Slightly annoyed.

[vetteguy53081]

The guy said I should add fish and live rock at the same time. Does that make any sense? Will the fish die?

Live rock has nothing to do with fish. It will assist with breakdown on waste produced by fish reducing nitrates
To suggest fish need live rock for survival is misleading by given LFS

 

[Sailaway]

Live rock has nothing to do with fish. It will assist with breakdown on waste produced by fish reducing nitrates
To suggest fish need live rock for survival is misleading by given LFS

He sure acted like it did. He confused me a TON.

 

[Sailaway]

So did he think that was too high or too low? Either way wasnt a reason to refuse to sell live rock

Too high. He made it seem AWFUL.

 

[jabberwock]

Hey Sailaway - I feel for you, this is not a tank issue, it is a Parent issue. Totally fine to post it here, this IS part of reefing, but mostly it is about accommodating an old man. Very nice of you to take your folks along. I know mine look for every reason to get out of the house. I smile and try to be agreeable when my Old Man waves his cane at me. Hang in there!

Go shopping by yourself when it is time to buy, but don't stop dragging them along from time to time.

 

[Rmckoy]

He said all kinds of crap I had never heard before and I have been researching this for MONTHS. I was so mad I drove all that way and left with nothing. Not even a rock. My ammonia and everything else was at a safe level, salinity and SG are GREAT and he said no to me putting a darn rock in there but told me I can add fish by Wednesday…sir…

I would find another lfs .
that place doesn’t sound like a knowledgeable or welcoming place .

even if a system isn’t cycled , adding live rocks will only help .
So no rocks but fish are ok ?
I strongly recommend not making that drive again.

 

[jabberwock]

Hey Sailaway - I feel for you, this is not a tank issue, it is a Parent issue. Totally fine to post it here, this IS part of reefing, but mostly it is about accommodating an old man. Very nice of you to take your folks along. I know mine look for every reason to get out of the house. I smile and try to be agreeable when my Old Man waves his cane at me. Hang in there!

Go shopping by yourself when it is time to buy, but don't stop dragging them along from time to time.

Oh wait, I thought your Dad was giving you a hard time, not the LFS sales weasel!!!

I apologize for misreading that.

 

[lulubap]

Too high. He made it seem AWFUL.

This is something I still struggle with: accepting that though some parameters may not be ideal, it doesn't mean they have to be fixed. I have customers walk in with nitrates that are well above 20, or detectable amounts of ammonia and nitrite. But, their fish are fine. Their tank is fine. Nothing has ever been better. Though parameters are not ideal, there's no need to change anything about the tank.

It was honestly short sighted of the employee to discourage live rock; live rock is great. Especially for cycling. Also very weird to recommend live rock and fish at the same time as they have no correlation to each other. Find another LFS, or just a better one that you can take advice from.

 

[jabberwock]

That guy was just trying to sell you fish AND rocks. I usually don't even talk to them and especially do not ask them any questions...

Except for Josh...

 

[Rmckoy]

The only time I would see live rock being bad would be if they sat out for awhile and added them to a newly cycled system . If they were old rocks some stuff will die which could cause a ammonia spike . But for the most part adding rocks will only help

 

[Sailaway]

Oh wait, I thought your Dad was giving you a hard time, not the LFS sales weasel!!!

I apologize for misreading that.

You’re good! my dad was agreeing with the LFS guy, and told me he had 30+ years of experience, so I really didn’t want to argue. don’t apologize!

 

[Sailaway]

That guy was just trying to sell you fish AND rocks. I usually don't even talk to them and especially do not ask them any questions...

Except for Josh...

Yea, ugh. I wanted to pop in, grab rocks and leave, but my dad insisted on me speaking to the owner, who very obviously wanted to make a sale to a bright-eyed new reefer.

 

[Sailaway]

This is something I still struggle with: accepting that though some parameters may not be ideal, it doesn't mean they have to be fixed. I have customers walk in with nitrates that are well above 20, or detectable amounts of ammonia and nitrite. But, their fish are fine. Their tank is fine. Nothing has ever been better. Though parameters are not ideal, there's no need to change anything about the tank.

It was honestly short sighted of the employee to discourage live rock; live rock is great. Especially for cycling. Also very weird to recommend live rock and fish at the same time as they have no correlation to each other. Find another LFS, or just a better one that you can take advice from.

I think I will. There’s a store close by, I think I’ll call them in the AM and chat with them about my experience, see if they carry fish and never go back to the other.

