Would you risk it?

[paphater]

Soon I'll be upgrading my 90g to a 180g. Locally I can get a little over a 100 lbs of live rock for $150 or I could order 100 lbs of dry from billy's reef connection for $180 shipped. It's $30 cheaper and live but I'm worried about any possible hitchhikers. Right now I'm leaning towards the dry. Thoughts?

 

[moseley75]

Following.

 

[cracker]

It's really your choice. If you don't want uninvited critters, then go with the dry base. The cycle time is about the same I guess. Personally I like seeing new and interesting things pop up. I've had stuff show up years later.

 

[Rick cowen]

I love live rock. Always have. I used to get mine for Tampa bay live rock,AWESOME rock

 

[cracker]

Hey rick, I have some tbs too. it is nice rock. I don't know about now but you used to be able to go and pick it the rock out yourself .

 

[tcampbell23]

A couple things come to mind for me:
1. Live rock will likely not be chock full of nitrates and phosphates which means less of an algae bloom than dry rock.
2. Live rock could potentially serve host to unwanted parasites like Ich depending on how "live" it is.
3. Dry rock is cheaper and easier to scape with as you can take your time.

Just a few points! I personally would go dry rock if given the opportunity all over again.

 

[paphater]

I've purchased rock from bill's reef before and it was pretty clean so I'm not really concerned with the nutrients in it.

 

[leahfiish]

Dry rock all the way. $30 extra is worth it to avoid aiptasia and other annoying pests.

 

[Kershaw]

I say buy the majority dry then add a few good sizes of live from a good source, put it in a rubbber maid for a while with heat and powerhead and look for bad things. Once your satisfied put it in tank. That way you get some good life with out spending allot

 

[Hely'sreef1]

I've had a live rock set up for a year and I'm done! I'm about to upgrade to a bigger tank and I'm going with Real Reef - benefits of dry and environmentally friendly to boot!

 

[keddre]

Personally I would go with live but I prefer hitch hikers. While there is a risk of bad, I like to see new interesting creatures plus some of the hitchhikers make a "free" and instant cleanup care; such as bristle worms, crabs, etc.

If you don't want to run that risk I would do what Kershaw suggested or use the lr in your sump (if you will run one).

I say buy the majority dry then add a few good sizes of live from a good source, put it in a rubbber maid for a while with heat and powerhead and look for bad things. Once your satisfied put it in tank. That way you get some good life with out spending allot

 

[AdamNC]

I've always done 80/20. 80% dry and 20% live. It all becomes "live" quicker than you think. I have had no issues to date chemically or pests.

 

[paphater]

I've got a 100lbs of established rock in my 90g that will be going in the 180G so I'm not to worried about having to seed it.

 

[jason_mazzy]

for the price go live. watch and wait.

 

[Mark Gray]

I used dry rock for the first time on my last tank. I will never use live rock again.

 

[Rick cowen]

Hey rick, I have some tbs too. it is nice rock. I don't know about now but you used to be able to go and pick it the rock out yourself .

Yep, that's the part we loved, they had huge holding tanks with their cultured live rock. It was always a great experience.

 

[the_reef_keeper]

I always do dry rock from reef cleaners (their rock doesn't release anything into the water) after some bad experiences with gorilla crabs and dead fish.

 

[nitro]

I would add some live rock for sure, i went 100% dry rock and my tank lagged for months all coarse growth was slow and forget SPS, it just wasn't happening. I added live rock and I started seeing results very quickly.