Live Rock question

D

Digital Canuck

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Apr 20, 2003
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A local fellow has 125lbs of live rock for sale (not local enough for me to view prior to purchase though). He took the rock out of his aquarium and stored it in styrofoam containers for the past three years.

So is this "cured" live rock?

If I were to buy some and put it in my new tank which I'm just in the process of setting up (cycling now - with shrimp) would it "come back" and the dead stuff become part of the cycling ammonia, and some of the "life" be "reborn" on the rock, ie: some of the matter which was on it and was alive prior to it being dried?

thanks.

Rick
 
If this rock was stored for 3 years, it is no longer live rock. Basic live rock contains both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to breakdown ammonia to nitrate and then eliminate nitrate.

You can buy any dead rock (lace, tuffa etc) and it will perform the same function as this rock you are thinking about buying.

Live rock purchased from your lfs or mo will contain bacteria as well as coraline algae and possibly other hitchikers such as macro algae, coral, bristle worms, copepods etc.

If you are looking to save a couple bucks, buy at least 15% live rock and you can use base (dead) rock for the remaining 85%. If you want a tank full of life from the start buy almost all live rock. Use some base rock as the base of your structure.

Brian
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the quick reply. This was an issue which did have a clock ticking ;-)

It sounds very much that this is dead rock then, and at the asking price this guy is asking - $10.00 Cdn per pound (about $7.00 US) this is crazy. I can get live rock from the lfs for $10.00 per pound Cdn.

I was suspicious of it being out of water for 3 years, but I don't know enough about how rock is cured to know how long it can stay out of water and still be usefull. The seller told me he was taking it back to the place where he bought it as they would buy it back. I'll let him take it back then.

Rick

Originally posted by BrianH
If this rock was stored for 3 years, it is no longer live rock. Basic live rock contains both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to breakdown ammonia to nitrate and then eliminate nitrate.

You can buy any dead rock (lace, tuffa etc) and it will perform the same function as this rock you are thinking about buying.

Live rock purchased from your lfs or mo will contain bacteria as well as coraline algae and possibly other hitchikers such as macro algae, coral, bristle worms, copepods etc.

If you are looking to save a couple bucks, buy at least 15% live rock and you can use base (dead) rock for the remaining 85%. If you want a tank full of life from the start buy almost all live rock. Use some base rock as the base of your structure.

Brian
Click to expand...
 
$10 a pound?! I'd only pay that if it were really good LR in the first place. For 125 lbs of base I wouldn't pay for than $140 (American). Good thing you talked to Brian first.
 
Wow, $7.00 a pound for dead rock. You just saved yourself a huge amount of cash. You might want to tell your friend that live rock is "alive" when it is in water, but that styrofoam does not provide what marine biologists would call a suitable environment for macroalgae, worms, or nitrifying bacteria.

To answer your question about curing LR, the curing process is what the LR goes through as it experiences die back. In the ocean, this rock is teeming with life. When it is harvested, and placed in cramped aquariums without the proper light and nutrients, some on the organisms living on and within the rock die. This causes ammonia and nitrite spikes in tanks, and is the reason that uncured LR can be used to cycle tanks. Once the LR has been cured, that is to say once it is no longer experiencing die back, then it is safe to place in a tank with your fish. Plus, many organisms (along with the nitrifying bacteria for which you bought the rock in the first place) survive the curing process, and end up adding the the diversity of your tank.
 
The power of online forums!

Thanks again for the explanations! I very much appreciate it. The seller tried to put a semi-hard sell on me by saying he was taking the rock back to the fish store he bought it from the next day (today), as they would buy it back - so I had overnight to decide.

I've found that reading and more reading, both books and online forums and articles are the answer, not "quick fixes".

I'll hold off and buy live rock from a local store, and pay full retail, at least knowing I am getting the "real thing".


Rick
 
Customs Problems!!!

Originally posted by BrianH
You might also look into buying online since you can usually buy live rock for anywhere between $3.00 to $5.00 per lb in US$.

Brian
Click to expand...

The prices are much better for sure, even with the currency exchange (which is done somewhat ;-) it's not a bad price.

I would think as I'm in Canada, it might be problematic to do online ordering of this type of thing since the items would have to clear Canada Customs, and since they might technically be alive, the Dept. of Agriculture may have to inspect the items.

I'll have to make enquiries with both Customs Canada and the Dept of Agriculture to see what hoops I'd have to jump through.

Ideally, if there were a Canadian online dealer, the problem would be solved, as the product would have cleared Customs, etc. prior to their receiving it.

Any other Canucks out there who have ordered this type of stuff online from a US dealer? Any problems?

Thanks,

Rick
 
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