lurker finally joining

[Altohombre]

Hey all! My name is Matt and I am 27. I decided to go for a 46 gallon bow front for Christmas. I have a 10 gallon freshwater tank going now for about a year. I have lurked this site reading just about every tank build thread there is. I am in the beginning stages of my tank where I have most of the equipment ready or on order. I should have some fish in about a months time from now. I could use some help figuring out where to get live rock from however. I am driving myself mad over the topic.

[reeffreak]

Welcome to the site.

The best place is your LFS so you can pick and choose.If thats not working out then online is another option.Many times it can be cheaper but of course you don't get to see what your getting.

I've bought live rock from both Liveaquaria.com and Saltycritter.com.Both places has great live rock.It might be cheap from Saltycritter since they are in northern Ohio and may only be 1-2 day ground service from your area.

Any other question feel free to ask.

[Altohombre]

yeah I wish there were more LFS around here. There is one and then a couple Petsmart and Petco's but I rarely see any or any good live rock at those chain stores. My LFS seems like an ok place. His prices on equip aren't all that great and although he has a nice selection of Base rock that I was considering his live rock from what I saw in his tanks that had the prices listed next to them were small and would barely fill out any of my 46 gallons. Do you think I should pick up some base rock from him for $1.99 per lb? If so how much?

[reeffreak]

Base rock as in a dry rock?
If its dry then you will still need a few pounds of good live rock that has coralline on it to seed the base.Aim to have at least 1lb of rocks per gallon.

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome! I recommend 1 to 2 lbs of live rock per gallon. So in your case, anywhere from 50 to 100 lbs total. Although the higher end is better, I think.

Petco and Petsmart are pretty much useless as far as saltwater goes. In fact, I've never even seen them selling live rock. Like Freak, I've bought live rock online from Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums and you can get pretty good deals from them, especially if you buy when it's on sale. At an LFS you can expect to pay anywhere from $8 to $14 per lb for live rock, and you can get it even cheaper online, including shipping.

What kind of fish are you thinking of getting? Do you want a reef tank or fish only tank? The type of tank you want will determine the type of equipment you'll need.

[BlueSi4]

Welcome to the site!

Take a look at this forum Manhattan Reefs
It's made up of people that live around the Manhattan area (New Jersey, Long Island, Manhattan, Staten Island, Westchester, Connecticut) and there's always a bunch of stuff for sale going on, both dry goods and live goods. I basically get all my livestock from there, since it's a lot cheaper. As far as live rock, i've basically bought everything from members there. They are usually full of coralline and sold at about $4 per lb.
Once you join, look for me in there...BlueSi4

[yote]

Welcome to the reef.
You can use base rock and seed it with live.Thats the cheapest and IMHO,best way to go.Go with say,75% base rock and finish the other 25% off with good quality live rock.That way you save some money for other important toys like skimmers,lights,fish,corals,ect,ect,.

Any questions you come up with,feel free to post it.And dont forget the pics.

[Altohombre]

This is what I have so far:

46 All Glass/Top Fin Gallon bow front w/nice stand (from Petsmart)
Oceanic sea salt (90 gal)
AquaC Remora protein skimmer w/maxi-jet 1200 + prefilter addon
Eheim Jager 150w heater
Eheim Classic 2213 canister filter
Red Sea Hydrometer
API Tap Water Filter

(on order) API Master Saltwater Test kit
(on order) Mag-Float for algae - medium
(on order) 80 lbs of Carib Sea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink live sand

(still planning to get) Python 50' No Spill Clean N Fill
(still planning to get) 50-100 lbs of Dry/Live Rock

[Altohombre]

I forgot to mention that I plan on just a FOWLR at this time. I am nervous enough with how to buy and set up live rock without it falling down and crashing my glass (due to somewhat reckless roommates) let alone adding and caring for corals. When I get my own house I will hopefully still be very into this hobby and will get a large tank with corals.

[reeffreak]

Make sure you clean the canister religiously.They can become nitrate/phospahte traps which leads to nuisance algae problems.At least cleaning every two weeks or use it on a part time basis to polish and run carbon.I recommend a couple small powerheads for added flow.Maxi-Jets are cheap and works well or the Koralias circulation pumps.

Good luck,seems you're on your way.