Help with buying live rock

[whiterabbit-90]

Hello everyone,

Im just getting into this hobby and I am looking to start up a reef tank. I have a 55g tank and I want it to run on only live rock and protein skimmer for filtration.

I've found some good deals on live rock from private sellers and I would like to get someones opinion on one of the deals.

A guy is offering 100lb of cured aquacultured fiji live rock and 120 pounds of crushed coral for 300$ Now, the only problem is that he's been keeping the live rock in a rubbermaid bin with salt water for probably 3 weeks now with just a powerhead running.

My questions are:

Is the live rock going to be live or dead after this much time without a light/skimmer and will I have to cure if for a month?

Is aquacultured live rock just as good as the real stuff, if not what are the disadvantages?


Thanks for all you help!

[Reefscape]

Hello everyone,

Im just getting into this hobby and I am looking to start up a reef tank. I have a 55g tank and I want it to run on only live rock and protein skimmer for filtration.

I've found some good deals on live rock from private sellers and I would like to get someones opinion on one of the deals.

A guy is offering 100lb of cured aquacultured fiji live rock and 120 pounds of crushed coral for 300$ Now, the only problem is that he's been keeping the live rock in a rubbermaid bin with salt water for probably 3 weeks now with just a powerhead running.

My questions are:

Is the live rock going to be live or dead after this much time without a light/skimmer and will I have to cure if for a month?

Is aquacultured live rock just as good as the real stuff, if not what are the disadvantages?


Thanks for all you help!

In my opinion, the crushed coral is a waste anyways and i would not want it..

As long as the live rock was stored at the correct temp and salinity, with flow, it will be fine, prob just lacking coralline alage...but...that will always grow back..

I have used aquacultured rock in a reef, and that was a live rock filration system...worked absolutly fine for me...I think, by the pure nature of live rock, a man made alternative is never going to be " as good " as the real thing...but, when it comes down to doing the job, yes, i would say its more than capable...

[whiterabbit-90]

thanks for the info!