Where to Get Live Rock?

[szaijan]

Can anyone recommend a good outfit from which to order high quality cured live rock, either on the internet or over the phone? I live in Santa Cruz county CA, and have not found a local store that can get decent live rock, and am now looking for any decent source.

I intend to have a mixed fish, coral and anemone tank with about 20% of the volume (or less) filled with live rock. I'd like colorful and active rock and would like to have some invertebrates and crustaceans, but the focus is the fish. Any recommendations on what to look for and where to get the rock would be most welcome.

Also, will this be enough live rock that my Eheim canister filter will be useless or harmful? I was planning to use it in lieu of a wet/dry system.

[reefman_MC]

http://www.premiumaquatics.com Every one that gets their LR here loves it.

[IceDragon]

yeah i plan to get mine from PA too ... i bought some dry goods from there and the support is awsome ... BEST I HAVE EVER HADE FROM A WEBSITE ... if you need something special try to talk to jason or cory they helped me a lot

[gamma]

with shipping do you guys know how much it would be per pound? roughly???

[IceDragon]

i order 50lbs of salt and it shipped for 10 USD ... it arrived the next day (this is probable due to me only being 1.5 hrs south of PA)

[omard]

Welcome szaijan,

There is "premium" and there is "premium(?)" as well as "cured" and "cured" - one always has to be careful about both source and quality...

Much "cured" rock "is not really" and must be run thru a cycle before putting into tank...

The Rock I like for topping off - has lots of existing life forms, corals, sponges, critters, etc...was live in ocean not more then a day before you get it...is from Dale Barger at http://www.gulf-view.com/liverock.html

I just got (another) 30 lbs of his "deco" and am just amazed at all the stuff that comes on it...it really is "premium" (and "cured" - ready to go into tank)...

Another option,

Omar

[Craig Manoukian]

Hope these links help!

http://www.aquarium-live-rock-saltwa...-supplies.com/

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/fil...a/aa111901.htm

http://www.gulf-view.com/

http://www.liverocks.com/aboutus.html

http://sps.reefkeepers.org/LiveRockFAQ.htm

http://www.oceanlife-int.com/index.html

saltwaterfish.com

http://tampabaysaltwater.com/index.html


edit by matt for long link that was blowing out page.

[Matt Rogers]

Hey szaijan,

My best suggestion would be to get some stuff that looks pourous and light with some good coraline on it.

It will have more surface area for bacteria than the bowling balls with the pretty stuff growing on top.

Lot's of good rec's here for Internet sources, otherwise drive up to my neck of the woods in the Bay Area and there are plenty of stores with good rock. Of course, you'll pay more though. I'd probably go the Internet route myself unless you have a good repore with a guy at an lfs who can give you a deal.

hope that helps,

matt

[szaijan]

Thanks all! Many great suggestions... Now I just need pick one and figure out how much I need. I want to build 2 parallel ridges running at about a 30 degree angle to the front of my tank, about 18" long each, ~" Wide and about 12" high. I was thinking of going with about 50 lbm. of live rock for this. Any suggestions as to whether this is enough and what the mix of base rock to high quality rock should be?

[Craig Manoukian]

Can't really answer until we know how big your tank is. It would be great to add your tank description to your signature. TIA