Craiglist LR ?'s

[vinhjamin8302]

Ok i tried lookin for a thread on here for buying LR randomly,but with no luck..my question is when/if you buy LR from someone privately is there any precautions you can do to prevent f-up's, i know to do the smell test and see how heavy it is for its size but what else can i do?? Also is there anything i can do to try and prevent unwanted hitchikers??

 

[dustin_P74]

make sure they have never used copper in there tank because if they have that live rock will be useless. and if your worried about hitch hikers then the best thing to do is boil the rocks

 

[yote]

If your going to boil the rock,you might as well save the money and buy lace rock.
Just look for aiptasia and majanos,since those are the main ones you'll find when buying from another hobbiest.

 

[dan55gallonhex]

i got mine from another hobbiest you may get pests but their are was of handling it and thats part of the fun trying to control everthing. i had a green algea outbreak and 3 months later i don't it just part of the joy.

 

[vinhjamin8302]

Yeah but i think i'd go nuts tryin to control an algea outbreak for three months, as far as the copper can i test for it or do i just have to take the persons word for it?

 

[yote]

Your gonna have algae outbreaks.Thats just part of the process of a tank maturing.
But you can buy copper test kits,or you can look at the rock close and inspect it for pods.If you can see pods crawling around,its a good bet that the rocks good.

 

[Bifferwine]

Don't boil the rock. That defeats the purpose of buying live rock in the first place.

Buy a copper test and bring it with you. Do the test before you buy the rock. Don't believe them when they say they've never used copper -- find out for yourself.

 

[dan55gallonhex]

i agree as far as controling algea outbreaks for 3 months you are going to have to control the whole tank. equipment,fish,and corals for the rest of their lives gat used to it!!!!

 

[stevekellner]

Definetly look for aiptasia while buying. I would also not recommend boiling rocks.