Noobie In Hawaii

[Rufio808]

So, it seems natural to start up a salt water aquarium while living on Oahu. I have most of my materials already but I just need some live rock. Anyone know where to grab some on Oahu or recommend a good site. I'm in college and poor sooooo... You guessed it, I'm broke.

Ps - it's illegal to take live rock from the ocean here

 

[Bifferwine]

Welcome to the site!

The good news is that you can use mostly base rock (basically dry, dead live rock) and you only need a few pieces of live rock to seed it with. Shipping to HI would probably be expensive for the usual places I recommend people buy live rock, so your best bet may be to try to buy some from fellow hobbyists (Craigs List is a great place to look) or your local fish stores (LFS).

 

[BL1]

Welcome to the site Rufio!

 

[PRC]

One of the guys that I buy stuff from gets his stuff shipped from Hawaii so there's gotta be something close to you.

 

[Rufio808]

Hey thanks for all the help! Base rock sounds really good. I'll be sure to check out LFS around.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you.

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard.
There are several places in your area where a lot of the stuff we keep are actually caught.If you can get in contact with one of them,they can probably help find some rock.Might even be able to get you pretty decent discount.

 

[Rufio808]

Wow! That would be all kinds of awesome. My girlfriend and I were thinking about fresh water vs reefing and I must say, reefing was the better choice by far! I do like challenges btw.

 

[dcantucson]

Hello & Welcome to Living Reefs!

 

[Northstar24]

These guys are on one of the islands, they might be able to help you out

: : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : :

 

[dcantucson]

These guys are on one of the islands, they might be able to help you out

: : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : :

Wow! I can't believe they are selling Bristle Worms (6 of them) for $20.00:shock:

: : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : :

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah we could all make a killing off of them!

 

[sen5241b]

Sorry I did not see this thread sooner. I used to live out in Waianae --the west side. The best kind of rock is dead coral skeletons but the volcanic rock you have out there would probably work well too. Just walk down to the Ocean and grab some! I've grabbed a lot of rock off beaches and it worked out just fine BUT I let it turn bone dry first so as not to introduce parasites from the ocean into my tank.

As for the question of fresh vs marine tanks. The LFSs I saw in Hawaii don't even sell any fresh water fish!

 

[Rufio808]

Sorry I did not see this thread sooner. I used to live out in Waianae --the west side. The best kind of rock is dead coral skeletons but the volcanic rock you have out there would probably work well too. Just walk down to the Ocean and grab some! I've grabbed a lot of rock off beaches and it worked out just fine BUT I let it turn bone dry first so as not to introduce parasites from the ocean into my tank.

As for the question of fresh vs marine tanks. The LFSs I saw in Hawaii don't even sell any fresh water fish!

Daang Waianae! So far brah! True about the LFSs here. Freshwater?! Wtf is that?!

 

[sen5241b]

Daang Waianae! So far brah! True about the LFSs here. Freshwater?! Wtf is that?!

LOL

If you do grab some rock --don't leave Hawaii with it!

 

[Hiker4twenty]

If it were me and I lived there I'd take a few small pieces of LR from the ocean to help seed the dry base rock. I know I'm going to catch hell for saying this...haha

 

[Rufio808]

I do need live rock for all my base rock. Hmmmmm. Stores don't really carry live rock here.

 

[sen5241b]

I do need live rock for all my base rock. Hmmmmm. Stores don't really carry live rock here.

Good Live rock here is 8 or 9 dollars a pound. You are supposed to use 1 to 2 pounds per gallon in your tank. That can add up! Live rock is one of the most expensive things in this hobby. If you can get it for free you are saving a ton of money.