Real Live Rock

JCM · Mar 28, 2021

I'm looking to buy some real live rock. Anyone know when KP will have some back in stock? Or any other recommendations. Anyone ordered from gulf live rock?

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Mar 28, 2021

No but i want to and have seen and read good reviews on gulf.
D

BeltedCoyote · Mar 28, 2021

There was a thread I saw earlier about someone who had ordered from gulfliverock so I believe they’re shipping. Don’t know about KP. Tampa bay said they’re going to be shipping again this fall

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Mar 28, 2021

I talked to the gulf guy via email and asked about covid shipping. About 1 month ago and he said ya he was shipping and he was all stocked up.
D

Jekyl · Mar 28, 2021

I've heard nothing but positives about gulfliverock

JCM · Mar 28, 2021

Thanks everyone. Just ordered 35 lbs from gulf. I'll update with my experience when it shows up.

reefinatl · Mar 28, 2021

Jekyl said:
I've heard nothing but positives about gulfliverock

I've seen mixed when it comes to special instruction, ie ship with water. I ordered through them and was very happy with life and quality. Some sand was worth it as well, lots of brittle stars in it.

JCM · Apr 1, 2021

So I received my 35 lbs of rock from Gulf Live Rock today. Overall I am happy. The amount of life on the rock is impressive, 7 or 8 types of algae, multiple colors of corraline, a big gorgonian/soft coral and at least 7 clams the biggest of which was over 4 inches.

The downside was the shipping. It was a 3 day trip to Texas. They packaged it well, double bagged and covered in wet paper towels. I think 3 days is too much though, as soon as I put it in water, ammonia spiked. I did large water changes and tried to neutralize it with Prime but I worry about how much die off I'll see. I guess time will tell.

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Apr 1, 2021

Ya. They say to swish it in sw and pull anything dead that didnt make the ship. Can i up my shipping to make it faster?
D

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Apr 1, 2021

Looks like some.good stuff otherwise. Is that a.free.hard coral? A cup.coral below the gorg?
D

reefinatl · Apr 1, 2021

JCM said:
So I received my 35 lbs of rock from Gulf Live Rock today. Overall I am happy. The amount of life on the rock is impressive, 7 or 8 types of algae, multiple colors of corraline, a big gorgonian/soft coral and at least 7 clams the biggest of which was over 4 inches.

The downside was the shipping. It was a 3 day trip to Texas. They packaged it well, double bagged and covered in wet paper towels. I think 3 days is too much though, as soon as I put it in water, ammonia spiked. I did large water changes and tried to neutralize it with Prime but I worry about how much die off I'll see. I guess time will tell.

A lot of it will survive. I just let it rip right through the die off and ammonia spike. I did dump in dr Tim's since I had it on hand but all those turkey wing clams, gorgonians, emerald crabs, brittle stars, fair number of sponges, a bunch of various stoney corals all survive a big cycle.

Edit: also 2 wennerae mantis and some welks lived through that as well.. The mantis are the reason for the nano picture.

Nothing wrong with trying to minimize the spike obviously, most of the life that just survived 3 days more or less out of the water, can handle some foul water though is my 2cents.

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Apr 1, 2021

Looks great. Im gonna get some i think
D

Reefer_Reefer · Apr 1, 2021

JCM said:
I'm looking to buy some real live rock. Anyone know when KP will have some back in stock? Or any other recommendations. Anyone ordered from gulf live rock?

Try gulf live rock

https://gulfliverock.com/price-list/ols/products

JCM · Apr 1, 2021

monkeyCmonkeyDo said:
Ya. They say to swish it in sw and pull anything dead that didnt make the ship. Can i up my shipping to make it faster?
D

You can overnight it, but need to pick up at the airport.

JCM · Apr 1, 2021

monkeyCmonkeyDo said:
Looks like some.good stuff otherwise. Is that a.free.hard coral? A cup.coral below the gorg?
D

It's some type of hard coral, not sure what.

JCM · Apr 1, 2021

reefinatl said:
A lot of it will survive. I just let it rip right through the die off and ammonia spike. I did dump in dr Tim's since I had it on hand but all those turkey wing clams, gorgonians, emerald crabs, brittle stars, fair number of sponges, a bunch of various stoney corals all survive a big cycle.

Edit: also 2 wennerae mantis and some welks lived through that as well.. The mantis are the reason for the nano picture.

Nothing wrong with trying to minimize the spike obviously, most of the life that just survived 3 days more or less out of the water, can handle some foul water though is my 2cents.

Hopefully you're right. The biggest clam was DOA but we've counted at least 6 still alive. Haven't seen any shrimp or crabs. A number of worms were dead in the bag. We've been staring at it all day, haven't seen anything moving unfortunately.

reefinatl · Apr 1, 2021

JCM said:
It's some type of hard coral, not sure what.

Siderastea of some sort is my best guess. I got some on nearly all of my rocks. Not ugly but not terribly colorful. I'm sure with the right lights and filters I could frag it and retire though.

reefinatl · Apr 1, 2021

JCM said:
Hopefully you're right. The biggest clam was DOA but we've counted at least 6 still alive. Haven't seen any shrimp or crabs. A number of worms were dead in the bag. We've been staring at it all day, haven't seen anything moving unfortunately.

Certainly do some water changes if you want, don't let me stop you. Mine got here in one day so experiences are different in that respect.

JCM · Apr 1, 2021

reefinatl said:
Certainly do some water changes if you want, don't let me stop you. Mine got here in one day so experiences are different in that respect.

Hopefully things pull through. 3 days is a long time out of water.

KrisReef · Apr 2, 2021

JCM said:
So I received my 35 lbs of rock from Gulf Live Rock today. Overall I am happy. The amount of life on the rock is impressive, 7 or 8 types of algae, multiple colors of corraline, a big gorgonian/soft coral and at least 7 clams the biggest of which was over 4 inches.

The downside was the shipping. It was a 3 day trip to Texas. They packaged it well, double bagged and covered in wet paper towels. I think 3 days is too much though, as soon as I put it in water, ammonia spiked. I did large water changes and tried to neutralize it with Prime but I worry about how much die off I'll see. I guess time will tell.

Lovely! Thank you for posting these photos. I have not seen real rock delivery in too many years. All that live is beautiful. The death of the macro-organisms is harsh but the bacteria and whatnot on those rocks is worth it.