Cheap Dry Rock

[HRBP]

Put live rock in the title when I meant Dry Rock :FACEPALM:

Wanted to ask the community if they have any experience or concerns about this type of rock. I'm looking to get 120 pounds of rock for my 120g I'm starting. Going with dry rock because I dealt with a lot of hitckhikers with the live rock in my 60g and for this amount of rock I want to keep the cost down . Lastly I want to spend a lot of time drilling, pinning, and gluing together a nice aquascape.

This price beats BRS dry rock (which goes for $2.59/lb) since its only $1.32/lb.
Nature's Ocean 12-Inch Coral Base Rocks for Aquarium, 40-Pound
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F8DVAO4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

That adds up to some substantial savings of about 50% over the cost of 120 lbs. But if its crap I dont want it. Now I do have prime, so if I'm unhappy I could return it, but its still 120lbs. and a pain to do that. So I wanted to know if you guys have any concerns. I understand the pieces are large, but I cant break those pieces down with a flathead and a hammer.

 

[jerseypete]

Just read the reviews. Almost 25% give 1 or 2 stars. I usually assume a few of the 5 star ratings are false. Probably by seller. Just look at 1 st reviewers picture. Your rock is a big part of how your tank is going to look like after all said and done. Would go with it to save 150.

 

[jerseypete]

Just read the reviews. Almost 25% give 1 or 2 stars. I usually assume a few of the 5 star ratings are false. Probably by seller. Just look at 1 st reviewers picture. Your rock is a big part of how your tank is going to look like after all said and done. Wouldn't go with it to save 150.

 

[ksfulk]

Understand what you are buying here - base rock is generally more dense, less porous and more solid than other rock. That said, there is nothing "wrong" with the rock you have listed, but it probably wont be very aesthetically appealing unless you do a lot of work on it. When I've setup with base rock before, I tended to buy about half of my rock as base for sturdy, non-movable support structures, and then the other half I used more "airy" and eye-pleasing rock. Marcorocks are a great dryrock company (and a sponsor here) that is relatively inexpensive, you can request certain cuts, sizes and shapes of rocks, and they are packed very nicely with minimal "FedEx Aquascaping". I had a tank that I used only base rock in (BRS base rock in a 75gallon) and it looked OK, but I had to add some more mechanical filteration (ceramic media) to address some of the issues that I was having with nutrients - and I attribute that to the lack of porousity in the base rock.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Edited Thread title for you

 

[Brandon42]

+1 Marco rocks

They have really awesome packages for starting tanks too.

 

[ShawnS1974]

Another option: craigslist... There are a lot of tank break downs and rock for a great price. Give it an acid bath and cook it for a month, I would be surprised if much would survive pest wise.. Also if you are going dry, this is a process you will more than likely go through anyways
Marco is great from what I've seen, never used their rocks but I have used their mortar.
I've used BRS in my last two tanks and love it. My only issue with ordering online is you have to wait to see what you get.

 

[revhtree]

Also try www.marcorocks.com!