Where do you get your live rock?

I just want to know where everyone gets there live rock.


Looking to pick up life rock later. This week

 

You can get most live rock from friends that have a mature system running or a LFS or many places online..

 

I buy mine from my LFS. You can also do dry rock if you wanted

 

IMO I'd go Mostly dry rock then seed it with some LR 80/20 maybe. A lot cheaper!

 

I agree

 

In most cases when you buy "live rock" online, all they do is wrap the rock in a wet news paper. Although it was "live" when they wrapped it, when it arrives to you, it goes through a cycle from all the bacteria dying off during shipping. Local LFS buying will avoid this, so long as you bring a tub of salt water with you, or just buy it at the store. If you avoid air exposure, you will have virtually no cycle, and can start up a lot faster.
Careful though, you can burn a big hole in your wallet this way. A decent price for live rock is $5.oo a LB. If you need 100 pounds, well, you see. Nooze and Camk said it right though, as most base rock costs you a mere $1.oo - $2.oo, depending on the appearance and local supply.
If you have the time to wait, you can always DIY your own base rock as I'm working on right now. It takes some cure time, but the customization you are able to do is soooo worth it. Use the forum google bar at the top and look up DIY Live rock, or just PM me and I'll shoot ya a couple of links. You tube is also a good spot light on the subject.

 

That's also a very good idea I might do that for my next build.

 

I recommend grabbing a small amount of LR from someone you trust, to avoid getting some nasty hitchhikers. You can use this LR to seed some dry rock. This is the cheapest, safest method.