Quality "Live Rock" ?
- Thread starter BMan
- Start date
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Brew12
Electrical Gru
I think that depends on just how "live" you want it.
Tampa Bay Saltwater sells some stuff that takes live rock to a new level.
Spanky05
Active Member
Used Tampa Bay Salwater liverock for my 29 cube and it was amazing how long I could just stare at tank full of rocks.
The amount of life on the things is hard to describe.
Also have about 10+ porcelain crab hitchhikers that i adore.
happyhourhero
Burner of the Tips
If I could go back in time and get some of the stuff I got from Premium Aquatics back in the early 2000s, I would.
Spanky05
Active Member
I did order a package. I believe the "20 gallon" package but I'll have to look through emails to confirm.
If you'd like, I can look back in my phone and try to find some pictures of when I first received it.
Quality is kinda vague. If your looking for a lot of life, the Florida rocks cant be beat IMO unless you buy the live stuff from fiji. It does require some time to remove unwanted life though too.
If you just want it as a head start for a bio filter, most all aged live rock will do, but a kind of QT is needed to remove the much smaller pests like flatworms etc. Its a lot easier to kill stuff like that,or phosphates) in a bucket or bin than in a tank. I think that's the problem most have and fear when using live rock. The don't know how to treat it.
That said, two more of my other dream tanks would be a Fiji live rock tank and a florida live rock tank. Pers, I wouldn't even put other fish and coral in for probably a year. Or a least till I got the pests out, or I decided to give the "pests" names.
If you just want it as a head start for a bio filter, most all aged live rock will do, but a kind of QT is needed to remove the much smaller pests like flatworms etc. Its a lot easier to kill stuff like that,or phosphates) in a bucket or bin than in a tank. I think that's the problem most have and fear when using live rock. The don't know how to treat it.
That said, two more of my other dream tanks would be a Fiji live rock tank and a florida live rock tank. Pers, I wouldn't even put other fish and coral in for probably a year. Or a least till I got the pests out, or I decided to give the "pests" names.
Spanky05
Active Member
Ok, incoming picture spam. I'm not sure if they will be in the right order but I'll try my best.
Edit: Ok, definitely not in order!
I'm sure it's fairly self explanatory but I'll give a quick rundown.
Here is what I ordered: 25 "The Package"
50 lbs rock, 25 lbs sand, 25 hermits, 13 snails, 2 cukes, 1
star, 1 shrimp
What I ended up doing is going in with a friend and he bought 10 lbs of rock from me so I have 40 lbs of rock in my 29 cube. In hindsight, I may prefer a less rock-dense aquascape but the biological benefits of having more rock is nice.
Like I said earlier, I have 10+ porcelain crabs visible in my tank nearly at all times. Only 2 were "intentionally" shipped. The rest were hitchhikers. Also a serpent star (the black one) and the pincushion urchin.
Regarding pests, I did receive a Mantis shrimp which is somewhere in the pictures. I trapped him and gave him to a friend. Also several gorilla crabs that I just caught as time went on.
Tried to include some closeups and pictures of the sand as well so you could get a good idea of what is included.
Some of the pictures are of my current tank and not too relevant but I figured I'd show you what the rock looks like now, over a year later (original setup in October 2015.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help
Last edited:
oh thats sweet!Ok, incoming picture spam. I'm not sure if they will be in the right order but I'll try my best.
AllSignsPointToFish
"No Longer The Guy Without FaceBook"
I bought my rock from gulfliverock.com. I was very pleased with the premium deco rock. I was loaded with corals, tunicates, mini stars, and mini featherdusters.
Spanky05
Active Member
AllSignsPointToFish
"No Longer The Guy Without FaceBook"
'99. Gulf Breeze, Florida representing!
Hyde2406
Well-Known Member
I've used Tampa bay live rock and was very very happy with it. The best I've seen ever. You won't find anything else with the about of sponges and good critters. I only went to Tampa bay live rock because I had a friend break down her saltwater tank and she gave me her rock that was a year old and I feel in love with it. You won't be disappointed and the price is amazing. Plus it's a green / eco friendly process, not forested from existing reefs. Definitely worth looking into.
Bob Escher
Welcome to Saltwater
My son in law just got stuff from Tampa bay and it was amazing. Made my live rock look so bare.
I got mine from my LFS which had some stuff on it but nothing compared to theirs.
I was thinking of ordering twenty lbs and adding it to my tank but I don't want to a chance
Maybe I'll throw into my QT for now
I got mine from my LFS which had some stuff on it but nothing compared to theirs.
I was thinking of ordering twenty lbs and adding it to my tank but I don't want to a chance
Maybe I'll throw into my QT for now
