lurker finally joining

Altohombre

Altohombre

The Tennis Pro Reefer
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
One K3 should work out fine.I was going to suggest two K2 for a better random flow but you should be good.You can always add another later if you feel its needed.
 
Bifferwine said that you and her have bought from Liveaquaria. Have you ever gotten the Lalo Live rock? To me it looks the nicest in the picture. I was thinking of getting some of their Fiji foundation rock (35lb) and then get the Lalo (30lb). Would you suggest foundation rock? I am nervous about falling rocks and want a nice foundation.
 
It's pretty hard for live rock to fall once it's positioned in the tank. Don't be so worried about that, once you start aquascaping you'll find how the pieces seem to fit together best, and it's pretty sturdy. I have bought the Tonga and Fiji rock from Live Aquaria. Go with whatever kind looks the most appealing to you.
 
There Lalo live rock seems to be the best live rock Liveaquaria has.I've bought Lalo,Fiji and Tonga deepwater live rock from them.The fiji foundation rock is just a base live rock.Perfect for the bottom and then you just put the good rocks on top.

Now the best rocks I've seen is from Saltycritter.com.There Uaniva is awesome with lots of color.
 
I currently have only a Hydor Koralia 3 running and a heater. I put in Oceanic salt mixed well and it has sat for about 3 days. Today I look in and the salt is all over the bottom of the tank and on the heater and powerhead. The overall look is cloudy. Now I know the tank is supposed to get cloudy when salt initially is put in, but it was fine for several days and now all of a sudden its like this. Any suggestions? Is this normal? Is my heat to high? Should I turn on my canister filter?
 
there is no sand in there yet. I have 80lbs of Arag-alive Fiji Pink on the way. I am really confused about this salt thing. I took a spoon and the salt seems to be stuck to the bottom of the tank. My heater is set for 77 degrees but the thermometer is saying it is closer to 81. I thought eheim jager 150w were good but they don't seem to be accurate right now. The salt was completely dissolved almost instantly and was somewhat clear for several days.
 
Trust your thermometer, not your heater. Heaters WILL malfunction and WILL read wrong. In fact, your best bet is to get a second thermometer to check against the first one. Temperature problems are common and can devastate a tank. Turn your heater down a couple notches, even though it's set to 77.

That's weird about your salt. Have you added anything else besides salt and water?
 

Similar threads

Mike
  • Sticky
New Member (Owner 😲)
Replies
0
Views
720
Mike
Mike
F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
1K
kbuser92
kbuser92
Mike
Software Updated
Replies
0
Views
402
Mike
Mike
Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
653
Mike
Mike
J
PULLING-OUT MY HAIR!
Replies
0
Views
2K
Jeff P.
J
Back
Top