Live rock question

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Punkroc701

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 2, 2010
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141
Location
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So I am guessing I am doing a Nano reef tank. I have a 5 gallon tank and am being told I need at least 5 lbs of live rock. The LFS sells it for about $9 a lb and every place I have looked online sells large quantities of it. I had someone ask if Lava rock would work so I am wondering if anyone has used Lava rock, know where I can find small amounts of live rock, or if anyone has a DIY site to make liverock. Thanks for the help.
 
Not 100% sure, but i believe i've heard that Tufa and Lava rock leach chemicals in to the tank over time, so i don't think that would be a good candidate for a substitute of live rock. Anyone correct me if im wrong.

I know that thincat has made DIY live rock before, and he was very successful at doing so. I would give you the link to where i've seen it, but i can't seem to find it so you may want to private message him, or post a question on his profile to see if he will help you. Unless he comes across this thread.. :p

You can ask him here:

Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community - View Profile: thincat
 
I checked Ebay and the only one I saw there required a 10 LB purchase that or with shipping would have been as expensive as my LFS.

I found a guy on Craig's List but haven't heard back from him yet.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Yeah I was thinking about that. If I order it by the time it gets here it will be pretty much dead anyway. I even looked at, dare I say it, Petco for live rock. I really don't trust Petco for live rock though. The LFS isn't to bad on thier pricing I just thought for 5 lbs of rock $9 a lb ($45 total) was a bit much. After looking around I think its actually pretty good. Thanks everyone for your inputs, this being my first SW tank it is all a learning experience.
 
Honestly, i don't think that's a good price at all, but if it's all you've got, then it's all you've got, ya know? My LFS sells fiji premium live rock for 3.99$/lb and i know it's premium. They're exploding with corraline. Impressive for an LFS i know.

I wouldn't trust Petco for live rock either. If it was the only other choice, i would go with the 9$/lb LFS.


But actually, thom brings up a good point. Base rock is cheap and it will become live over time. For such a small tank, come to think of it, that's what i would do. Thom to the rescue! :p
 
I was looking at making some dead rock and trying to seed it but for the legnth of time needed to do that I would be ready to put my large tank together. So maybe I will look into that later. The LFS offers discounts on larger orders of rock, 10+ lbs = $5.99, 20+ lbs I think is $3.99. Again thanks for the inputs.
 
my lfs (who I'm not impressed with at ALL) sells live rock that is cured and in a tank with only live rock for $6.99 per pound.. or live rock from their established tank (which I might add is covered in both good and bad algae, not to mention aiptasia and bubble algae) for $10.99 per pound

When I got mine, I got 32 pounds for 23 bucks plus 14 for shipping ( Im pretty sure that's right)... I had to give some of it away lol... too bad...
 
i just paid $5 a lb for cured live rock fresh out of the tank from my LFS, fiji select.
 
I ended up paying 6.99 a lb and got it all put together last night. Now 3 weeks to go befor I can get coral and my other stuff for it. The guy at the LFS helped me pick out the rocks (he has a coral tank) and gave me some real nice porus rocks with some small sponges some coraline (I think he called it) and some other stuff. I will post a picture of it all set up later.
 
Not a bad deal IMO. Sounds like Fiji rock. I would wait a few months after you add your fish to add coral just to give your tank time to stabilize. In tanks that size, things can go south pretty fast, so it is better to wait those couple of months just to make sure everything is stable before you add coral IMO.
 
**** 5 gallons...thats pretty awesome pushin limits
 
My LFS said as long as I waited the 3 weeks with such a small tank, it would give it time to go through any amonia spikes and add life to the entire tank but to wait til after the brown algea stage before adding anything else (usually a 3 week time frame for such a small tank). I am sure when I go back in they will advise me correctly. The shop will also test my water to make sure I am good to add stuff in 3 weeks free of charge. All but 2 people who work there have SW tanks and even though they would like to make a sale they are really helpful, and advise so that your tank will grow. When I went in for the live sand and live rock the guy that helped me suggested 2 types of sand surprisingly the first was cheaper then the second.


And it is Fiji rock, although I am not sure what the difference is other then where it comes from.
 
I almost forgot, Thanks for the link Thincat. Your rocks look nice. I didn't get to read all of the forum section (11 or 12 pages worth) but when I get ready to make them for my larger tank (when and if that project begins) I know I'll have alot of questions that I hope that will answer.
 
yea i did 50/50 in my 37 gallon tank and after about 3 month the non live rock is starting to show life i got some from petco cause i live in ohio not alot of salt water store near where i live. i looked for the ones with alot of algae on them so i knew they were cured and it turned out to be a good deal got 2 small oysters and some mussels not to mention all the tube worms and other life(limpets and snails) that comes out at night. did same with the substrate 50%live sand 50%dead. it just takes long then if u went 100% living right off the bat is all. and remeber to go slow when adding new things like fish or other stuff too give ur aquarium time to adjust.
 
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