Best Live Rock????

[jerryc]

Graphixx is right on i preach this continues the more diversity you can get in your sand the better. I look for someone to trade sand with at least one time a year
The more life you have in your sand the longer it will last with out causing a
tank failure. And it dose happen but with a little work you can maintain a
good sand bed for years.

[Guido]

What exactly is base rock? Also, do you suggest i go with a fine grade sand? I'm sure I can get maybe 4 or 5 different cups of sand from different tanks. One of my LFS has about 5+ reef tanks, so I'm sure i can get some from there, then theres a few jacks aquariums with small reef systems. That will be no problem. (even if i have to pay for it, and i know the one LFS is probably gonna charge me more then what its worth lol)

[graphixx]

base rock is reef rock that is completely devoid of life. it is completly dead live rock but in time it will re establish live and look just like live rock. I would go with a fine frade sand. you go crushed coral it tends to trap detrius and build nitrates

[Guido]

OK. I did a little looking around and think i decided on what i would like for LR. I would like your suggestions.

First off, I am thinking of getting 60+lbs of Kaelini Tonga Ultra Show LR un-cured. (about 3.99lb)

Then probably about 40-50 pounds of premium Fiji LR un-cured. (that's about 3.49lb)

Now, i saw that liveaquaria had a 45lb box for 90 or so dollars. But i am not sure if that is net weight or gross weight. Also, i read, that when they are selling live rock in 45lb boxes (or in those increments) for such a low price, it is LR that has been sitting around for a while and they are just trying to get rid of it. Now i am willing to spend the extra dollar to get much healthier, liver, more colorful (and newer) LR, but if you have any thoughts on Liveaquarias 45lb box of fiji (un-cured preferable so i can just cycle it with my tank), let me know.

Also, if you could suggest about how many lbs of LR i will need for a 75g tank with 29g sump, it would be much appreciated. (Either way I'll end up buying more Kaelini then the fiji because i feel the shapes, colors, and openness of it are all around better then fiji, the fiji is more of a filler and variety)

[shovelhead91701]

I bought 60lbs of LR from liveaquaria.com and while it did go through an extreme amount of die-off it was very nice looking lettuce coral rock and it also brought me a lot of green and red coraline algae to my tank. I feel like any mail order rock probably would have the same amount of die-off due to the shipping times. Also as this is an item that they offer consistently I doubt that it is "old stock" etc. I would recommend their rock anytime as long as you are willing to cure it out before introducing it to a healthy tank.

[graphixx]

you should be allright. live aquaria and tampa bay saltwater are really good companies to go through. the rock they caryy is pretty much taken from water to box in a very short period of time. you should be allright. I have dealth with tampa bay saltwater and my rock was literally only out of the ocean for like 8 hours then it was boxed and shipped directl y to me.

[Guido]

OK. I think I will give liveaquaria a go on their fiji. Not sure about the Kaelini Tonga though, i don't think they have that, might have to order that from somewhere else. As far as curing it, well, I'm just going to throw it into my tank when i start cycling it.