What Is My Live Rock Worth?

[Rcpilot]

I'm selling off the live rock in the 30H display tank. Planning to upgrade the tank or possibly go larger. Need to get rid of the beginner corals and rocks they are attached too. All this rock is covered in assorted zoas, mushrooms, palys etc..

I need some help setting prices on this stuff. Can you guys/gals toss out some numbers to help me? I'm listing this stuff on craigslist locally.

How about this rock?

It has approx. 100 watermelon zoas, 25 lime green palythoas, 2 green hairy mushrooms and a nice colony of red/neon green blastomussa wellsi with about 20-25 polyps. It's about as big around as a small paper plate and about 4 inches or 5 inches thick. Kind of a flat rock. Maybe 9" or 10" diameter. Weighs about 12-- 15lbs.

The tank is 24" tall - to help with size reference.

Thanks

 

[XxKnuckleheadxX]

hard to see, but from what you listed. no less then 100.00

 

[Rcpilot]

WOW! :bounce:

I was thinking $50 or $60 for that rock.

I'll try and get better pics of individual rocks tomorrow when the lights are on. I'm going to be posting pics here and asking for y'alls help with the pricing.

 

[XxKnuckleheadxX]

20-25 polyps of the blastos alone are more then 100.00
also blastos are starting to become rare in the trade. they are not that abundant.

 

[Rcpilot]

Really? I had no idea. Why are blastos becoming rare? Limitations on wild harvest?

I might have to stick a flat blade screw driver under that colony and pry them off that rock. :D They can live in the 29g frag tank for awhile.

These are the blastos. This is an old shot, but you get an idea of the type. Nothing special, but a blasto none the less.

1 - Blastos,
2 - blastos,
3 - lime green palys,
4 - watermelon zoas? eagle eye zoas? same damn thing?

Keep in mind, these are just pics of the corals on the rock. See first post for polyp count.

EDIT:
AND a couple hairy mushrooms, but we all know what those look like.

 

[Bifferwine]

At my LFS, blastos typically sell for around $10 a polyp. The wellsi are much more expensive than the merletti.

 

[Rcpilot]

At my LFS, blastos typically sell for around $10 a polyp. The wellsi are much more expensive than the merletti.

:shock: Holy crap Batman!!

I have a wellsi - right?

 

[PRC]

RC,

You'll triple or possibly quadruple that money if you can put it on CL and be patient with getting rid of it. I would figure that each 2-4 polyp piece is going to be worth $20-$25(depending on the size)...You can do the math from there.

You could get a nice deposit on a bigger tank with that rock and frags...Problem is people on CL are flakey. I buy alot of stuff on CL...Everytime I get to a persons house they tell me a story about how the other 5 people never showed up. Maybe look for a local reefer site to post them on...Then you know people will be a bit more serious about it... No, I'm not recommending going to a different site. But you need a place where it's local.

I might not know jack about an aquarium, but I know how money works.. I'm a cheap S.O.B and I wouldn't think twice about dropping $200 in your lap for that piece of rock and everything attached to it..because I know if I was able to take it apart and get it in front of the right people I could turn that $200 into $4-500.

A Craigs list rock will net you about $3-5 lb. The same rock at my LFS will be $5-10, depending on the color.

These are Midwest prices...your supply and demand may be different in CO.

 

[Rcpilot]

I could part it out and make a ton more money. I DO have the 29g frag tank. That was the original plan from the start.

I built the 29g frag tank to house a 3-stripe damsel that I rescued from certain death. He was mean and he was gona get flushed in about 24hrs, so I went and got him. Free. He was relocated from a 55g tank into my 10g frag tank for a couple months, but I felt really sorry for him in such a small tank and I didn't need much more excuse to upgrade him into the much larger 29g chalet' that he now occupies.

Then I decided to use that 29g frag as a holding station while I parted out the 30H display one frag at a time. I started cutting frags out of my 30H display until I filled all the racks that I have. There's about 100 frags in there now. I haven't sold SQUAT in months. Either nobody has any money or they don't want frags with 5 - 10 polyps. ??

So I thought I'd try and sell whole rocks covered in polyps and BAM!! - already had 2 people contact me and want to come over tomorrow. I don't really want to sell these rocks STUPID cheap - but I DO want to move them out ASAP. I've got my mind made up and I'm stripping this 30H tank for now. Nemo and his palys are going in the frag tank. I'm not sure if I'll jump right into the 40g tank or not. But I think if I can scrounge up the cash I'll go ahead and try to buy the 40g setup.

 

[PRC]

Not trying to throw a monkey in your wrench, but have you considered going BIGGER than the 40g? Not a big difference between 30 and 40g.

 

[Rcpilot]

Yes, I actually have a 90g tank here. :rofl:

But I live in an apartment. The 29g frag tank takes up a whole corner of our dining room. The existing 30H display takes up 1/2 of the east living room wall. Not much room for a 4 foot tank unless I put it in my bedroom and my wife won't let me do that because she knows the family would never see me. :mrgreen:

The difference between the 30H and a 40g:
30 High is 24" long x 12" wide x 24" tall
40 Tall is 36" long x 12" wide x 20" tall

I like the extra length and the shorter height. My 6 bulb 24" T5 fixture will probably bolt right up under that canopy. If I fudge it to one side, I could slap a small MH light under one end of the canopy and keep higher light corals on that side. Or not. Might just use the T5 fixture I already got?

I DO want a big tank. But at some point, we're buying a house and I'll need help carting my aquariums out of here. It's a lot easier to find 4 guys to help you lug a 200lb aquarium around - than it is to find 4 guys to lug a 600lb aquarium around. :mrgreen: I'm figuring the tank will be moved with sand and a few gallons of water in it. I ain't movin' far when I do buy a house. Couple miles at the most.

 

[PRC]

I know what you mean, my tank is 24" tall..It's a PITA trying to reach down in there...Especially since I'm only 5.5' tall.:D Friggin' genetics.

I never thought about it when I bought the tank. Now I think about it everyday. I have to take off my shirt just to put my arm in the tank!!

 

[Rcpilot]

I know, I'm 5' 7" in my socks. When I put my arm in the 30H, I have to roll my sleeves up and I usually end up with a wet armpit anyways.

I'm diggin' the 18" high 29g frag tank though. :D

 

[fastrd400]

Chris, easily 150-200 all day long. Like PRC said, if it was me I'd put it up on a local reefer site. Those guys all know what you have and will scoop it up in a minute.

 

[Rcpilot]

I posted it on the local club site.

 

[fastrd400]

right on, now sit back, and wait on the PM's and the phone calls, you'll get em.

 

[Bifferwine]

:shock: Holy crap Batman!!

I have a wellsi - right?

Merlettis are small -- like the size of a lentil. Wellsi are large -- like the size of a nickel or quarter.

 

[Rcpilot]

Merlettis are small -- like the size of a lentil. Wellsi are large -- like the size of a nickel or quarter.

This must be a wellsi. Polyps are the size of a quarter.

So far I have 3 people scheduled to come over today. I might be out of rock before the day is finished. :bounce:

 

[PRC]

Are you sellling them as frags or one big chunk of goodness? Where did you end up pricing them at?

 

[Rcpilot]

Just counted everything. I've got 68 frags in the 29g frag tank and about 50lbs of live rock in the 30g display. I'm trying to sell ALL of it. :mrgreen:

I popped that blasto off the rock this morning with a small chisel. I dropped it in the frag tank.

I've priced the rock between $20 per rock - up to $150 per rock. Depends on the size and polyp count. Some rocks have over 200 polyps of zoas.