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Live rock?


SquidHC

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I know you are asking for live rock. But as another option you might consider is base rock. I just ordered 200 lbs from Marcorocks. It cost about $2.60 a pound shipped to my door. I have not received it yet, but it looks pretty good. I had several people on RC suggest it. I am going to take the time to cure it myself. I not too interested in coralline and hitchhikers, just good looking rock with bacteria. I have 150+ lbs of live rock in another tank that I might add to it.

 

Theron

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that's awesome. I have some LR for sale but I would recommend cheap dry rock any day. I think people really fail to realize how unnecessary fresh live rock is. Especially newcomers who of course do not know any better. For a fraction of LR prices you can get dry rock with great shapes(the real value of rock) and simply seed the system. In six months you'd never know the difference. The value of getting mystery hitchhikers is way overrated, imo, and you can get just as many great hitchikers from just buying livestock or trading with others.

 

better yet, DIY rock has come a long way!

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Not only can the dry base rock be cheaper per pound, but you also get more rock per pound. You don't have to pay for the water weight, which can be a lot if it is good porous rock. And you will not need as much rock.

 

You also need to be careful about live rock you purchase from someone. When I first started out, I purchased some live rock from someone who tore down their tank. They had the rock in trash cans with no light, just heater and powerhead, for months. I thought I paid too much for it since there was not any life on it, except bacteria. It worked out well, my tank did not cycle, and I had no algae problems. I then decided to purchase some more live rock from someone's tank. I did not know any better, but their tank had algae problems. Sure when I added their rock I got all kinds of life, but I had algae problems ever since. I think the rock had lots of nutrients in it.

 

I also tried DIY rocks before I purchased live rock. The rock was way too dense. I tried different things but was just too dense for me. I could make it look pretty good, but it was no way close to porous rock you can buy and there is no way I could create anything close to the Marcorocks. I think you would need much more rock in the tank to make up for how dense it is to harbor bacteria. The more porous the rock is the less rock you will need for filtration and I like less rock.

 

Theron

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