z_dano
Aquarium Advice Freak
Does anyone know of a good online place to get cured live rock?.... Hopefully cheap?
cured live rock
- Thread starter z_dano
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Unfortunately good quality cured live rock is not cheap. I have heard good things about live aquaria's live rock if you want to go that route.
If you are looking for cheap, I would recommend buying base rock from The Reef Rock Store, and then seeding that rock with 10-15 lbs of cured live rock from a trusted source. Within 6-12 months, you won't be able to tell the difference between the cured rock and the base rock.
If you are looking for cheap, I would recommend buying base rock from The Reef Rock Store, and then seeding that rock with 10-15 lbs of cured live rock from a trusted source. Within 6-12 months, you won't be able to tell the difference between the cured rock and the base rock.
reefrunner69
Aquarium Advice Addict
You cannot get cured lr from an online source, there will be die off in the shipping process and it will need to be re-cured.
Keithhjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
I got mine here, it's not cheap but it was good quality. http://www.aquariumarts.com/liverock.html
I would disagree with this. You might see some minimal die off, but there are a lot of companies that do overnight shipping of cured live rock which results in minimal die off. I have seen a lot of testimonials of folks getting cured live rock online and not experiencing any cycle or nitrogen spike whatsoever. If it is packed correctly and shipped correctly, it can be done.
reefrunner69
Aquarium Advice Addict
We will agree to disagree, if there is die off, minimal is a relative term, there will be a spike, if there is an established biological filter present, it may not be evident, but if you were to use this as your entire biological media it will need to be re-cycled. If you don't believe me...take a piece of live rock out of your tank, package it as one of those companies would, leave it on your porch for 20 - 30 hours and then put it in a bucket of fresh saltwater and begin testing.
ok, we can agree to disagree 
Minimal is a relative term... but we are talking about a relatively insignificant number. I suppose there is relatively little die off too if you pick up cured rock at the LFS and transport it home. Maybe relatively less than shipping overnight, but still die off. I did caveat with if it is packed and shipped correctly.
At any rate, I certainly would not recommend anyone purchase any "cured" rock with the expectation that they can toss a bunch of coral and fish in the same day or even expect to not have to test or establish a nitrogen cycle. I am sure we can both agree on that.
Minimal is a relative term... but we are talking about a relatively insignificant number. I suppose there is relatively little die off too if you pick up cured rock at the LFS and transport it home. Maybe relatively less than shipping overnight, but still die off. I did caveat with if it is packed and shipped correctly.
At any rate, I certainly would not recommend anyone purchase any "cured" rock with the expectation that they can toss a bunch of coral and fish in the same day or even expect to not have to test or establish a nitrogen cycle. I am sure we can both agree on that.
reefrunner69
Aquarium Advice Addict
At any rate, I certainly would not recommend anyone purchase any "cured" rock with the expectation that they can toss a bunch of coral and fish in the same day or even expect to not have to test or establish a nitrogen cycle. I am sure we can both agree on that.
That is my point, if you cannot add cured lr (in sufficient quantity) and immediately add coral and fish (within the same constraints you would put on any newly cycled tank) then the rock is NOT cured.
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z_dano
Aquarium Advice Freak
Thanks for the replies everyonr... I have a local place but they seem pretty expensive... $10+ per #.
What would you recommend for a 56 gallon tank in live rock weight?
What would you recommend for a 56 gallon tank in live rock weight?
reefrunner69
Aquarium Advice Addict
Filtration wise you'll want about 1 lb per gallon, rockscaping...I like 1.5-2lb per gallon. Fwiw, curing your own rock is not hard, it's just a pain, but my experience has always been; more life on rock I cured than rock cured at the LFS.
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z_dano
Aquarium Advice Freak
The uncured rock won't filter until fully seeded, right? So basically I would still need a fair amount of the cured live rock to get started?
reefrunner69
Aquarium Advice Addict
Enough nitrifying bacteria will survive, just do lots of water changes to keep ammonia down and maximize the life on the rock.
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z_dano
Aquarium Advice Freak
Oh, I will be cycling this rock before I add fish. Would throwing some matrix in the sump help with the cycling also?
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z_dano
Aquarium Advice Freak
Cool thanks for the information. It's been a huge help
