Which LR?

[Stepho725]

I'm getting ready to purchase my LR and sand. Which area should I get it from??
Of the rock I've seen online the prettiest one looks like its from liverockranch.com
Its from Florida. My lfs also carries LR from FL. Is this all right? I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter but I want to be sure. Getting ready to spend the big bucks on getting the tank running within a couple days. Eeeek and yayyyy!

[muppet]

If I were starting a brand new tank, I'd probably just get a lot of base rock from Marco rocks online, and then get a piece or two of LR from an LFS or another club member. Eventually, all of the rock will seed.

Getting ALL live rock is much more expensive, and you tend to get pieces that are less uniform and your aquascape may not look as good, but that's a subjective opinion. I took all of the Fiji rock out of my tank for basically that reason: it clashed visually. :-)

[Aperture.pcs]

I can hook you up with some pieces dude to start seeding. You should buy cool lookin base rock with lots of holes and very porous get them from reef cleaners

[sassAwrasse]

dont buy your LR online. think about the shipping? how do they keep it wet and prevent die off without your shipping cost skyrocketing? I would buy mostly base/dry rock and just get a couple pieces of LR from your local fish store to seed it.

[dchec]

dont buy your LR online. think about the shipping? how do they keep it wet and prevent die off without your shipping cost skyrocketing? I would buy mostly base/dry rock and just get a couple pieces of LR from your local fish store to seed it.

If it's a new tank, die off won't matter at all, as it needs to go through a cycle anyway. I've ordered online, and it usually comes packaged tight in plastic, then the rock itself is covered in wet paper towels (the thicker brown ones) to keep it moist and cool). I qualified for free shipping for some reason, I don't remember why.

That said though, you're right in my opinion, it's better to get it from a LFS to save on shipping but also to be able to get the exact pieces you want as far as shape and size go.

I also agree with making 70 / 80% of it base rock and 30 / 20% live rock. It'll all become live rock eventually anyway.

Good luck!

[Stepho725]

Okay well that was kind of the plan anyways but I felt like $80 for 16lbs of nano sized LR free shipping wasn't bad (another website I saw)
Okay so base rock at my LFS is still somewhere around 7 or 8 a pound...the LR is 15! A little crazy no?
There are lots of sites with free shipping. But yeah I'm gonna search for local base rock.

[sassAwrasse]

where are you shopping? I think live rock around hartford area is $5.99-$7.99/lb. someone correct me if i'm wrong..

[SteelerMike]

You can get very cool dry rock from Marco rocks. It is very porous so you get quite a bit in a 50lb box then just get a piece of live rock from a club memeber to seed it with. That is what I did and it was much cheaper. You don't actually even need a very big piece of LR to get it going.

[dchec]

where are you shopping? I think live rock around hartford area is $5.99-$7.99/lb. someone correct me if i'm wrong..

Yeah, this is the more accurate price for LR in the area. $15 per pound is insanely high!!

[shecter]

bulk reef supply has some great dry rock as well. i get alot from them and depending on what kind you want its like 2-4 bucks a pound. theres usually someone around doing an order so you can get free shipping as well. just a thought because they save me alot of money.

[FishWrangler]

We got ours at All Pet's Club in Branford @ $6.99/lb. They had tons to choose from and we could pick anything out of the display tanks too. Think we spent an hour picking out just the "right ones". The guy just left us with a foam box and said to let him know when we're done so he could weight it.

Beware the hitch hikers on LR....both good and bad. While the tank cycled we had fun watching the worms, starfish, brittle starfish, mussels, aiptasias, and a couple other creepy crawlies.

[Stepho725]

Yes I was very much hoping to have some hitchhikers to watch while the tank cycles. I may end up going to APC. I just remembered it was $15/lb for the primo stuff - otherwise was 10. Still searching for a stand - boyfriend SAYS hes gonna make one but honestly don't think he will and rly hope we dint end up paying $150 for a new stand :hmm6:

[FishWrangler]

I spent weeks looking for something neat to use as a stand. Old desk, cabinet, end table, etc...we ended up buying the biocube stand.

If you do use APC, buy the membership and you'll pay for it with just the savings on the stand and LR.

[BfishLpond78]

Got a whole barrel of it, pest free, algae free and will follow the same trend, you can have some for free.

Offer is only for OP.

[Stepho725]

Cool Big - thanks for the offer! I will PM you once I get it set up?