Just out of curiousity what is your favorite type of live rock? From looking at several websites I like the way Lalo looks but I'm not sure if I trust the pictures. I'm most interested in rock that will have several different colors to it once its cured. I know a lot of people also use fiji and tonga but most of the pictures I see of them don't look very good.
When I set up my reef tank 4 years ago, I used a variety of live rock from a variety of sources. I also paid a little more and got well cured, established live rock, preferably with a lot of coraline going strong. The result was a tank that literally cycled instantly - I couldn't make it spike! The pods flourished and the tank is crystal clear. So, my advice is don't go cheap on the lighting or the live rock in a reef tank.
It's subjective - some people like heavier, denser rock, some like branching pieces. I'm somewhere in between; I prefer rock with interesting shapes that's reasonably porous and light - no boulders, no antlers. I really dislike the look of round rocks stacked up, to me it looks completely unnatural, a little bit like a pile of potatos underwater. Similarly, a tank full of nothing but branching rock looks like a dead forest, but that's JMO.
I bought Tonga Kaelini and one piece of Fiji for my nano (was a 14g, upgraded to 30g), a variety of types for the 65g (Fiji, Bali, Micronesian and unknown, likely Tonga) and 'Pagona' (I have no idea what that means, but it was very spendy and worth every penny) for my 5.5g pico. All the pieces I chose have some shape to them, some have holes and tunnels, some are branchier.
Bottom line, pick what appeals to you. All live rock contains bacteria, algae, and possibly critters, so choose what you like the best - afterall, you're going to be looking at it for a long time
I could not agree with you more, Blinky!!! I like my tank to look natural. Since I don't know enough to care if the rock is from widely varied locations, what looks natural to me is a variety of rocks of interesting shapes. Maybe someday I will learn enough to be a purist and want my rock from the same location as my fish and sand...even then I bet I don't end up stacking rocks like convict piles! But again, just my opinion, no offense intended to those who may be convicts!
I bought the 30 lb box of Select lalo live rock from liveaquaria.com and I don't think the pictures do it justice. The amount of color and life on these rocks is amazing. You have to be patient, however, because the curing process is long. With all that life, there is also a lot of die-off and ammonia. So if you pick lalo be ready to do a lot of water changes to get it to eqilibrium.
