Lr, Br, And Me

[SkiFletch]

As some of you know, I'm new to this marine thing, so new in fact that I dont even have the tank yet (wont until sunday sunday sunday). Be that as it may, I'm looking to start a reef tank from the ground up and to do it RIGHT. One of my first and obvious concerns is LR. You all have taught me that LR is NOT cheap, and I'm goig to need a lot of it for my 45gal if I want it to be a successful reef tank. The way I see it, I have 3 options:

#1. Bite the bullet and buy 45 lbs of LR straight away via a few different sources
~$314.55 - 6.99/lb LFS
~$180.00 - 129.99 + ship LiveAquaria.com
~$199.00 - 45-50lb bundle saltwaterfish.com
~$157.50 - 50lb bundle intmarinefish.com
~$Unknonw - Ebay (taking chances with sellers, etc), but probably cheaper in the long run

#2. Go with mostly base rock and a piece or two of LR from a couple different sources. On average, I'd be looking at spending near $100 for this.

Maybe you guys know of other ways to get my hands on LR but thats about all I know of. If you do know of other ways, please let me know. If you guys were me, and on a relatively tight budget what would you do? I'll be honest, the full LR LFS option really isn't feasible unless money starts dropping from the sky for me, but if you guys absoloutely insist that I go that route I'll consider it. Have any of you ordered LR online from anywhere? What were your experiences? Anyone gotten theirs via ebay? And of course has anyone tried the seeding baserock with LR methods?

I do have near infinite reserves of patience if the LR will eventually seed any BR, and it seems like that might be something neat to watch evolve over time. The limitations ovboiusly are filtration and a small ecosystem to start with, but I'd be prepared to live with that.

Thanks in advance for your oppinions.

 

[steelhealr]

There is no problem going with some base rock if needed. Did you also check out premiumaquatics.com?
If you want, you can make your own live rock. There are some people here that might be willing to share the recipe, or, you can pay a meager 4 or 5 bucks and buy a recipe at thelebos.com. Check out Garf's site to see if they tell you how to make it too. You basically use concrete and mix it with either spaghetti or rock salt. They both break/down/dissolve leaving porous concrete which then seeds with bacteria either by cycling it or adding live sand after the water params become normal.

Otherwise, there is no way to sneak out of putting the appropriate amount of LR in your tank. It's the system's main filtration unit. SH

 

[Navarre]

Im alaways cautious when people mention base rock as a supporting meterial for their liverock. Many people buy base rock and it is in fact Ocean Rack which is of no use for filtration whatsoever... So if you are going to use base rock then i suggest you use things like reefbones which is simply liverock that has been left to dry out and is now dead. Given time it will become true liverock all over again. Its about half the price of liverock but it will need to cycle as it will have plenty of dead life forms inside it.

 

[k.o.d]

As with the above answers, if you are using the Berlin method of filtering your reef you simply cannot skimp on live rock, it forms the basis of the nitrogen cycle for your tank, same as skimping on a skimmer will eventually result in bad water conditions.
We have found ( from bad experience ) if you want to get the reef off to the best possible start and keep it that way a higher initial spend is required. Sad but true unfortunately.

All the best, a reef in your house is one of the best sights in the world

 

[demonmagus]

I just wanted to say that you Americans are soooooo lucky.

Cheap prices everywhere

 

[maestro]

I would say just bite the bullet and buy it all in one go, do a few searches and found out the best places to buy I have no idea about US sources so cant help there

 

[SkiFletch]

SH: I did not check out that site, thanks for the tip. Have you or anyone you known ever ordered LR off the web? I'm curious if what you get is worth it or if it tends to be low quality from all the shipping. Also, never knew you could build it

Navarre: Your caution is well noted and I understnad where you're coming from. The stuff that I'd be buying from my LFS (if I did go with any amount of baserock) is definitely baserock as opposed to ocean rock. Its very porous and full of dead bristlestars, sponges, and old algae bits. As an experienced diver I can spot the differences between the two.

For everyone: If I'm going to bite the bullet and do it all in one shot, any online option is still way cheaper than my LFS, so have any of you purchased online? If so, what were your experiences?

 

[penguinpimp1990]

I cant really help you with your questions as Im a newb to reefs but 6.99 per pound at a LFS is a little high (at least compared to where I live) A LFS near me has it for $4 a pound and a LFS near me that deals exclusively with reefs has it for $5.50 a pound

 

[Aquascaper]

1lb = 0.45kg

In the UK the cheapest i've seen it sold for at an LFS is £9 per kg (that's not the cheapest i've bought it for from the same LFS but anyway) - so that's £9 for just over 2lbs

£9 = $15.72

So you're looking at about $7 per lb equivalent, sounds like your LFS sells live rock for about the same price as ours do in the UK

If that was any help at all i'm glad................it's sunday and i'm bored

 

[Navarre]

I am not in the USA but buying Liverock from onli e sources in the UK is popular and as long as they are fro trusted sellers its works very well.

 

[SkiFletch]

Thanks guys, and thanks for allaying my fears Navarre. I'll probably go with an online option then in the end. Then, if I just plain want mroe rock for my backdrop I'll add some baserock. Seems reasonable to me

 

[Navarre]

IF you are not sure of the sources you get your liverock from then all i can say is when it arrives i would let it cycle for a while. watch water perameters daily for a week and if you see no spike then its safe for fish. If there is a spike then follw the tank through its normal proceedure for cycling.