Where did you source your Live Rock?

[ChaseBurke]

For the people that started a tank to be eventually be an SPS dominate tank where did you source your live rock from and how have your experiences been? I do not have a local LFS that i trust so am looking to order online. I 100% am against using "dry rock". Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Braves Fan]

Does anyone still buy Live Rock ? Why are you 100% against using dry rock ,, its pretty much all I would ever use ,, I am fixing to redo the scape in my tank ,,, buy the dry rock ,, get some motar ,, make my scape ,, put it in a ice chest with some MB 7 type product ,, let it cook for a few months ,, in the tank it goes with no pest ,, pretty much doesn't get any better than that ,, and saves me a ton of money over the cost of Live Rock , if you can find it ,, with no pest ,,, jmo ,,, you need to re think your views on this ,,,

 

[reefwiser]

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/

The biodiversity of live rock can not be matched with dry rock.
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/unseen-world-coral-reefs
When you use dry rock you leave your self open to a bare field of allowing all kinds of algae to grow.

 

[ChaseBurke]

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/

The biodiversity of live rock can not be matched with dry rock.
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/unseen-world-coral-reefs
When you use dry rock you leave your self open to a bare field of allowing all kinds of algae to grow.

Exactly my opinion. I don’t want this thread to be a debate. If you have live rock great leave a comment. If not this thread is probably not for you.

 

[Awesome Dennis]

https://www.kpaquatics.com/product/aquacultured-live-rock/#

I'll be buying some from here

 

[Mikedawg]

Found Tukani live rock at LFS and couldn't be happier. Year in and very little nuisance algae, a few sponge hitchhikers, and looks like the ocean because it is the ocean. SPS are doing well and water parameters are stable.
I was fortunate to find it and glad that I could pick the pieces myself.

 

[3mm3]

Following.

 

[jda]

The gulf solutions are about all that there is right now. There should start to be a flow from Indo now that the import ban is mostly over, but it has not started to flow freely yet. You could call some LA wholesalers or someplace like Blue Zoo or Livestock USA and ask when they might be getting some pacific rock.

I am not a huge fan of the shipped-in-water stuff. Some people love it. To each their own. First, the gulf stuff is from a quarry and is too dense for me and I like the more porous stuff. Second, all that I want is the phosphate-free structure of the rock, bacteria, the coralline and pods - not the sea fans, crabs, snails, worms and who knows what else is living on them that eventually will die or I don't want anyway. I take solace that all of the nasty pests die in the curing of rock shipped dry. Basically, what I want is a bunch of bare rock with coralline and bacteria - the pods come back on their own.

 

[baldbrah]

just get dry rock and start from there. much cheaper and less chance of unwanted hitchhikers.

 

[User1]

Dry is cheaper when you can find it but with it brings a maturing time. Just how it works. Not that it is bad but, well, that whole patience thing :D I'm on month 5 of my 150 lbs dry Pukani and probably have another 5 or 6 months I'm guessing before it looks anything like what my live rock looked like.

With regards to live I think has noted above you will be sourcing from the gulf / Florida area. That leaves TBS (Tampa Bay Saltwater) and probably KP Aquatics. May be others, probably are, but TBS and KP are probably the more well known. TBS ships completely submerged under water and ships to air freight overnight for you to pick up. So less than 24 hours, fully submerged under water, equals the least amount of die off possibly. Search for those who ordered from KP to compare although I don't think they ship submerged. You are going to pay a bit more for this rock but being honest, if we are all that is, then these two sources are your best bet. Real rock, from the ocean, diversity, already present biological filters, good and bad hitch hikers, what more can you ask for. Just get your tank set up, substrate, lighting, skimmer, etc all set up with proper water and temp, add, and you are golden. That simple. I think any searching will show how good either of those two companies are and again being honest, Richard @ TBS is a swell guy to talk to. KP I've only ordered corals, not rock, and they are also nice. You probably can't go wrong with either.

In 2000 I ordered live rock from Harbor Aquatics. They sourced directly from Fiji back in the day and it was shipped 2 day air wrapped in wet newspaper. Rock was great, sponges, algae, lots of life but also some die off due to shipped and it sort of drying out. So I had a mini cycle. I still had my fair share of hitch hikers that made it in the form of crabs of sorts. Easy enough to catch and deal with and I still have some of that rock to date. Really good stuff which leads me back to why live. To me the diversity it comes with outweighs the possible bad hitch hiker or two.

Please note that I have not used TBS rock but have spoken to Richard a lot about diving and other things not so much reef related but have always wanted to purchase from him. Setting up a 210 gallon tank with two in college just means I had to go another route thus my use of 150 lbs of dry Pukani before it was stopped being sold. Great rock, great shapes, sizes, etc. However, it takes time to mature when starting from scratch. In about a year I'm sure it will be fine. But has I look at my tank today I can see the rock from Fiji of years past looks a lot better than the Pukani I have now. Yes the Pukani will color up, mature, etc. But the sponges and other things will take time.

TL;DR - TBS or KP Aquatics. If it is in your budget go for it. You won't be disappointed.

 

[andrewkw]

I am a big live rock fan as well. If you can't find any good live rock locally (it's a lot harder to find everywhere these days) expand your search to any LFS you can reach and return the same day and if that leads to nothing consider an overnight trip. The live rock is foundation of the reef if you have to make a trip out of it make a trip out of it. It's much better and more fun to pick it out yourself. It's been many years since I've fumbled through vats but all of my rock was handpicked by me at one time or another..

 

[lillypads reef]

I was happy with the live rock from salty bottom reef co. Best price imo.

 

[Jeff Willetts]

I used Marco Rocks With 0 Regrets!