard from above a local LFS gets rock from the ocean in so wasnt sure if I could try that out. Or just try my chances!

 

[kevgib67]

I’m not sure what type of community you are in but you could probably get the amount of rock you want at less expense if you could connect with a local reefer willing to split a minimum order with you. Any local clubs?

 

[bvanfish]

Well I am only looking for maybe 5 lbs max as my tank is already pretty maxed out. I am out in the burbs of chicago so not sure if there are any clubs but it would be nice to know!

 

[kevgib67]

Well I am only looking for maybe 5 lbs max as my tank is already pretty maxed out. I am out in the burbs of chicago so not sure if there are any clubs but it would be nice to know!

I’ve seen a lot of people on here from the Chicago area ( I always check when I see a Midwest Badge, to see if they are maybe local) and pretty sure there are clubs. R2R has them listed on here somewhere.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Well I am only looking for maybe 5 lbs max as my tank is already pretty maxed out. I am out in the burbs of chicago so not sure if there are any clubs but it would be nice to know!

Lots of people post on FB group for northern illinois reef clubs. There are several pages that are highly active.

 

[bvanfish]

Ya that’s the problem that’s all like 1.5 hours away. I’m south west of the city. But I may make a trip out to that store you said and look at their rock. If nothing else I may take a gamble and see !

@EvanEggleston can you post some pics of your ocean rock again

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Ya that’s the problem that’s all like 1.5 hours away. I’m south west of the city. But I may make a trip out to that store you said and look at their rock. If nothing else I may take a gamble and see !

@EvanEggleston can you post some pics of your ocean rock again

 

[bvanfish]

If anyone is in the Chicago area and is ordering live ocean rock let me know I wouldn’t mind Buying 3 to 5 pounds off of them and chipping in for shipping

 

[GatorGreg]

I wouldn't try and ship anything live for at least a little while. Crazy weather going on all over the country. The chance of it getting delayed and getting nasty is elevated greatly.


I know you're not super big on the "not paying too much for shipping". But you're paying for an expedited service. It's always going to be expensive.

I bought 5lbs of the fiji rock from unique corals for my nano and I have been throughly enjoying observing it. Tank is running very smoothly. Never saw an ammonia spike and its loaded with life. It was around 140 bucks shipped if I can remember correctly. You get what you pay for. I ordered it at like 3pm and it was sitting on my porch by lunch the next day. I'll never let this rock dry out. Even if I shut this tank down I will find a way to jeep it in saltwater and going until I'm ready to start another tank. It's that nice.

I would 10000% recommend waiting until they have another rubble sale. It's usually after they get a big shipment in. They'll sell the rubble that's left behind for nano tanks. You have to be on your toes because it sells out in hours, not days. I kept it up on my desktop at work and on my phone and refreshed it daily whenever I thought about it.