buying used live rock

[Red44]

Hello I saw this ad on kijkij that had 55 ibs of live rock for $150 and was wondering how you can check if the rock is good, bad dead or alive? Or should I get it off a website?

 

[Gti_Leo]

weather its dead or alive you can make it live again, as for good or bad hitch hickers you can always put it in water with a salinity of 1.040 and all the critters will quickly come out of hiding and you can remove what you don't want.

if you look on live aquaria they have a good curing artical that you can read

 

[Red44]

Ok thxs the rock was sold but I'll keep looking

 

[mr_X]

just remember that every so often, people break down tanks because they failed at the hobby, for one reason or another, and you might be purchasing rock loaded with nuisance algae, covered with pest anemones, red bugs, acropora eating flatworms, mantis shrimps, predatory worms, dosed with copper...and the list goes on.
if you are going to purchase rock, i would want to see it in a running tank, and i would also want to see that there are bristle worms and/or pods scurrying about (this would prove that there was no copper treatment).
as for the algae, you can "cook" the rock. this does not mean to put it in a pot of boiling water. it simply means to put it in a bin with a heater and power head and completely cover it so that no light gets in..and you'd leave it like this for a couple months. this will get rid of most if not all of the algae. i still don't know why they call it "cooking".
as for the predatory creatures, raising or lowering salinity is effective.

 

[Gti_Leo]

Reef Aquarium Care: Live Rock and Live Sand Acclimation and Curing Guide

 

[huma-huma]

Def need to see it in running tank! And ultimately the main appeal of people selling live rock is that its already been through a cycle and has bacteria growing on it, but in all honesty, not everyone runs their saltie tanks properly and you may get more than you bargained for. Obviously if the person has a big tank with healthy fish and a good coral set going, you are prob safe, but as previously mentioned, if you get there and the rock is sitting in a half full tank with no fish or inverts, something may be up

 

[hackteck]

i always take a taste of the water the rock is sitting in if it has a tangy texture then the rock is good and yes im kidding lol

 

[Tomchong22]

I always fresh water dip all the lr that I buy followed by a super high salt dip. works every time. Haven't had any problems so far. No ammonia spike, hitchhikers, or any other unwanted things.

 

[Ibrahim]

I think liveaquaria has 55 lbs of rock for about 150 w shipping

 

[Red44]

Sorry haven't been on in a while so I read all the posts and was going to order it online but shipping is to much does anyone know any Canadian live rock stores? other than big ALS and jl

 

[MrPeon99]

Red44 if shipping to canada is anything like Alaska, your best bet is getting dry rock. Cheapest I found for shipping live rock was just under $500, and some places as high as $800. Dry rock shipped usps was $124 for shipping for 200lbs

 

[Red44]

Yes I know thxs but i need some live rock to seed don't I?

 

[MrPeon99]

Yeah, just need a few pieces

 

[kurtyboh]

The only thing youre seeding would be little critters, the beneficial bacteria will come no matter what