Would you purchase live rock on Craigslist?

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Hello all. Just about to get my tank up and running. Got my rodi system installed and it should be completely filled by tomorrow morning. So I was perusing Craigslist earlier today and came across a very small salt water aquarium supply store that basically operates off Craigslist. This individual basically sells live sand and live rock at a much cheaper price than going to one of those aquarium stores. He offers standard live rock at $3/lbs and $4/lbs for the purple live rocks.

I'm just curious if it is the norm to always purchase live rock from a reputable seller or if I am taking a huge risk by buying from this guy. He's got adds plastered all over Craigslist. Would you buy from him?
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Those are really good prices for live rock... I'd inquire about current condition, whether they're covered in algae or have hitchhikers. If you do end up getting the rock it wouldn't hurt to do a dip, or even just rinse/brush them in some saltwater.
 
NickNiz said:
Those are really good prices for live rock... I'd inquire about current condition, whether they're covered in algae or have hitchhikers. If you do end up getting the rock it wouldn't hurt to do a dip, or even just rinse/brush them in some saltwater.
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I asked him and he said that he keeps his rocks free of parasites and hitchhikers. He said he uses his main tank to cultivate, grow and thus sell what live rock he makes. If I do end up buying some, will your safeguards protect in the event something is wrong with the rocks? because lets be honest here, his live rock is going for $4/lbs vs. the $8/lbs purple live rock the aquarium stores sell.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
I've bought from stores in my area and with my experience their "well-cured" $8-10 per pound live rock is often something that's come out of a large, long-running tank and has bristleworms and/or asterina stars in it. I've bought from Craigslist also and as long as it doesn't have algae all over I just do a dip before using the rock, or if it doesn't look bad I've been known to just swish it in saltwater and then put it in the tank. That's a gamble a lot of reefers won't take though. I've done coral rx dips and once a peroxide dip when the rock had come with a running setup and was infested with bristle worms
 
marissas47 said:
I've bought from stores in my area and with my experience their "well-cured" $8-10 per pound live rock is often something that's come out of a large, long-running tank and has bristleworms and/or asterina stars in it. I've bought from Craigslist also and as long as it doesn't have algae all over I just do a dip before using the rock, or if it doesn't look bad I've been known to just swish it in saltwater and then put it in the tank. That's a gamble a lot of reefers won't take though. I've done coral rx dips and once a peroxide dip when the rock had come with a running setup and was infested with bristle worms
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What do you mean by "dip"? Is there any foolproof way to get rid of anything really harmful on the LR before I add it to my tank? Would curing it kill the nasties that may hitchhike?
 
Just like buying coral or large colony's , consider QT.
You can I fact clean alge off of rocks. Kill pests, etc in a DT. You can do the same in a bucket or bin.
It's quite easy.
Fresh water dips. Peroxide. I feel your super paranoid flatworm exit or interceptor.

But first go look at at it. The guy might be totally stand up reefer like the dudes in my local reef club. And I still qt the rock.
 
saltyfilmfolks said:
Just like buying coral or large colony's , consider QT.
You can I fact clean alge off of rocks. Kill pests, etc in a DT. You can do the same in a bucket or bin.
It's quite easy.
Fresh water dips. Peroxide. I feel your super paranoid flatworm exit or interceptor.

But first go look at at it. The guy might be totally stand up reefer like the dudes in my local reef club. And I still qt the rock.
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Hmm ok. So is that recommended then? How long would I place the LR in freshwater? Would that basically ruin my LR?
 
Jc0187 said:
Hmm ok. So is that recommended then? How long would I place the LR in freshwater? Would that basically ruin my LR?
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An hour won't hurt you'll see stuff jump off
You may see stuff you want like brittle stars and such.

If there's algae add some peroxide and scrub it.

Personally I've never had bad live rock experiences. I've only gotten pests from corals.
 
I don't want to worry about "bugs". Clean dry rock (check my avatar) "Nature's Ocean 12-Inch Coral Base Rocks for Aquarium, 40-Pound box" at about 53.00 a box in including shipping through Amazon. Mined from dry ancient reef beds. You get 3 large football sized pieces and a few smalls. No bugs, no problems, no chemical cleaning or dipping - just a quick power wash rinse. No worries.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
saltyfilmfolks said:
An hour won't hurt you'll see stuff jump off
You may see stuff you want like brittle stars and such.

If there's algae add some peroxide and scrub it.

Personally I've never had bad live rock experiences. I've only gotten pests from corals.
Click to expand...
Hmm. Maybe I'm just thinking into this too much. I don't want to kill anything beneficial by doing the freshwater dip.
 
Big G said:
I don't want to worry about "bugs". Clean dry rock (check my avatar) "Nature's Ocean 12-Inch Coral Base Rocks for Aquarium, 40-Pound box" at about 53.00 a box in including shipping through Amazon. Mined from dry ancient reef beds. You get 3 large football sized pieces and a few smalls. No bugs, no problems, no chemical cleaning or dipping - just a quick power wash rinse. No worries.
Click to expand...
You know, I've seen the stuff on Amazon going for around that cheap. Under decent lighting, say 60 watts LED for a 20" depth tank, how long could I go till I see some purple appear?
 
Jc0187 said:
Hmm. Maybe I'm just thinking into this too much. I don't want to kill anything beneficial by doing the freshwater dip.
Click to expand...
It's not easy when you hear from both extreme sides.

IMO , both options options have their pros and cons. Equally good and bad.
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
I wouldn't buy LR from unknown source. People tried it before and they introduced parasites to the tank. If you want to do it then I would recommend leaving the LR in a SW bucket for 76 days to ensure its free from most parasites. Its similar to going fallow in DT. Be sure to do water changes everyone and then. This way you will save all the beneficial inverts living inside the LR.
The safest way will be bleaching the LR then soaking it in freshwater to neutralize the bleach, but this will kill everything turning LR into dead rock.
 
aykwm said:
I wouldn't buy LR from unknown source. People tried it before and they introduced parasites to the tank. If you want to do it then I would recommend leaving the LR in a SW bucket for 76 days to ensure its free from most parasites. Its similar to going fallow in DT. Be sure to do water changes everyone and then. This way you will save all the beneficial inverts living inside the LR.
The safest way will be bleaching the LR then soaking it in freshwater to neutralize the bleach, but this will kill everything turning LR into dead rock.
Click to expand...
I bought all my rock live from several sources with no issues.
 
Ecoscape Reef Rock
TritonsGarden said:
So is this man made rock and not natural rock? If man made, it needs to be cured thoroughly to prevent alk spikes.
Click to expand...
It's not man made. The seller claims it Fiji and other natural rock.
 
aykwm said:
I wouldn't buy LR from unknown source. People tried it before and they introduced parasites to the tank. If you want to do it then I would recommend leaving the LR in a SW bucket for 76 days to ensure its free from most parasites. Its similar to going fallow in DT. Be sure to do water changes everyone and then. This way you will save all the beneficial inverts living inside the LR.
The safest way will be bleaching the LR then soaking it in freshwater to neutralize the bleach, but this will kill everything turning LR into dead rock.
Click to expand...
Wow. 76 days. That's a long time.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Tidal Gardens

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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