What to look for in LR

[sen5241b]

Look for lots of coralline. Get it home fast and don't let it dry out. If it dries, all the living stuff on it dies and then when you put it in your tank it starts a cycle. I've taken LR home quick and popped it in my tank without starting a cycle.

 

[kwsm]

When first setting up our tank, my boyfriend and I just bought a bunch of LR from our LFS without really knowing what we were looking for. We got a couple hitchhiker featherdusters and some vermetid snails and that's all that's really shown up so far (almost a month later). I would still like to add a bit more rock here and there but I want to know if there's anything I should be looking for when picking out specific pieces of rock. I see all these posts about interesting hitchhikers and now I'm jealous. :|

When we picked out our original rock we just picked out the pieces that looked like they had the most color and holes.


Thoughts?

 

[yote]

When I'm looking at LR,I'll give it the sniff test.If I can smell the slightest little bit of ammonia,then I know the rocks not cured yet.Not really a bad thing because you can always cure it in a rubbermaid.
I also look for rock that feels lighter than it looks.That will let you know that its full of holes.Then I'll look at the shape to see if it'll fit where I want it.
The last thing I look for is the color and the life on the rock.Mainly because I know that if everything else is there,then the critters are gonna be there to.
And a little tip to help perserve the critters in the rock.
Acclimate it like you would anything else.That will give everything thats in it the best chance of survival.

 

[Bifferwine]

Like Yote said, porous rocks are especially good. I have a mix of rocks in my tank and some of them are like solid stones. In retrospect, I should not have bought those rocks. There's very little surface area for bacteria to inhabit, and there's no way for fish to use the rocks as habitat.

 

[Navarchus]

Bring a 5 gallon bucket to put your live rock in.

Many LFS will simply wrap your life rock in paper to keep it wet and keep the bacteria alive on your way home. That's what my LFS did, and when I got home, i noticed a dead, but beautiful purple and yellow basslet that had been hiding in the rock. I think he would have made it if I had the LFS put my rock in 5gallon buckets full of salt water instead.

 

[kwsm]

Alright so after a look around at the LFS, I have two options for local purchase. The place we got our original rock, which has all the bacteria and such but not much else, and a second place. This guy has BEAUTIFUL looking rock. Nice color, tons of mushroom corals growing all over the place, rock feels decently light compared to it's appearance, sponges growing on some pieces, and just looks gorgeous. BUT, he has a few aiptasia visible in the tank :( as well as a few spots of bubble algae. All for about $10/lb.

Is the rock worth the aiptasia coming with it? I'm sure even if I picked out the pieces that didn't SEEM to have any on it, that I would find them sooner or later.

 

[Bifferwine]

I say buy the nice rock and deal with any aiptasia that pop up. When you buy the rock, pick up a bottle of Aiptasia X at the same time :)

 

[yote]

+1 Biff
If your gonna get good looking rock,then you'll have to deal with a few bad hitch hikers to.But thats all just part of the fun.:D