I'm going down to Indy to buy LR from an internet retailer, talked to him he said he can set it up so I can hand pick from over 700lbs of it. I plan on getting 75 lbs, so what are some secrets to getting the best live rock, what should i look for?
How To Pick Good Live Rock
- Thread starter eb0
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spanair
Fishaholic
look for life bassically. Look for how much coraline it has, if it has copepods and all sort of critters on it. Thoes are some of the kind of stuff it should have for healthy live rock I would say 
Max
Fish Addict
ask him if you can soak the rock (not all of them just a few of the bigger ones...) in a salt level of 1.030-1.040 so the crabs and whatnot, come running out of the rock... (havnt actuly tested this but www.liveaquaria.com says it works, and i trust them...) so then you can pick the stuff out right at the store... also look for lots of holes and things to make good caves....
also look for lots of holes and things to make good caves....
Navarre
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Smell it first!
If t smells of rotten eggs then leave it there as its not cured yet.
Its highly unlikely of course but its better to be on the safe side.
Im not sure i would risk dipping though. I can see the argument behind it and sure, it will make things that are unwanted go running off for other rocks etc but IMO a sudden increase in sg is not specific to bad critters, good ones will be pushed out also.
) Take the rock you are happy with, lots of coraline growth indicates its been underwater for quite some time. Lots of holes and caves means this is a good shape to harbour small fish, crabs or even pod breeding ares once in the tank.
Also, ask the salesmans advice once there, if they are reputable then they will give sound advice on what types of rock tp pick. If they are happy for you to hand pick then its my assumption that their rock is very high quality anyway.
edit: Oh yes... and if you can get any Grunge ... bits of stuff that have broken off and forms small rubble in the bottom of their live rock tanks. Thi smakes a fantastic environment for pods breeding. Crabs, shrimps and brittle strs love it! It also looks good in the tank to have a rubble zone and it also helps with filtration. Most shops only charge a tiny amount for this.. some even give it away!
Good luck
If t smells of rotten eggs then leave it there as its not cured yet.
Its highly unlikely of course but its better to be on the safe side.
Im not sure i would risk dipping though. I can see the argument behind it and sure, it will make things that are unwanted go running off for other rocks etc but IMO a sudden increase in sg is not specific to bad critters, good ones will be pushed out also.
) Take the rock you are happy with, lots of coraline growth indicates its been underwater for quite some time. Lots of holes and caves means this is a good shape to harbour small fish, crabs or even pod breeding ares once in the tank.Also, ask the salesmans advice once there, if they are reputable then they will give sound advice on what types of rock tp pick. If they are happy for you to hand pick then its my assumption that their rock is very high quality anyway.
edit: Oh yes... and if you can get any Grunge ... bits of stuff that have broken off and forms small rubble in the bottom of their live rock tanks. Thi smakes a fantastic environment for pods breeding. Crabs, shrimps and brittle strs love it! It also looks good in the tank to have a rubble zone and it also helps with filtration. Most shops only charge a tiny amount for this.. some even give it away!
Good luck
Max
Fish Addict
yeah but then they all run out and you take the good stuff that you wont out of the bucket, but like i said i havnt tried this... i think im gunna try it with one peice of rock though...
Also consider what you want your tank to look like. You should get pieces that are more sturdy for the base and more porous for the upper areas. Try to visualize the pieces in your tank. The more surface area, the more area you have for corals.
Reefer 4:19:59
New Member
Premium I assume? Very HUGE BUMMER that Joy shut down Harbor 
THe folks at Premium have always been nice & helpful & I have bought dry goods live rock & livestock from them at very fair to very good prices.
Picking the live rock - that really depends on what your set up is intended to be. If you want a lot of zoo and have shy critters get lacy rock, ledges/slabs & make caves; if fish only & rowdy ones get LARGE hard to move furnishing. If for diggers get PVC as well.
I really really rec that folk NOT buy all their live rock at once if they have never set up a tank b4 and will have the chance to get more. You will find more rocks you want - for shape, because they are just right for that spot, or you find a great mushroom rock or a different coraline color.... Also if you get the rock at different seasons and from dif areas you max your micro livestock. After living with a tank & your livestok you may want to change, add and rearrange for flow or to settle squabbles, yada yada. It is a good idea to add a new rock as you add a critter - this changes the terrortory for the "Ruler/present occupant" and puts new & old on a slightly more even footing. By "New" I mean new to that tank not UnQuarentined.
You should quarentine (I cannot spell that word) Live rock. seriously. Put into a tank that you will use for Q for your other livestock. After 2-4 weeks you should see a lot of itty bitty things, check AFTER DARK with a red covered flashlight as well as periodically whenever you pass. Pick up & shake the rocks and examine them - leave in water while you check them.
