live rock shipment - what to expect - update

[ellisz]

Hi, I just ordered my first LR shipment from liveaquaria.com. It is going to be shipped 2 day and should be here thursday based on their website. They say they will e-mail me when shipped.

The shipper is fedex. If you have a signature on file, do they still require a signature when dropped off? I was not sure if I have to take a full day off and can get away with just a half day. I have never got shipments before 12:00 previously on dry goods.

What should I expect in the box?

just wondering ...

 

[Biggen]

If you have a signature on file, do they still require a signature when dropped off?

Good question. I would assume so because liveaquaria.com will probably give you any kind of guarantee if the products isn't signed for.

FYI, I ordered 45# of their LR about a month ago. It was absolutely beautiful. Really nice rock especially for the price. Only had to pay $99.99 + shipping for it!!

It will probably stink a little bit and have some gnats on it, but it will be fine. Go ahead and make up some SW so that you can dunk and clean it in that. You can use the tank water you take out of the tank as well, but the problem with that is that if you take too much out, you are out of luck unless you have some already made.

It only took my tank 4 days to completely cycle with the rock. I couldn't believe how fast it went. I also did 25% water changes every other day for those first 5 days to keep the ammonia from getting too high.

Good luck!!

 

[reefrunner69]

Go ahead and make up some SW so that you can dunk and clean it in that.

Although I've never had a problem with pests on fiji rock...a trick to rid yourself of mantis and unwanted hitchiker crabs, is to mix the dunking SW with Carbonated water, instead of regular water. The fizzing drives them nuts and they abandon the rock almost immediately trying to escape it. You can have another bucket of RO mixed SW to redunk in.

 

[ellisz]

Sounds great. I am excited now

I know the website said the live guarantee was only available if it was delivered on the first attempt. Not sure what kind of "live" guarantee there is on the live rock though. I just wonder if Fedex will leave it at the door if I am not there.

Although I've never had a problem with pests on fiji rock...a trick to rid yourself of mantis and unwanted hitchiker crabs, is to mix the dunking SW with Carbonated water, instead of regular water. The fizzing drives them nuts and they abandon the rock almost immediately trying to escape it. You can have another bucket of RO mixed SW to redunk in.

Great idea. Anything that might come off that I might want to keep? My tank has not fully cycled yet so even if I saved something, I wonder if it would survive anyway. The nasty creatures are probably the most hearty though?

 

[sumphead]

As a side note/question which may help elli; I have heard things ranging from hypo-salinity to hyper salinity dunks to remove critters and then decide which to keep. So is there a benifit from dunking LR in fresh RO water over higher SG water like 1.030 or higher? Also if carbonated water works well what type of water to carbonated ratio should you use say in a 5 gal bucket?

I guess i could make it easier by asking what is the best method of removing critters from LR before placing in the tank? Safest method if you decided to keep some of the critters?

 

[Biggen]

I have to tell ya, I doubt you will find any life on those rocks whatsoever except for the coralline algae. Liveaquaria.com uses a unique method to keep those rocks "alive". The basically sit them of shelves and keep them spray misted with sea water. Much like the grocery stores sprays their produce to keep it fresh. That drives most of the life off.

I think my next batch of LR will have to be uncured. That way I can at least get some life...

 

[ellisz]

premium aquatics has a good deal on uncured which I thought about doing. Might have been a bit cheaper. I thought for the first time, it would be easier with this stuff. Shipping for me at premium aquatics would have been dirt cheap since I am in the same state.

 

[fishfreek]

I HIGHLY doubt you will find any undesirables on the fiji rock. By the time the rock gets to you it will have been out of the water much longer than the FL aquaculture rock.

We have a great article about how to cure the rock in our articles area. I mention this because reguarless of what liveaquaria said about yoru rock and its level of being cured it should be classifed as uncured when you get it.

FedEx, I have a leave at my door policy with fedex. One time they tried to deliver a package (unlrelated to SW) to me and attempted 3X in 3 days to deliver but would not leave the package. The final time they put a notice that was basicly a note saying that if I wanted to sign some release form the would then be allowed to leave the package with no signauture. Now any package delivered to me at the house either gets left at the door or if I am there to take the package I never am asked to sign for it including the boxes that say "must have an adult signature".

What will be in the box? Well it will bascily be a box that is either lined internaly with a waxy covering or it will be a regular box and have a styrofoam box inside it. The rock will be in the box and it will be covered with wet newspapers.

I would mix up the saltwater now. This way you can inspect the rock and then place it in saltwater. Have a heater and some powerheads to properly circulate the water aswell.

 

[ellisz]

I have a signed release with fedex as well.

I have some water mixed up right now but I was planning on just putting it in the tank since it has not cycled yet. It has been going about a week with no ammonia spike yet. I just did not want to drop it in if it had undesirables on it.