 

[MaxTremors]

I would strongly recommend against giving in and buying dry rock. I would keep looking for some decent live rock that isn’t covered in aiptasia (one or two small ones is fine and easily taken care of, if there are tons and the system is full of them, that’s a different story). The threat of hitchhikers or pests is completely, wildly overblown, the vast majority are harmless if beneficial, and those that aren’t are completely manageable. Real live rock is the absolute best thing you can do for the health and longevity of your tank, IME it helps prevent fish disease (as it helps to boost their immune systems), makes the risk of dinoflagellates much less likely, and overall leads to a cleaner, more interesting tank. I would suggest maybe saving up a little bit and buying 10lbs from one of the gulf/keys vendors if you can’t find any decent live rock locally. It’s worth every penny.

 

[Sailaway]

I would strongly recommend against giving in and buying dry rock. I would keep looking for some decent live rock that isn’t covered in aiptasia (one or two small ones is fine and easily taken care of, if there are tons and the system is full of them, that’s a different story). The threat of hitchhikers or pests is completely, wildly overblown, the vast majority are harmless if beneficial, and those that aren’t are completely manageable. Real live rock is the absolute best thing you can do for the health and longevity of your tank, IME it helps prevent fish disease (as it helps to boost their immune systems), makes the risk of dinoflagellates much less likely, and overall leads to a cleaner, more interesting tank. I would suggest maybe saving up a little bit and buying 10lbs from one of the gulf/keys vendors if you can’t find any decent live rock locally. It’s worth every penny.

Alrighty, thank you, I would honestly prefer live anyway! Any websites to buy keys rock and have it shipped to my door? Do LFS’ ever get gulf/keys rock in?

 

[MaxTremors]

Alrighty, thank you, I would honestly prefer live anyway! Any websites to buy keys rock and have it shipped to my door? Do LFS’ ever get gulf/keys rock in?

Gulf Live Rock.com

Gulf Live Rock Specializing in wholesale and retail sales of Aquacultured Live Rock and live sand at direct from the diver prices. Free Shipping! coral reeftank

gulfliverock.com

KPAquatics is another place, but when I looked they were out of stock, plus you have to pick up their shipments at the airport, gulfliverock ships overnight to your door.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Buy from somewhere else.
Pass.
If this store does this enough maybe they will be out of business.
Sad.
D

 

[Thunder_reef]

Lots of wierdness here…I’d find a new store. Live rock is great but you don’t HAVE to buy live rock that is covered in aptaisa. Plenty of other options. Nitrites are nothing to fret about as others have stated.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

You’re good! my dad was agreeing with the LFS guy, and told me he had 30+ years of experience, so I really didn’t want to argue. don’t apologize!

So, your dad went with you, knowing you wanted to buy some live rock, but didn't tell you you needed to add fish with it until the LFS guy said it??

I mean, it's not true anyway, but why would your dad, with all his "experience" want you to waste a trip as well as your, and his, time?

 

[i cant think]

The guy said I should add fish and live rock at the same time. Does that make any sense? Will the fish die?

No. You can add fish without rock if you really wanted to. I don’t mean to sound blunt but that LFS is just talking a bunch of BS.
Don’t take any advice from them as honestly, it woudn’t be useful. If possible then try and find a new fish store to buy from that’s close but also worth the drive. If you were in the UK I could give quite a few good fish stores but unfortunately I assume you’re in the US.
A fish will live just as well in a dry rock tank, I assume the guy at the LFS was thinking about how the bacteria would die without the fish waste (Again, that’s just a bunch of BS, bacteria breaks down ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrates which are good for coral colour and potentially growth).

30+ years of experience I’d assume would give you the time to realise that LR doesn’t need to be added with fish.
If you want to learn more, I definitely recommend hanging around in here for a bit (Not saying you’re inexperienced but more so saying that you could figure out what would be best for your tank from the perspective of many people and not just one).

One other thing I’d like to mention, many people that work in the LFS are in it for the money… If I’m honest what you’re explaining sounds like someone who doesn’t care about the life of the fish and instead cares more about getting the money from it. I will admit, if you have absolutely no Ammonia then you are more than likely to be in the clear however I would wait until you’re measuring 0 for Nitrites as well as Ammonia for Atleast 3 days if not a week just to be absolutely certain.

 

[52728299]

Didn't you know, live rock only becomes beneficial if you pair it with a $400 tang.

(Being sarcastic, not trying to spread false info)