What to look for on live rock?

J

jceli728

Small Fish
#1
Oct 7, 2005
18
0
0
hopatcong, nj
#1
hey guys, I have started my tank with alot of help from everyone here, I'm ready to buy my live rock. Is there anything i should look for or stay away from when buying it? I have been to a bunch of LFS and seen that the colors vary from place to place, but they are all supposed to be PREMIUM FIJI LIVE ROCK. please help me with this before i invest my money. I have also found this on ebay, please tell me if is any good. http://cgi.ebay.com/WaltSmith-Premium-Fiji-Live-Rock-Fully-Cured-2-10-lb_W0QQitemZ7720879635QQcategoryZ66793QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

thanks everyone.
 

F

FishGeek

Elite Fish
#2
May 13, 2005
4,294
5
0
38
South Carolina
#2
I would not buy live rock unless you can actually look at it with your own eyes. Basically you just want to look for stuff growing on the rock. Purple algea, tube worms.... Also look for good shapes that will help you to "build" your reef.
 

OCCFan023

OCCFan023

Superstar Fish
#3
Jul 29, 2004
1,817
5
0
35
New Jersey
#3
when buying live rock look for rock that is not very dense (bigger peices that weight less) It should look clean (no algae on it or anything, unless its coraline).

shipping may be annoying with that ebay order
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
42
San Ramon, CA
#4
yah im leary of e-baying it myself but you can get high quality LR online from vendors like liveaquaria, marinedepotlive, etc and it is usually considerably cheaper by the box than getting the same amount at the LFS even with shipping
 

Z

zukester

Small Fish
#10
Nov 9, 2005
16
0
0
Connecticut (in the sticks)
webpages.charter.net
#10
Live Rock Qs

OK. I have all of the equipment on the way for a marine 180 gallon with stand. On live rock, when they say for instance, a 35 pound piece of LR, and show a piece in someone's hand, that is not the 35 lb piece, is it? Is this stuff like lead? I see what looks to me like a five pound piece in their hand. Just a few Qs:

How big is 180 lbs. of LR for this tank, roughly, in coverage?

Shall I place it upon some real rock on the bottom as a substrate to build it up the back?

Does it matter if it is from Tonga, Fiji or elsewhere?

How much shall I pay per pound, roughly?

How about the fish eating what lives in it?

OK. Enough Qs for now.

Thanks in Advance,

Zukester
Newbie to Marine
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
42
San Ramon, CA
#11
you are buying a 35# box of stuff which looks like the piece in the guys hand. you will get several pieces of that size.

It is impossible to tell how much coverage 180# will give you because it depends on the density of the rock. very low density rock (good) will give you more coverage than high density rock (bad)

Live rock is real rock...and in fact is the best thing for you to build your structure on....but with 180g you might consider using base rock (dry porous rock) as a structure. You don't want to use things like lava rock, etc

It only matters where it is from in terms of what looks nice to you

Cost will depend on where you buy. Online you will pay $2-4 per pound...in the LFS $7-10 per pound

Its ok if the fish eat stuff on it...in fact it is good. Gives them some tasty treats and a source of "natural" food

I would reccomend reading the sticky at the top of this forum about live rock and head down to the LFS and check out some of there LR to get an idea of how much a pound is, what the different types look like, etc

Kevin
 

J

jceli728

Small Fish
#14
Oct 7, 2005
18
0
0
hopatcong, nj
#14
Witch rock is to be consider the most pretty rock to have (tonga, fiji, marshall. etc..) I'm still new to this and i have only seen fiji rock at the LFS. i guess it all depends on ones taste but i just wanted to see what everyone thinks out there.

Also is there a problem with having differnt types of rocks in the same tank?
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#15
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
3
0
#15
What it looks like depends on where it's from on the reef rather than from where in the world. You need a variety of shapes but life is easier if you get pieces rather than itty bitty bits that you need to pin together with zipties and superglue to aquascape. For the man who has a 180 I would be looking for pieces of such a size that you only get one or two a box + some debris.
For a 180 I would be looking at 180 pounds max. 2 lbs a gallon is now considered too much, unless you get the very dense, hard to aquascape cultivated LR from Tampa Bay Saltwater.
 

A

aresgod

Superstar Fish
#16
Jan 14, 2004
1,987
2
0
mass
Visit site
#16
I have tonga deep water, fiji, and aquacultured caribbean and I like them all, they are all different, the caribbean is definetly alot more dense and I would only use a little of that if you have a choice of all three, I really like to combine different types, you get more shapes, different colors, and more variety of life on different kinds.
 

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