Live rock concerns - is it really worth it?

[TylerAquatics]

In the near future after my 125 reef is fully stocked, im planning on setting up a fiji cube 11 gallon EXT. I'm thinking about using live rock this time. I'm pretty convinced to do it, but I'm mainly afraid of the potential of parasitic isopods. Are these guys even possible to remove and are they all that common in live rock? Thanks in advance :]

 

[Sdoutreefer]

In the near future after my 125 reef is fully stocked, im planning on setting up a fiji cube 11 gallon EXT. I'm thinking about using live rock this time. I'm pretty convinced to do it, but I'm mainly afraid of the potential of parasitic isopods. Are these guys even possible to remove and are they all that common in live rock? Thanks in advance :]

I've had 5 tanks, all with LR. Never did get some parasitic something. Only pests that tagged along were gorilla crabs... That's how stuff used to work back in the day.

 

[TylerAquatics]

I've had 5 tanks, all with LR. Never did get some parasitic something. Only pests that tagged along were gorilla crabs... That's how stuff used to work back in the day.

Good to know. Thanks! I'm not too worried about most pests and hitchhikers because I know they're easy enough to catch and get rid of. Those isopods I've heard of just sound like a pain

Any companies you recommend ordering from? I was thinking of getting it from Tampa Bay Saltwater

 

[PocketGoose]

Good to know. Thanks! I'm not too worried about most pests and hitchhikers because I know they're easy enough to catch and get rid of. Those isopods I've heard of just sound like a pain

Any companies you recommend ordering from? I was thinking of getting it from Tampa Bay Saltwater

TBS is closed after the hurricane as an FYI. I believe they're relocating.

 

[TylerAquatics]

TBS is closed after the hurricane as an FYI. I believe they're relocating.

That's a shame. I have a lot of time to wait, though. I won't be setting this tank up until 6 months from now probably

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Live rock is what I would do for all of my future tanks!

 

[Reefing102]

Absolutely worth it. I’ve never had parasitic anything either, just the usual pests.

With that said, I ordered rock from KP Aquatics and loved it (I just went with base rock and there was plenty of life).

While I’ve never ordered from them, there’s also Gulf Live Rock and Salty Bottom Reef Company for Gulf rock and also @Eric Cohen with TankStop sells Australian Live Rock (heard it’s fantastic) and also Live Rock N Reef sells Florida, Australian, and Walt Smith Fiji live rock as well.

 

[TylerAquatics]

Absolutely worth it. I’ve never had parasitic anything either, just the usual pests.

With that said, I ordered rock from KP Aquatics and loved it (I just went with base rock and there was plenty of life).

While I’ve never ordered from them, there’s also Gulf Live Rock and Salty Bottom Reef Company for Gulf rock and also @Eric Cohen with TankStop sells Australian Live Rock (heard it’s fantastic) and also Live Rock N Reef sells Florida, Australian, and Walt Smith Fiji live rock as well.

Very good to know! I've also been looking at KPaquatics. Did you have to cure the base rock?

 

[Reefing102]

Very good to know! I've also been looking at KPaquatics. Did you have to cure the base rock?

While there was some die off, I did not cure it. I just tossed it into my existing tank. With that said, I did inspect it before I put it in for any potential hazards or large dying things to help prevent that. While it hasn’t been updated in a while, there’s some pics in the build thread (linked below my username) that show how it came in.

If you decide to order submerged in water, I strongly encourage air freight as UPS mishandled the box enough to where it one of the boxes leaked (I don’t think I included pics of that one).

 

[kevgib67]

In about 20 years of reefing I’ve used nothing but live rock and always will. Mostly cool hitchhikers and the only bad hitchhikers were a couple fireworms that I removed with tweezers. Remember, hitchhikers can come from other sources such as frag plugs that the corals you bought came on.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

I absolutely hate the fact that the hobby has moved away from LR. I understand why, to a certain point, but man, the dry rock is a pain in my rear.

 

[DylanE]

Live rock all day. When I started 20 years ago it was pretty standard, and I feel there were way less “new tank algae bloom” issues. The added biodiversity is well worth the potential risk.

 

[Jasonak]

I think the benefits out way the potential problems.

 

[Eric Cohen Verified Sponsor]

I should have more rock to pick from towards the end of next week.

 

[Tamberav]

Good to know. Thanks! I'm not too worried about most pests and hitchhikers because I know they're easy enough to catch and get rid of. Those isopods I've heard of just sound like a pain

Any companies you recommend ordering from? I was thinking of getting it from Tampa Bay Saltwater

I really liked the KPA rock. I found gulf live rock to be too bolder like. Just hated the shapes but it had a lot of life.

 

[Macbalacano]

my current tank is all live rock. I had to deal with a couple of hitchhikers - worst one was a predatory worm that killed my shrimps. But I would do it all over again. To me, all the benefits of live rock outweigh the cons. I think it has allowed me to enjoy relatively smooth/easy success, which has made owning this tank a lot more fun vs. The last tank I did with all new rock and was just plagued with problems!

 

[JoJosReef]

Interestingly, I've got a bit of a dino situation in my 10 gal. RODI filters went off and I caught it a bit late, so some light turmoil in the tanks. Anyway, the tank has a bunch of macros, TBS live sand and real reef rocks from the 70s from Marshall Islands that were dried and resurrected by seeding with TBS LR. Dinos are populating on the macros and sending up strings of bubbly snot. Know where they aren't? TBS sand and Marshall Islands rocks. I'll never use anything else.

Knock on driftwood.

Dumped a bit of mixed Fiji Mud in the tank today to attack the dinos while I work in new RODI

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

That's a shame. I have a lot of time to wait, though. I won't be setting this tank up until 6 months from now probab

Hiya,

Due to a 3' storm surge from Hurricane Debby, we cleaned up the mess and moved to a new location. A few days later Hurricane Milton hit, so we stopped taking new orders and have had to delay October shipments until November.

Good news is this new location is bigger and better than previous, WoooHOO!
We are going to reopen with a 40th Year Anniversary Sale on Black Friday. Shipments will move out in the order they are received, so order early.

 

[DylanE]

Hiya,

Due to a 3' storm surge from Hurricane Debby, we cleaned up the mess and moved to a new location. A few days later Hurricane Milton hit, so we stopped taking new orders and have had to delay October shipments until November.

Good news is this new location is bigger and better than previous, WoooHOO!
We are going to reopen with a 40th Year Anniversary Sale on Black Friday. Shipments will move out in the order they are received, so order early.

Glad to hear it! Do you think things will have leveled out by Jan/Feb as far as orders and availability? I’m doing an upgrade around then and am hoping to buy about 200lbs.

 

[BriDroid]

If I were to do it all over again, live rock is where it's at! I've set up 3 tanks over the years. First one 30 years ago with real live rock, no issues other than some bristle worms. Second tank was about 20 years ago, no issues at all. This tank about 3 months ago.... dealing with all kinds of algae, what everyone calls the ugly stage. It's not horrible, but the live rock tanks were set it and forget it.

The only real positive for the use of dry rock was being able to dry scape everything and glue it all together before hand. Other than that, not much is better.