Great Live Rock! (pics.)

[RocketSeason]

Hey Gang!

I recieved my order of 40 lbs of live rock from Liverocks.com today and boy am I pleased!

Mike and Zack were both very helpful and they did a great job with my order.

The shipment consisted of 4 rocks. A huge 20+ pound rock, a 10 pound rock, a medium sized rock and a small rock.

There were alot of crabs on the rock so I decided to do a brief High SG dip to remove them. I was able to remove about 10 crabs. No mantis....yet.... But there was a 3 inch nasty looking worm at the bottom of the bag.

So far so good. The color is great! lots of reds and pinks and purples, oranges and greens! I found a small pistol shrimp (score!) and many tiny feather dusters.

My only complaint lies with Paypal. Becaue Liverocks.com doesn't accept credit cards I had to sign up for a paypal account, which took 3 days to clear. Then I ordered my rock, but for some reason Pay Pal sent it via e-check. (ever heard such a thing?) so that was another 4 days. So all in all I was delayed ordering my rock for a week and a half. Not LiveRocks.com fault.

So. Now can I stick in my dead shrimp to start the cycle?

 

[RocketSeason]

more pics! any idea what kinda worm?

 

[RocketSeason]

even more pics!
The water is still a bit cloudy from all the sand picked up.
I really like the shapes I got. I was able to do a great aquascaping job. Great choices Zack!

 

[Joshuha]

Not sure here but I thought with as fresh as the rock with LR.com comes that you don't need to really cycle with a dead shrimp. Since the LR comes with all the beneficial bacteria on it you just need to add it and monitor levels for a bit as it will create a small cycle on its own. Some here say do water changes if your ammonia gets too high to save more of the critters on the rock but besides that just wait until things level out.

But I could be wrong =)

 

[quarryshark]

Agree, with the rock doing the cycle job. I would still add the shrimp, its gives the bacteria something to feed on. Can't hurt.
With my 40 lbs from them I got 4 pistols, you may have more. The worm looks like a big bristle worm. I see one in my tank from time to time. I also recieved lots of crabs, I took my chance and added them. To me it adds diversity. Not 100% sure, but the crab looks like an emerald crab. Can't see the pinchers real well to be sure. The emerald crab's pinchers are kinda cupped. If so they are primarily algae eater, but its you call on adding him.
Congrats!!

 

[RocketSeason]

Thanks, My feather dusters just started to peak out. cute little guys. I also found a fat spagetti worm. and a clam (oyster?) moved a bit. so far so good.

 

[quarryshark]

Cool, same stuff that I got from them. Give it a week, more dusters will pop out and tons of spagetti worms. Notice any aptasia?
The rock is sometimes more fun to watch than fish.

 

[youronlysin]

That is amazing. I can't believe that the rock comes that packed with life. That, by far, surpasses anything that I could get locally(Idaho) even for better quality stuff. I think I would be a bit creeped out if I picked up a rock thinking I was getting just a rock and all kinds of crabs and worms started crawling out.

I hope they deliver to Virginia cheaper than they do to Idaho; I'll be moving there in a couple of weeks and I cant waitto set up my salt tank. I've been buying components for a few months just waiting on the move. Liverocks will deffinitely be my choice when the time comes.

 

[youronlysin]

How long does it take, under ideal tank conditions, for the life to start propagating to an equal amount of baserock? Is there even an answer to that question or does it depend on the life on the rock to begin with? I would think with life like that on that rock you could have twice the amount of liverock in a year if you had good baserock in the tank.

 

[EL Diablo]

Your Rock looks great. I have 80lbs of the stuff myself.

Tons of critters. Makes the take look awesome.
Check the tank out at night with a flash light to catch all the critters you never knew where there.

 

[XXFirefighter]

I wouldn't add the shrimp JMHO....
I didn't add it, added 6 chromis and i didn't have any spikes !

 

[lando]

Wow, the rock looks great. Nothing but the best from the folks at liverocks.com

 

[RocketSeason]

Thanks, I am really happy. Will the colors spread over the rest of the rock in time? Is that whats called coarline algea? I am also getting alot of flaking of white stuff. Is that Just normal Die off?

 

[lziarek]

yep the color will spread. In about one months time my baren base rock is now covered in reds/purples/pinks and even some bristle stars now reside in it!

 

[RocketSeason]

haven't seen a bristle star yet. (crosses fingers)

 

[ScurdOfCychlidz]

nice lookin rock!!!

 

[RocketSeason]

Saw a long spaghetti worm tonight! and more of my feather dusters are coming out. there was also something with legs that crawled in the rock. Didn't quite catch what it was. and something puffed sand out of a "cave" at the base of the big rock.

Man I love this rock!

 

[malkore]

brittle stars aren't bad...bristle worms aren't bad either but they can quickly multiply to annoying numbers. white specs are just little die off patches. if your water quality is good, the die off will stop quickly.

the colorful purpel stuff is indeed coralline algae and any base rock touching your live rock will gradually get populated. Its something you'll notice week to week, not a daily basis.

 

[nyoneway]

is this Gulf, Coral, or Key rock? I'm still trying to decide which one to get.

 

[XXFirefighter]

I bet your not gonna need to cycle...
I had fish in the tank 3 hours after I got the rock and nothing died..
Nothing peaked..