Did I waste my $ on this rock?

Yeah, they are unique and awesome in their own right. Just don't add one of each as i've seen a fighting conch kill a queen conch!

 

Not a bad price for a LFS. Mine would have charged $8 a pound for rock like that. Which, is why I do not buy liverock from them
I would say you received a fair deal.

Jim

 

That is a good purchase for $3/lbs. It actually looks like good rock, has very little coralline, but then again, you will grow your own. Very nice.

 

Doesn't look that different from base rock, not much coralline but good filtration.

A little coralline will seed your tank, but a lot will seed it faster. I would look for a few highly covered pieces.

My LFS sells pieces like that for about $5 a pound.

If you are willing to spend a little more and you want some really good looking rock, buy it from liveaquaria.com. They have some great rock. Just don't get Tonga Branch, it's really hard to aquascape. Regular Tonga is great though.

 

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better. It is ghard to see the stuff growing on it in the pics, but there is some. I went to another store and they were selling their fiji for 2.99 a lb, and since I biought about 50 lbs he gave me the branch for 5.99, plate for 5.99, and he even gave me marshal island for 5.99 a lb, all cured! Seemed like a deal because the quality I got from him was FAR batter than the last 45 lbs I bought at another LFS. (I didn't know what to look for the first time) This batch has all kinds of things on it. Even have 2 hermit crabs and one thing that looks like hermit crab just bigger, even pulled a couple tiny shrimp out of the filter. It is still cloudy because I added 20 lb of live sand, but is starting to clear up. Now all I need to do is figure out the venting so I can close the door and I am done, well, until I start adding corals.

Stacking the rock is not as easy as it seems! I think I will readjust at some point.

 

I know there are no dumb questions as I used to teach, but all the live rock I have seen looks about the same. There are some things growing on them but nothing too spectacular. I assume that those plants etc will start to grow out in time. Should I be looking for something more when I buy rock. Well, should I have been, since I am pretty much done with rock.

 

LOL, I can honestly tell you that all liverock is not the same. You will be amazed at the growth some rock has. Sponges, corraline, tubes worms, feather dusters, tunicates, some stuff that you can never ever ID. If all the liverock you come across looks the same, keep looking for better fish stores cuz they obviously never carry good rock.

 

Can you explain the algae cycles? Will using RO water instead of tap water help lessen algae cycles?

Jason D.

 

Put some empty snail shells in the tank and let the puffer learn that there is nothing in them. Then try nassarith snails and place them in the tank at night with the lights off. These snails tend to only come out at night and bury themselves in the sand during the day. Hopefully the puffer will leave them alone. I keep them in my 120g tank with a false eyed puffer and havent lost one yet.

 

I used RO/DI on the initial fill and I didn't have any type of algae bloom or cycles.