Doing the hyper saline dip - if you're getting LR from Fla or carrib at this time of year, maybe but otherwise I would just quarentine in a bare tank. Last time I was at Premium he was carrying South Seas LR, nothing from Fla, keys or Caribe. Is good to have a few live rocks in the Q tank anyway, helps the fish or other stress less. If the critter has a parasite in the Q tank just leave empty of critters for 6 weeks. DO NOT EVER treat live rock with chems or metals or anything really but esp copper. If you Q the live rock for min 4 weeks you can be realitively sure there are no parasites to bug your critters. [sorry couldn't help m'self] 3 months certain. If you do the Hyper saline dip you loose some of the reason you are paying good money for wet rocks.
Can you ever be positive any live rock is safe? No. I've got 3 aq I have not put any new lr in for over a year, just found a mean grumpy fugli crab! In a tank I check multiple times a day (one of my fuges, 20 gal LR & algae & zoo only ever) had Q'd the LR & examined each piece. Many times. He is about the size of a half dollar or 3x4 cm roughly. But I also have the coolest variety of pods & worms & all kinds of things. Even an incredibly teeny tiny banded sea krait. Ok fine, it's probably really just some cool worm esp as I have never seen it swim only crawl vertically. Have an interesting star in another tank that might be 5 cm arm tip to arm tip, maybe a serpent? My requested (& recvd) birthday present this year was as many of "THE Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" volumes as we could afford. Hubby happy cause when I call for him to "come see! really interesting new thing" he asks what it is so I'll go look in one of the books and if I manage to find it he doesn't have to get up & if I don't find it it's gone by then so he still doesn't have to get up.
THe folks at Premium have always been nice & helpful & I have bought dry goods live rock & livestock from them at very fair to very good prices.
Picking the live rock - that really depends on what your set up is intended to be. If you want a lot of zoo and have shy critters get lacy rock, ledges/slabs & make caves; if fish only & rowdy ones get LARGE hard to move furnishing. If for diggers get PVC as well.
I really really rec that folk NOT buy all their live rock at once if they have never set up a tank b4 and will have the chance to get more. You will find more rocks you want - for shape, because they are just right for that spot, or you find a great mushroom rock or a different coraline color.... Also if you get the rock at different seasons and from dif areas you max your micro livestock. After living with a tank & your livestok you may want to change, add and rearrange for flow or to settle squabbles, yada yada. It is a good idea to add a new rock as you add a critter - this changes the terrortory for the "Ruler/present occupant" and puts new & old on a slightly more even footing. By "New" I mean new to that tank not UnQuarentined.
You should quarentine (I cannot spell that word) Live rock. seriously. Put into a tank that you will use for Q for your other livestock. After 2-4 weeks you should see a lot of itty bitty things, check AFTER DARK with a red covered flashlight as well as periodically whenever you pass. Pick up & shake the rocks and examine them - leave in water while you check them.
Doing the hyper saline dip - if you're getting LR from Fla or carrib at this time of year, maybe but otherwise I would just quarentine in a bare tank. Last time I was at Premium he was carrying South Seas LR, nothing from Fla, keys or Caribe. Is good to have a few live rocks in the Q tank anyway, helps the fish or other stress less. If the critter has a parasite in the Q tank just leave empty of critters for 6 weeks. DO NOT EVER treat live rock with chems or metals or anything really but esp copper. If you Q the live rock for min 4 weeks you can be realitively sure there are no parasites to bug your critters. [sorry couldn't help m'self] 3 months certain. If you do the Hyper saline dip you loose some of the reason you are paying good money for wet rocks.
Can you ever be positive any live rock is safe? No. I've got 3 aq I have not put any new lr in for over a year, just found a mean grumpy fugli crab! In a tank I check multiple times a day (one of my fuges, 20 gal LR & algae & zoo only ever) had Q'd the LR & examined each piece. Many times. He is about the size of a half dollar or 3x4 cm roughly. But I also have the coolest variety of pods & worms & all kinds of things. Even an incredibly teeny tiny banded sea krait. Ok fine, it's probably really just some cool worm esp as I have never seen it swim only crawl vertically. Have an interesting star in another tank that might be 5 cm arm tip to arm tip, maybe a serpent? My requested (& recvd) birthday present this year was as many of "THE Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" volumes as we could afford. Hubby happy cause when I call for him to "come see! really interesting new thing" he asks what it is so I'll go look in one of the books and if I manage to find it he doesn't have to get up & if I don't find it it's gone by then so he still doesn't have to get up.
Reefer 4:19:59
New Member
ohh, what an interesting way to occupy someone who is OCD. MAke them find & count all the things that come out of LRostrow said:
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