Live rock experience

Jamie

Jamie

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Jul 27, 2003
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So my head has been spinning ever since I decided to get live rock for my tank. I've scoured the net for hours trying to find a reputable source. I came so close to dropping 500 bones at an online dealer, but at the last minute decided to wait it out just a bit longer...it's been repeated over and over...patience is a virtue in this hobby.

I had resorted to online LR dealers because the only places to buy locally are charging $7.50 plus tax. Online I could find rock anywhere from $3.25 to $8-9 plus. I simply had a really hard time trusting some on-line company with a perishable item...that I would have to be happy with in regards to both asthetics and life/function.

Well today I had to make a 2 1/2 hour trip (Texas is a big state!!!) to the next "real" city and was just totally blown away. I opened up the phone book and was flabbergasted at the amout of pet stores dedicated to fish...some even just reef. I planned out an itenerary that would take me through five stores. Right off the bat I found incredible deals on live rock. By the end of the day I found fiji premium for 3 bucks a pound!!! I am so excited. And to top it off, they stock dried fiji rock in large show pieces..i.e. 25# plus sized rocks. So after talking to the very knowledgeable staff, I decided to go with two large "dried out pieces, which will be seeded by 100 lbs of really nice fiji premium. I've got such a better feeling about being able to see the product and know that it's good before I buy it.

I plan on setting up a pick-up date of next Wednesday. Once I get this stuff in my tank I'll throw up some pics if anyone's interested.

I just wanted to share my experience today...it really shows that if you wait and take your time...more often than not, you'll be rewarded.
 
pretty lucky, I can't seem to find any liverock for sale here in new zealand. So far i have stocked my tank with dead coral and am buying little pieces of polyps etc that are attached to small chunks of liverock. I guess overtime these little chunks of liverock will seed my other rocks converting them to liverock..
 
srossnz said:
pretty lucky, I can't seem to find any liverock for sale here in new zealand. So far i have stocked my tank with dead coral and am buying little pieces of polyps etc that are attached to small chunks of liverock. I guess overtime these little chunks of liverock will seed my other rocks converting them to liverock..
Click to expand...

Now that is a business proposition... NZ is only a few hours from cairns marine. It would the the customs issues which may make it complicated, but the way they box and ship the stuff it generally arrives in very good condition. I picked mine up from SYD airport @ $220 AU a box of around 20Kg. I have a thread somewhere which has pictures of it. All the shrimp, bristle stars were all alive still, no ordure. You also have all the French Polynesian islands, but I don't know what the deal is there.

Jamie,

If you pack the LR properly in Styrofoam containers with wet newspaper you should be able to transport the live, live, stuff safely for a few hours.
 
noskimmer, thanks for the tips...

I honestly was so excited about geting some good stuff very reasonably priced that I hadn't put a lot of thought into the transport. I have a truck. Do you think if I filled a couple large rubbermaids with a few (maybe 6) inches of premixed saltwater or so that they'd be OK? Hmm...maybe i should wrap the LR in newspaper and then place them in the water. Then the paper can sort of act like a wick to keep the rock wet. Do you think an aerator would be helpful? I've got one that I use for my baitbucket when I fish. Right now the temp in my area of Texas has been in the mid to high 70's and low 80's (21-26C). So I'm hoping that the styromfoam packaging won't be necessary. If it is, I know the shop will have the styrafoam boxes that the LR shipped in...so maybe I would just need to drench them in those boxes with fresh saltwater to keep them alive.

As far as the dried out pieces go, I think I might just wrap them in padding so they don't break in transit.

What do you guys think?

R, Jamie
 
As long as the rock is kept wet for the journey, it will be fine...By all means, use a rubber maid container, wrap the live rock up in newspaper at the store and soak it with saltwater. That should be more than ample to cover you for a 2.5 hour trip...the key to all this is keeping the rock damp.

I would not have the rock wrapped in paper, and submerged in the saltwater filled container as it will turn into a mess for you and you'll be picking bit of paper off the rock for ages..

Juat an opinion..

Hope it all goes well and i shall be looking forward to seeing some photo's...You know what i'm like for photo updates... :)

Niko
 
Great...thanks for the input...I hadn't really thought what a mess the newspaper would become.

One point to consider though...the place where I'm going to be buying the rock will probably be making an extra order from his supplier just for me...So if the stuff shows up on Wednesday...It may have already been going through the transit process for quite some time. I just want to keep as much life on/in the rock as possible. The pieces thay had in their live rock tank seemed really nice...with all sorts of life and different colored coraline algaes.

R, Jamie
 
Niko, yep very right with the news paper, it just needs to be damp. It never ceases to amaze me how it can disintegrate and cause such a mess. If the rock in in a container, Styrofoam was what I had mine delivered in an as long as there is a little water on the bottom, about a couple of mm, all the little live stuff jumps off into it and swims around, then just lay damp layers of newspaper on top of the rock, just lightly to keep everything damp. If you are placing it into a stocked tank, make sure that there is no ordure (there shouldn't be) have another container of a lower salinity water, but around the same temp, which you can dip and shake the rock around in, then pop it in the tank. Once your done with the rock, then sift through all the living stuff in the water (don't kill any of it if your not sure) and place the "not sure" stuff in your refugium, and the other stuff into the tank (lights out).

Other than that Good Luck!
 
Hmmm...heres something...I have access to very large coolers...like 128 quarts (121 liters) Would it be better to have them fully submersed in the cooler without the paper?...and then just have the water aerated with a bubble pump?

Reason for the suggestion is that the LFS guy wants to put the order in on Monday to ensure that the order gets here by Wednesday. He said that it isn't uncommon for cargo shipments to get bumped during holiday periods(Thanksgiving). So, if it shows up on Tuesday, and I can't make it home until Wednesday...I want to do the best I can to keep everything alive.

What do you think?

Thanks, Jamie
 
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