Newbie live rock question

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kwroberto

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I'm starting 75 gallon reef tank and my lfs carries so called live rock but it has no growth or coralline algae on it...any way does any one know where I can purchase online some good quality live rock, but I don't want the green plants or algae culpurta like I've seen on some "deco" live rock....please help !!!!
 
Chewy.com
Most LR found in your LFS wont have coralline algae. For one it's usually not in there long enough and two most don't use proper lighting. Still doesn't mean it's not a good quality LR. What kind of growths on the rock are you looking for?
If your looking for coralline covered LR I suggest looking for those who are getting out of the hobby & selling their LR.
 
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I've been looking through the forums and online, I don't want LR that has a ton of macro algae like the premium deco LR from live rock and reef or tb saltwater...I want basically different color of coralines and some sponges and small dusters... I was thinking manado or Bali rock, mor along the lines of manado, just not sure what supplier to get them from
 
IMHO do not waste your time or money and just buy dry rock. Cycle it when you cycle your tank. Let coraline grow naturally on it by getting some scraping from some friends tank. My first two tank I used LR from a variety of LFS and I hated it each time. It always looks uniform, comes with pests that you may regret in the long run. Plus, dry rock is much cheaper and you get more since its not packaged wet.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
SirKevinD said:
IMHO do not waste your time or money and just buy dry rock. Cycle it when you cycle your tank. Let coraline grow naturally on it by getting some scraping from some friends tank. My first two tank I used LR from a variety of LFS and I hated it each time. It always looks uniform, comes with pests that you may regret in the long run. Plus, dry rock is much cheaper and you get more since its not packaged wet.
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+1 all the way. I used live rock with my first tank and ended up with a mantis shrimp. Didnt know till it killed 100 worth of fish.... With the new build I did it was all dry rock and dry sand with a scoop of live sand some a trusted tank. ( to seed my live sand )
 
+2 I went and got 100lbs of dry rock and it cost me $125. I cured it myself for 3 weeks while my tank cycles and its perfect. I did buy $40 worth of live rock covered with Coralline algae to help plant the seed but like all of us newbies are finding out saltwater takes time!
EW_Fish said:
+1 all the way. I used live rock with my first tank and ended up with a mantis shrimp. Didnt know till it killed 100 worth of fish.... With the new build I did it was all dry rock and dry sand with a scoop of live sand some a trusted tank. ( to seed my live sand )
Click to expand...
 
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Thanks for all the advice...and I'm not trying to start anything :( but I want all real live rock not just for the bacteria but for the biodiversity that will come with the live rock..I'm not worried about spending the money plus a friend of mine did the whole dry live rock thing I don't like the look...IMHO...but keep the suggestions coming I appreciate any and all suggestions!!
 
Yea, your definitely not goin to see coraline algae right away on the LR usually no matter where it comes from. Takes proper lighting and time to grow coraline algae on your LR. Have to agree with SirKev above, better off buying dry rock and then seeding it with a couple pieces of LR.
 
BRS
coralline algae takes lights and calcium to grow..ive seen it on rock as fast as 3 months, but it does take time for it to show up..
 
I'd check out something like real reef. Premium aquatics sells it as live rock as it's sitting in saltwater tubs so it is "live" but it's a great choice. It's not real rock pulled from a reef but looks just like it as they die it purple like it's covered in coralline. I have some and love it. I'd highly recommend checking it out. I bought live rock at first, had a calcareous algae on it that nothing would eat which totally took over my tank and had to take all my rock out and start over with the real reef. IMO the risks far outweigh the benifits of live rock from a lfs.
 
I had (so far) extremely good luck with the rock from Saltwaterfish.com. I got 90 lbs of Totoka Premium which was covered with sponges and so far (4 months in), has 0 unwanted hitchhikers. My tank also never cycled due to the amount of good bacteria still on the rock when I received it.
IMG_2130.jpg
 
Chewy.com
Thanks guys for all the suggestions!!! The funny part is I had a dream last night about going to Fiji and picking my own right from the ocean reef itself :)
 
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NanaReefer said:
I also went with the dry Pukani from BRS. Will never use LR again! To many unwanted additions :)
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The additions, to me at least, is one of the things that I really enjoy about this hobby. I spend hours (sad, I know) staring at the rock looking for new growths or signs of movement. That being said, I have never had to deal with anything all that bad (mantis shrimp for example).
 
I bought some dry rock and some live even put dead coral in that came from holidays and within 2 weeks with the right parameters mine was grow in spots everywhere with no help
 
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