Live rock for $1.60 per pound!!!!

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Is this rock any good, at least compared to fiji?

edit: for clarification, the live rock that is on sale is actually caribbean, not fiji
 
Oops, My bad. I dont know why I typed in Fiji. Guess I just got it on the brain :oops: I will let ya all know how it comes out, the lady I talked to on the phone said it is teeming with critters.

The fact that less goes farther was kinda what made me want to try it. That and the fact that it was CHEAP! I still cant get over the fact that the sand is going to cost me more than the live rock... :evil:

Zero
 
The below is from their website. Just a note that this rock is not the same as FL aquaculture rock. From the description the rock appears to come from the Hatian reef. I belive they are one of the remaning countries in the caribbean that still allow collection from the wild reef.

Note your additonal shipping charges of
$1.49 per lb. for overnight and $1.19 per lb for 2 day delivery. Min order 25lbs.

eTropicals said:
Caribbean Live Rock is an "uncured", porous rock that is available by the pound. This unique appearing live rock comes from Haiti and is actually ancient Lettuce coral heads that have been reencrusted over with coralline algae, sponges, tunicates, macro algaes, and other interesting invertebrates. Haitian live rock has many open areas due to its plating structure which will enable the aquarium to have better circulation, and a natural appearance. Furthermore, the ease of affixing corals to this type of live rock is a painless task due to the structure of the rock. Hard, Soft and Polyp corals will rest more easily and securely in the open spaces naturally found in Haitian live rock.

Haitian live rock is much lighter than any rock available in the market making it much easier to provide the desired look in the aquarium at an affordable price. The recommended weight per gallon is between 0.75 to 1.25 pounds. This quantity will create a beautiful aquascape, with many open holes and crevices, for marine life to hide. The advantages of using this unique rock is the incredible diversity of coloration, massive size, and unique shapes.

Live Rock will benefit not only reef aquariums, but also fish-only aquariums. Live rock will provide a natural food source for some fish, aid in the breakdown of waste produced by aquarium inhabitants, and create a foundation for live corals or decorations in a fish-only aquarium. A diversity of life forms such as plants, worms, sponges, starfish, crustaceans, mollusks, and occasionally even hard or soft corals are present with this type of rock.

Live Rock is easy to maintain in the aquarium, and makes an excellent candidate for the beginner or the expert aquarist. This type of rock requires moderate lighting, and moderate water movement, along with the addition of calcium, strontium, iodine, and trace elements.

Please post photos of your rock when you get it.
 
I'm curious....

The regular price on this rock is $2.25. How does that compare to others on the internet? I've only ever bought rock from my local fish store. I'm sure the internet has to be less for shipping and what not, but $2.25 seems pretty low itself...makes me skeptical of the quality.....

Tk
 
I will post photos as soon as they arrive. I will try to take some of them in the box, and when set up in the tank.

The regular price on this rock is $2.25. How does that compare to others on the internet? I've only ever bought rock from my local fish store. I'm sure the internet has to be less for shipping and what not, but $2.25 seems pretty low itself...makes me skeptical of the quality

I have seen it sold as cheap as 2.50 - 3.00 a pound on other sites, I was a bit skeptical myself, but I have heard nothing but good things about this company from the people on this forum so I figured I would take a chance. For that price I really cant pass it up!

On the upside, I found someone that will sell me southdown for 11.99 a bag! On the downside I have to drive to ID to pick it up to avoid a ton of shipping fees. However, I figure the 14 hour round trip will be worth it to save almost 300 bucks in shipping! Thank god for my XM Radio, Im gonna need it :p So, should I shoot for a sand depth of about 6 inches or more?

Zero
 
trk1616 said:
I'm curious....

I've only ever bought rock from my local fish store. I'm sure the internet has to be less for shipping and what not, but $2.25 seems pretty low itself...makes me skeptical of the quality.....

Tk

At the very worst it's likely to be at least 5x better than the stuff
my LFS has, so I ordered some and I'll keep you all posted as well.

Regarding my LFS I even saw them today dumping the salt mix right on top of the live rock, yah I'm sure that stuff is beaming with life....
 
I hear ya, They want $4.99 a pound for "Live Rock" at my LFS, and its totally junk. Looks like plain brown rock. No coralline algae or anything (barely) on it. defiantly no "Hitchhikers" I suspect that they get the rock and store it in a seperate tank long enough to harvest any cool things attached like mushrooms, corals, shrimps and whatnot.
Zero
 
Man! I want to get some of this rock for the price, but I don't have my tub ready for the curing...I figure I'll order it and it takes 2 days to deliver, I should have the rubbermaid from homedepot filled with 30 gallons of saltwater at 80 degrees by that time, I don't want to pass up this offer...I'll post photoz also! ...off to home depot...
 
Can someone explain curing? Would it be bad to just put he rock in the tank right away? I've never considered putting it in some sort of tub before introducing to the tank......
 
If you have fish or other live in the tank when you add a bunch of uncured rock then yes that would be very bad. The reason is uncured rock will produce ammonia and often times the amount of ammonia it produces is vastly higher than your biological filter is able to cope with thus an ammonia spike will result and the ammonia spike could get out of control and the result would be very stressful fish that could become diseased or dead.

We have a great article on the curing rock process in our articles area. You can find a link in my sig or at the top of every page.
 
Got the rock today.
Sorry, I'm in the process of moving, and don't have a pic.
Keep in mind I'm new to this, so I might not know what I
am talking about.

This rock would be good for a sump, or for a few pounds for some variety.
IMO, this is not a good rock to have as the main rock in the tank.
First, the shape of the rock is odd, and unless you have very large
pieces or glue, it is hard to landscape with it.

I have some gripes with the order, but to the company's benefit,
the rock did have a lot of life, and at the very least it should jump
start my DSB.

First, I asked for all large pieces, and I got maybe three 5lb pieces (out of 60)
and the rest were all small. I think at least they should have called/emailed
and said that either it might cost more, or that they don't have large pieces.

Second, while the majority had tons of good stuff like worms,
about 10lbs of the order was all dried up and/or too small to use.

Third, most of the pieces seemed to be broken pieces of bigger pieces
(I have never ordered LR before, so this may be the norm).

So I guess I got what I paid for.
 
It sounds like the Norm to me with the rock sizes and All.. I know some MO companies do not stock LR and have it Drop Shipped.. IMO buy Aquacultured LR for Liverocks.com... You'll spend a bit more but man It is truely worth the extra few dollars.. The Rock after you get it all in a within a few months will/should look alot nicer that it does now..

HTH,
James
 
Guess I'm glad my tub-o-water for curing wasn't ready and I didn't order this 'sale' rock. I'm going to wait til I'm ready and go with liverocks.com, true u pay more, but get what u pay for from what I hear. I'm still curious to see the pics though.
 
I should have mine tommorow, I hope its better than he said his was. I ordered 120#'s of it. I will put pictures of it up probably saturday. I will keep you informed!
Zero
 
It's really not that bad, it's just a very unique rock.
It did have tons of life and colorful algae, and it
was 100x better than my LFS stock. Some rock even had
plants growing on it.

I think the main difficulty is in how to landscape it,
as it has a very unique shape. Right now I can't see
anything because my tank is a dirt pool (from the DSB),
but if you figure anyway of setting it up, let me know!

At the very least our tanks are going to look very different
from conventional reef tanks.
 
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