Does the FL aquacultured rock look as red as it does in their pics? We were going to go that route but then changed our mind. If it is that red/pink, that might have to be our next rock purchase.

 

[cj10488]

I personally Liked the FL aquacultured rock there is alot of color and hitchhikers.. Some good some bad.. Makes it kind of nice and adds much more diversity.. I have a few pieces of Fiji as well and like the FL aquacultured rock much much better.. It came with a few mantis shrimps and a large number of crabs and other living things.. BTW i just found an emerald crab that came in on it today..

Hitchhikers that I have found have been numerous serpent stars, 2 mantis shrimp so far, numerous stone crabs, brittle stars, sea squirts, a few cup corals, an emerald grab a few Astreas that laid eggs now i have lots of little ones, a few nassisus snails and much much more.. I have found nothing besides algae that came with my fiji so if your looking for hitchhikers you will probably find none..

 

[ellisz]

critters

Not really looking for anything but just want to make sure not to put something bad in the tank. I have a dog puffer and want to add a porcupine puffer so I am not really sure if the good critters would really last ...

The fish are not in the tank yet btw. They are waiting patiently ...

 

[fishfreek]

Ok. Please update us when you get your rock.

Depending on the amount of dieoff and how agressive you are with removing the dead/decaying items from the rock during the process cycling could take anywhere between 2-8 weeks.

 

[Biggen]

You lit a fire under me to order some more LR myself. Just grabbed 22# off liveaquaria.com. I know I said I wanted uncured rock, but I had such good experiences with Liveaquaria, I figure I couldn't go wrong. Should get in in tomorrow. Guess I better start making up some water for it to cure in.

Oh, and like FF said, it may take 2-8 weeks to cycle. But like I said earlier, my tank cycled in 4 days straight. I had my first fish in the tank within 7 days. It was one helluva cycle time. I don't know if you will get the same results or not. Just make sure you check the levels daily.

 

[ellisz]

Yeah, I hope it does not take 2-8 weeks. I am surprised it has not done much yet. Will adding live sand cause a big spike too? We would like to seed the sand so if it causes a spike too I better get some of that soon too. Less cycles the better.

 

[Biggen]

Will adding live sand cause a big spike too? We would like to seed the sand so if it causes a spike too I better get some of that soon too. Less cycles the better.

You could add the LS anytime you wanted. The bacteria from the LS would help "seed" the rest of your sand and rock.

I don't know if any of the critters in the LS would survive the cycle though. But you could always re-seed again.

 

[ellisz]

The question would be though to add the LS now or wait until the LR and tank have completed its cycle? I would only put the LS in to seed the sand I have. I don't want to reseed the LS I killed to seed my current sand

I had read that LR can seed your sand but would the fiji rock do this?

 

[ellisz]

I got my rock today. All I can say is that I am very pleased. The rock had a lot of color on it as well as some dead stuff. My pieces were medium to large IMO but my tank is on 75 gal so that my differ. Some pieces I might say are too big. I got 9 pieces of rock with 1 small, 2 medium and the rest large. The box weighed in at 45lbs with one small piece removed.

Sice my tank is still cycling, I rinsed in in premade salt water and placed it in the tank. The acclimation instructions say to do this along with 50% water changes weekly and no light. Since I am cycling the tank are water changes really necessary?

BTW, I read their live sand acclimation procedures and they say to rinse the sand in saltwater first and then remove the dirty water. I assume this removes the dead material but is the sand still have the organisms after this?

 

[Biggen]

Sice my tank is still cycling, I rinsed in in premade salt water and placed it in the tank. The acclimation instructions say to do this along with 50% water changes weekly and no light. Since I am cycling the tank are water changes really necessary?

Yes. Head over to here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=6 . I did the exact same procedure as that aritcle outlined; 50% every other day. The tank will cycle faster and you will have less die off.

BTW, I read their live sand acclimation procedures and they say to rinse the sand in saltwater first and then remove the dirty water. I assume this removes the dead material but is the sand still have the organisms after this?

Good question. Not really sure on the LS. It would still have bacteria on it, but not sure about the critters. Someone else better take that one.

 

[fishfreek]

I myself have never rinsed live sand I got shipped to me. I would be worried the rinsing would knock off some of the critters.

The reasoing behind the water changes is to keep the ammonia level to a tolerable point that more of the life on the rock survives the cycle. Not doign water changes on a fair amount of mailorder rock could easily cause your ammonia levels to shoot beyond the detectible range of your test kit basicly making an enviorment that is extremly hostile to life.

 

[ellisz]

yeah, I just tested the ammonia and it is dark green. I tested 2 days ago and it was yellow. Not sure if it happened after the rock or before. I guess I need a water change ...