Ordering Live Rock?

blando

Reefing newb
Hey guys i bought a 75 gallon tank. I was wondering waht you guys thought about ordering live rock from online. Looks like be cheaper because like at certain price its free shipping. Just want to see what everyone thinks or have done it. If so what website would u suggest? Thanks everyone
 
The pukani is dead dry rock, and full of dead organics. You need to give it an acid bath. It's known for leaching phosphates down the road.
Their eco saver rock is man made rock and just needs a quick rinse with a hose. I would go that option instead, if you want dry rock.

And fwiw, this rock will never have the life on it that you will get from TBS.
 
+1 for Tampa Bay Saltwater. It comes with all sorts of cool hitch hikers -- corals, sponges, gorgonians, inverts and even fish sometimes. And yes, you risk getting bad hitch hikers too (mantis shrimp are common), but it's well worth it for the quality of rock you get.

I have also ordered live rock from Live Aquaria. It didn't come with any hitch hikers (good or bad) and wasn't near the quality of TBS rock.
 
I got the pukani rock and it was as clean as could be and I've never had a phosphate problem. I think a few years ago there was a batch of pukani that leached phosphates really bad (according to threads on a few other forums), but I think the latest batches have been a lot better. But yes, it is dead rock. You can put mostly dead rock in your tank (and the pukani is my personal favorite), but you still need to seed it with a piece of live rock and it will turn live within a few weeks. When I started my tank I ordered mostly dead rock and about 25lbs of live rock from AquaCon. It arrived wrapped in newspaper and pretty dried out. I think anything that was alive on it aside from bacteria had pretty much died by the time it arrived to me. I had to re-cure it for a good month, and then cycled my tank for an additional two weeks. If I were to do it over I would order almost all dry rock and then get one piece of live rock from a reputable LFS, or would buy a few lbs from Tampa Bay Saltwater since they ship their rock submerged. I think it would make the trip better than the rock from the other companies.
 
I've always wanted to order a few pieces of rock from TBS but I am afraid of their odd shipping procedures.

They list FedEx as a possibility but then spend a ton of time talking about airline shipping and a base charge of like $100 or something for that.

I just want to order like four or five pounds of their best stuff for the added filtration and biological diversity that they would contribute to my tank....but am afraid to see how much 5lbs of rock from them would run me. I'm not made of money. :-(
 
I don't think you can just order "a few pieces". You have to order a lot at once.

Dry rock can be shipped via Fedex, but live rock is shipped on passenger airplanes the same day. This ensures that it's really fresh. You have to pick it up at the airport. It's actually really easy.
 
I don't think you can just order "a few pieces". You have to order a lot at once.

Dry rock can be shipped via Fedex, but live rock is shipped on passenger airplanes the same day. This ensures that it's really fresh. You have to pick it up at the airport. It's actually really easy.

No you can order whatever you want. I have even just done a blank order for $50 bucks and wrote surprise me in the comments and he sent me a ton of cool shit. Sponges, gorgonians, snails and a big fat sponge crab.
 
Nice..well looks like when i order the rock for the 75 gallons it will be TBS.. seem u get some nice things with it when prob cost crap load at a fish store :P
 
I emailed him and he said that $90 will be as much rock as I want up to 100 lbs. I obviously don't need that much. I asked for 5-10lbs, but he can only ship through the airport. He was surprised Delta flew in here (so was I). Not sure if I'm going to do it or not. I don't have the room for a large amount of rock, and I don't want to store it. So $90 for maybe 20lbs max doesn't seem worth it even if it is amazing rock.
 
TBS seems really good. I am assuming that you would add it to an un-cycled tank. So the added goodies that come with the rock help with the cycling process? What is to prevent them from being affected by the un-cycled tank?
 
Yea i am ordering it for a new tank i will be setting up.. And we have to pick it up from the airport? How big of box does it come in i have a car i mean seats fold down but its not like a wagon hmm.. might have to get a truck or SUV or somthing
 
The boxes are small enough to fit in a regular car. I ordered lots of stuff from TBS and it fit fine in my Jetta. If you order a lot, it will come in several boxes.
 
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