Type of live rock preferred and benefits?

[Vadafallon]

So i have a few different pieces of rock. I have some very dense and heavy tonga rock, and i have some very light pukani. Right now i am curing them both because i was a dumb dumb, the tonga has been out of water for months, but i just bought the pukani dry.

Anyone have a preference on type of rock and if there are benefits?

[Sk8r]

The more holes the better, basically. The bacteria you want live in them. A very dense heavy rock is not as good as porous. I use local limestone, but it's quite light and very holey; I also use dead coral in a rubble pile.

[AlSimmons]

I've always used Fiji live rock and have been very happy with it, but there are a lot of alternatives out there. The link below might help.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

[Subsea]

Because I use substrate for bio filtration, I use diver collected aquacultured live rock for biodiversity.

[keiferd]

honestly, Id just find the most porous/decorative dead rock you can find and seed it with some live rock rubble and life finds a way.

[Timfish]

As I understand your post Vadafallon your Tonga and Pukani are very dead and have no sponges or microfauna left alive on it. I Use use local limestone like Sk8r but always try to have some fresh, quality wild or maricultured live rock to get the beneficial microorganisms and especially cryptic sponges that are so improtant to setting up a healthy ecosystem.

[Vadafallon]

I have a bunch of live rock in a tank i am moving so seeding it with good stuff is no biggy. I just have a few big pieces of Pukani i really think look good and i am all about aquascaping. I was just curious if any rock was better than others for things to grow.

[NAClFiSHy]

comes down to taste and how you want to aquascape. I like to get new pieces of rubble here and there or a scoop of someone else's sand to add biodiversity.

[NAClFiSHy]

I like FIJI or Tongan and have some branching pieces mixed in.

[Subsea]

Rubble or sand may add diversity of bacteria, in no way does it compare to the biodiversity of diver collected live rock.

http://www.gulfliverock.com/premium-...tive-rock.html

This is aquacultured live rock 30 miles west of Tampa Bay in 50' of water

[Vadafallon]

Originally Posted by Subsea

Rubble or sand may add diversity of bacteria, in no way does it compare to the biodiversity of diver collected live rock.

http://www.gulfliverock.com/premium-...tive-rock.html

This is aquacultured live rock 30 miles west of Tampa Bay in 50' of water

So picking up a piece of this to seed my tank would be a smart move?

[Subsea]

Originally Posted by Vadafallon

So picking up a piece of this to seed my tank would be a smart move?

In 45 years of reef keeping, I have never seen more beautiful diverse rock. You can get as little as 10 lbs shipped to your door for $60.

[CarrieB]

Lots of people swear by-

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com

You can search on the forum for pictures.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kelp47]

Originally Posted by CarrieB

Lots of people swear by-

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com

You can search on the forum for pictures.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ordered TBS rock two years ago and I love it. He collected the rock (and sand) on a Friday, shipped it out immediately, and it was in my aquarium in about 24 hours (I live in central Alabama). Since everything was packed well and the shipping time was so quick, my tank never even went through a cycle. So I got the second shipment (more rock, coral, and other critters) the very next week and had an instant ocean. I was amazed.

One downside is that you will get some undesirables such as gorilla crabs, but you just catch them and toss them in the sump. The other is that he'll ship some items that probably shouldn't go in a beginner tank (at the time, I was completely new to marine life). So I had some sponges, a decorator crab and particular starfish that eventually perished. However, I do have other marine life that I received at this time that continues to thrive--other starfish, flame scallop, gorgonians, porcelain crabs, etc.

Having said all this, if/when I set up another tank, I'm very likely to use TBS again.

[Subsea]

I have used both TBS and Gulf Live Rock. Both provide excellent service. I preferred Gulf Live Rock because being collected in 50' instead of 20', provided differrent diversity that I preferred.

[Subsea]

http://floridaliverock.com/live-rock...corative-rock/

Pardon my error. This is the company located in 50' of water. Gulf Live Rock is located near TBS. I only used them once and was not impressed.

[RussWalters]

Originally Posted by CarrieB

Lots of people swear by-

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com

You can search on the forum for pictures.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Would highly recommend using Richard here and getting the Walt Smith 2.0 rock. My tank was cycled and full of life from day one. Great service and great product. Check out some of my earlier posts for picks of what I got.

The rock ships in water and came with tons of bonus critters like sea stars, sponges, fish, crabs, corals, etc... you won't be disappointed.

[Vadafallon]

I checked out some pics and wow, call me impressed and i will def. be ordering a piece from him once my new tank is setup.

[NAClFiSHy]

That's some really nice rock.

[NAClFiSHy]

I'm thinking of ordering some. Should I set up a qt and let it sit a while for die off ?

[sde1500]

Originally Posted by NAClFiSHy

I'm thinking of ordering some. Should I set up a qt and let it sit a while for die off ?

Add it right to your tank. TBS is shipped in some of the gulf water it was collected from, so you add it right to your tank and the seeded rock will quite possibly not even need to cycle. Most builds I've seen here with it have little to no die off.