No Help Needed This is great Live Rock!

[phil5613]

Livestockusa is the place to get rock. I just set 300lbs in my 210 and it looks great! They are great people to communicate with and I will order from them again. The rock was packed well, Shipped quickly and smelled like the ocean. It had plants and stuff with great colors.

Here are some pics taken with the flash on and no editing was done:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491RIGHT_SIDE_LOWER__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491RIGHT_SIDE_FRONT__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491NEWROCK3__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491NEWROCK2__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491NEW_ROCK_DETAIL__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491NEW_ROCK_DETAIL1__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491LEFT_SIDE__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491IMG_0131__Small_.JPG

Here is the tank after 2 days:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491TANK_2ND_FRONT__Small_.JPG

[Andrew]

Looks good! What kind of rock is it?

[phil5613]

Its the Vanuatu and the tank pictures dont do it justice there were several pieces that even with 2 hands i was worrried about dropping them

[BurN]

Looks great man, hard to believe you have 300#'s in there =O How much did it run you? Find any mantis' yet?

[Shnabbles]

Ya really if thats 300lbs that must be some HEAVY *** rock!

[phil5613]

Its 300 lbs I promise. It had 3 heavy pieces the rest is pretty light. It is across the 6 feet and goes front to back in the tank I stacked it in a way that there are caves and hideaways but wanted more open top water as I plan for several tangs and such. I also wanted more of an island affect so it wasnt touching any glass but shows depth.

[Lion_Babe]

Are the prices comparable to others??
:)

[phil5613]

yep check the site. I know you can see Figi cheaper but this is nicer rock

[kappaknight]

Cool. I don't think we're debating the weight... but there are some more porous rocks that would displace more water at 300lbs. I've always wondered if the Vanuatu rocks had as much colors as they showed in the pics. Great rocks!

[phil5613]

Yes and there was good plants and stuff on it so I hope they will grow back. i could stack it differently to show more height but wanted more room on top. this layout gives me great features I will try an get better pics soon. Another thing to remember is this tank is 30 inches deep the rock island is like 16-18 inches tall.

[Im14abeer]

This is one of the few places where you can say "wow, pretty rock," not be talking about jewlery, and nobody will think you're insane.

That being said: Wow, pretty rock.

[DaveJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570202#post9570202 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Im14abeer
This is one of the few places where you can say "wow, pretty rock," not be talking about jewlery, and nobody will think you're insane.

That being said: Wow, pretty rock.

At the prices LR from suppliers is going for... Diamonds may be cheaper ;)

[Peter Eichler]

I considered ordering from livestockusa but they wouldn't ship airport to airport. I also don't like it when companies talk smack about other companies in an effort to gain your business (even if it is true). Some of those rocks look really dense, for that reason alone I would probably never buy it. It's pretty nice looking rock though and you should be happy. Just make sure you pull off any sponges if that's what the orange parts of the rock are.

[ccorpse27]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570725#post9570725 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Peter Eichler
I considered ordering from livestockusa but they wouldn't ship airport to airport. I also don't like it when companies talk smack about other companies in an effort to gain your business (even if it is true). Some of those rocks look really dense, for that reason alone I would probably never buy it. It's pretty nice looking rock though and you should be happy. Just make sure you pull off any sponges if that's what the orange parts of the rock are.

It says they ship to airports on their website.

[T Man]

It's a beautiful feeling...................hmmmmmm. TinMan

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570753#post9570753 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ccorpse27
It says they ship to airports on their website.

It sure does, doesn't it... Which is why I was a bit shocked that they told me they wouldn't ship that way when I was going order ;)

[unclefrosby]

thats the only thing I dont like about Vanuatu. They are heavy dense pieces of rock and most of the beautiful orange and red algae will die off. :(

[phil5613]

My order was shipped to Midway airport where I picked it up. The density of the rock was a cross between Figi and Marshall Island. yes there were some solid feeling pieces but right beside it were the more pourous brittle type rock. Actually while building outthe wall there were so many pieces that looked good I couldnt decide which to put on top or in front. As far as the orange or red die off I wont know till I see it happen. I do know this is typical of rock of a deeper water nature. the colors fade or die off when first introduced to the lighting of a tank but have seen many times where the color makes a comeback as the rock adjusts to the lighting.

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570950#post9570950 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phil5613
My order was shipped to Midway airport where I picked it up. The density of the rock was a cross between Figi and Marshall Island. yes there were some solid feeling pieces but right beside it were the more pourous brittle type rock. Actually while building outthe wall there were so many pieces that looked good I couldnt decide which to put on top or in front. As far as the orange or red die off I wont know till I see it happen. I do know this is typical of rock of a deeper water nature. the colors fade or die off when first introduced to the lighting of a tank but have seen many times where the color makes a comeback as the rock adjusts to the lighting.

Interesting, there weren't shipping airport to airport when I contacted them. As for the orange and red, if it is in fact sponge, you need to take it off the rock before you cure it. It will not live and is just going to pollute the tank and make a mess.

[tangyreefer05]

Wow, that rock looks great, nice colors and life. The tank looks real good.

[phil5613]

Just an update the rock is cycling nicely. I didnt scrub the rock much as I had the tank set for a year before the rock was purchased so if I wait a little longer thats ok I am interested to see what comes back. I did pull the large plants off but tjhat was about it. The funny thing is the water column cleared quickly. The water is almost perfectly clear looking end to end and its been only a week. The other thing is my sump actually thinks its a skimmer too. The two drains from the tank enter compartments on each end of the sump. the bubbkes from the drains are cuasing foam in those compartments sort of like the old airstone skimmers. so I have 3 skimmers LOL

[Zoos]

Looks good, how about some pictures of your equipment?

[phil5613]

Here is few Pictures from last year when I first set the tank up. There are a few changes that I will have to get updated pictures. The setup right now consists of a LF1-300 Lifereef sump setup, a VS2-24 skimmer, Current USA 40 watt UV sterilizer, and a Sequence Barracuda pump driving 4- 3/4" SeaSwirls on a closed loop the changes from the pictures are the UV sterlizer, 2 more SeaSwirls and the larger Barracuda pump. I wanted more flow so upgraded 2 days before the rock went in.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491DSCF0094.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491DSCF0093.JPG

This is what the new flow looks like:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491FLOW_RIGHT_SIDE__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491FLOW_MIDDLE__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114491FLOW_LEFT_SIDE__Small_.JPG

[vanmo92]

looks real nice!

[Pirate@40]

I recently bought both Vanuatu and Marshall Islands rock from LiveStockUSA. I was very happy with both. The Vanuatu were bigger pieces and more colorful, but I like the mix with the Marshall Islands being less dense with lots of fingers. They did ship directly to the freight terminal at my local airport which is their preferred method. I picked up the rock within several hours of it arriving here.