LR quality

[sparkiesford]

I am not quite ready for LR but I thought about getting it and start curing it sometime soon.
I have looked and looked at LR on different sites and I am not sure what to get. Is one place better then others?
I have seen it as cheap as 2.50 and as much as 8.00. I am sure there is a difference but how much difference?
Right now there is a seller on ebay that has "walt smith" premium LR 50# for 150 shipped. Is this an OK deal? I know it is cheap but will the rock be descent?
It is for a 65g tank so I am just going to start with 50# and add to it as I see fit.
I appreciate the comments.

[Larry Waughon]

Take a look at dry rock from Two-part (our sponsor), then add a little Premium Aquatics Live Rock. I feel this would give you a great setup.
Larry

[Larry Waughon]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10764576#post10764576 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sparkiesford

Right now there is a seller on ebay that has "walt smith" premium LR 50# for 150 shipped. Is this an OK deal? I know it is cheap but will the rock be descent?
I appreciate the comments.

I have never tried E-Bay rock

[mluz]

sparkiesford - Probably i aqm not the best person to give advice on this as I'm just starting myself. But i bought about 30 lbs of LR at my local LFS at a "discounted" price of 7.99/lb.

since i have a 72 gal, i decided to look for a cheaper alternative and bought the Walt Smith rock from ebay. with my limited experience i actually like the rock from eBay better than the one i bought from the store. i have it curing and is almost ready to be added to my tank.

I bought it from mrmarine, they shipped very fast to NY and sizes are mixed and have some really nice pieces.

[papagimp]

ebay would seem a bit sketchy on any aquatic purchases as far as i'm concerned. But to answer the question, there is a big difference in some live rock vs. other types, and usually the price will reflect this, although i have seen some stores that were awfully proud of their crappy rock and still sold it for way more than needed. I've gone with alot of dry porous rock and have been more than happy with it. After a while in the tank, it's just as good as any of the $7/lbs stuff I've bought. Typically, the more porous the rock, the better filtration you'll get out of it.

[sparkiesford]

OK well maybe I will do what Larry Waughon suggested and buy 50# of dry figi rock from two part and then get maybe 10-20# of good quality LR from Live Aquaria.
Sound like a good plan?
I am not going to use live sand either so I need some life to start everything.

[an411]

sparkiesford I bought that ebay rock and I love it. I would go that route if I was you I bought 150 lbs.

[sparkiesford]

Hey mluz, I am not sure if you can, but could you post a picture of the Walt smith rock. Or you could email me one. I may go that route, but I would like to see what it actually looks like. Thanks
Kirk

[Rcpilet]

Do you have fish in the tank?

If you DO, then you need to buy pre-cured or fully cured live rock.

Find a local club or search craigs list in your area. You can buy PREMIUM quality live rock from local reefers for around $2/lb or $3/lb. And thats going to be 1,000,000 times better quality rock than ANYTHING you'll be able to buy from any store or ebay.

If your paying more than about $3 or $4 per pound for live rock--you're getting shafted. I can buy pre-cured Fuji at the LFS for $4/lb. It's not loaded with coraline or critters, but it's done stinking and putting out nasty smells. Thats good enopugh for me. I'd much rather enjoy watching it cure in my tank for $4/lb -- than pay $8/lb for fully cured rock. Where's the fun in that?

Take your time and do some digging. You really can find live rock locally if you spend a bit of time looking and are patient.

I bought 20 pounds for $60 from a local reefer who was parting out a 125g reef tank. It was LOADED with copepods and other critters. One piece even had 4 mushrooms on it. One of those mushrooms has already split off all by itself and sprouted another new one. That rock with the shrooms ALONE was worth the $60 that I paid for the whole lot.

[mluz]

sparkiesford - I'll take some pictures tomorrow and I'll try to post them, i have never done that lol.

[audio101]

It's better buying the rock in person so you can see what your getting, I would only go the online route if you have no other choice. Try craigslist.

[reefnfish]

I have ordered my rock from mrmarine on ebay twice - both times great. And because I live in Cocoa Beach, I got it next day which was nice. He hand picked my rock out as well - good communication.

[kevin2000]

My 02

Most of the live rock sold in the USA is both expensive and lousy ... and even the "exceptional" live rock promoted by some of the posters on RC is often mediocre.

Pay close attention to shipping cost. Even mediocre live rock must be shipped in water and water/rock is darn heavy and expensive to move. Live rock shipped without water will arrive uncured ... regardless of the marketing hype of the vendor.

Consider purchasing from your LFS .. where you can be selective and purchase one or two rocks at a time.

Also consider using inexpensive base rock "dead live rock" which is far less expensive, won't bring in unwanted critters, and will look the same as expensive LR within six month (with some help with a small portion of live rock). The money you save on base rock will purchase far more and better corals than you will ever get on the lottery of your std live rock purchse.

Good luck.

[jmicky41]

I bought all my rock from various lFS at different times. I would just go to a store and if they had a piece of rock that I liked I bought it. Sure, I paid more, but I feel that I am much more happy with my aquascape then if bought a whole load of rocks sight unseen. I paid between $4 - $11 a pound. BTW, the $11 was for Bali rock which is super light with interesting shapes. The rest was figi, marshall, tonga branch, tonga shelf, and tonga deepwater. When you buy it in person, you can pass by the heavy, uninteresting boulders.

[lark]

I bought 50 lbs. of live rock on ebay from one of the California sellers. I was pretty happy with it. Better than the stuff in my LFS. I'm only two days away by UPS ground, though, and I made sure it shipped at the beginning of the week so that it would only be out of water for 48 hours. It came still damp. Took about 30 minutes to clean. I tossed it in a rubbermaid with a powerhead for a couple of days and then put it straight into my tank to cycle the tank. Not sure I'd go this route for an established tank, but I think with shipping and everything, I paid about $3 per pound for good quality fiji. Two of the pieces are awesome and one is front and center in my tank. Very pleased.

[sjj80]

www.premiumaquatics.com ALL THE WAY!!! I've ordered from them a few times and they have quality rock. Also when you purchase say 50lbs you get 50 lbs of rock, not rock put into a wet box until it weighs 50lbs. You can get quality LR around 4.50-5.50 per lb. depending on what kind you purchase. I've always bought fiji but will be ordering some marshall and tonga for my new setup. Definitely check it out before you decide where to buy!

[Playa-1]

One of the companys that sells on ebay is local for me so i will most likely buy from them when i'm ready for my next purchase.
I will be curing it and so i will be saving a small fortune as opposed to the lfs. Maybe will be able to pick up some cool hitchhikers too.

[aupilot]

A company I have used isWholesale Aquatic Supplies (http://www.wholesaleaquaticsupplies.com) . Compared to all other ebayers and sites I have bought from in the past, this rock surpasses them in quality as well as price. I found they have both a website and ebay ads under the same name. I bought 100 lbs of Ultra premium and had it Air Cargoed to me overnight. On Ebay they have Super Premium for only $2.24 a lb which I think is an awesome deal! As well as Case lots from as low as $99

[loosecannon]

Walt smith is nice stuff. I got 60 lbs. from e-tropicals. not good stuff. than I got some walt S. 50 lbs. , 3$ a lb. .

[gfxslayer]

buy from premium aquatics, they got good stuff and good deal.