Base Rock Questions

[Genesis]

I am a little confused on base rock. My understanding is that it is devoid of any beneficial bacteria and therefore would be used in combination with live rock as a bacteria seed. Therefore if this is correct, here are my questions:

1. When shipping base rock, it should not require the 1 or 2 day service, just standard UPS ground could be used?

2. If using a total of 15 lbs, what would be a good ratio of base/live e.g., 10 lbs base 5 lbs live?

3. Has anyone used base rock from reefcleaners.org., any feedback on it?

Regarding shipping on live rock: If shipping say from Maryland to Montana using next-day service, would there be concern of killing off bacteria when it reaches the Montana area where we currently are in mid-teens and below?

Any info greatly appreciated.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

base rock, yeah standard ups. Live rock, the faster the better.
I ordered twice liverock online, from canada and from Fiji, both arrived in wet newspapers to cut on the water's weight.
There will be some die off, but it's normal.
Better take more LR than base rock, 'cause you'll wait longer to get good bio-filtration. Also base rock is often less porous, therefore harbors less bacterias.

 

[Genesis]

base rock, yeah standard ups. Live rock, the faster the better.
I ordered twice liverock online, from canada and from Fiji, both arrived in wet newspapers to cut on the water's weight.
There will be some die off, but it's normal.
Better take more LR than base rock, 'cause you'll wait longer to get good bio-filtration. Also base rock is often less porous, therefore harbors less bacterias.

Those were the answers I was looking for, thank you.

One question more, does the base rock need to be cooked prior to putting in tank?

 

[KahluaZzZ]

No they usually are bleached to avoid bio-problems.
Rince them before if you like, i always did that.
The cooking is used for stuff that you grabbed in the sea or seashore, which contain stuff that rot, or what used to be live rock..