Live rock vs clean

[harthag12]

Morning, I need peoples opinions. I'm hoping to get water in my new tank after an eight year hiatus this weekend. The tank is an Innovative marine 100g & I have another 65 JBJ AIO I'll be setting up. I was prepared to go with dry rock just because of cost & ease of setup however I feel like I'll be missing interesting things on the rock. Last night I went to Allquatics in Hamilton as I live 3 miles from mile it and they had live rock for 1.99/lb, initial glance it looked okish however one coral tank was full of aiptasia & their main large red sea display tank which looked nice also had a considerable amount of aiptasia.

Would you purchase purchase live rock based on observing the other tanks & risk it for that price or would you buy I believe it's Caribsea shelf rock on Amazon for roughly $2.00 a lb and play it safe. If I go for the live rock would you do anything special to inspect it or with it? I like the idea of live rock I'm just a bit concerned. Thanks in advance.
-Ian

 

[diana a]

I have no bad pests in my tank. I would never buy live rock because I just don't want aiptasia. Nothing good comes from doing things quickly in this hobby

 

[diana a]

BTW welcome back to the forum! Hope to see you post in Tale of the Tank. Love watching all the preparation of a new setup

 

[harthag12]

Thanks Diana, I had aiptasia issues in a small tank I had and it was a pain, my gut is telling me to go dry & if I buy a small amount of live rock to quarantine it in a small tank & observe before for a few weeks before moving over. I'll definatly have a Tale of the Tank, I finished the plumbing on Sunday I just have to glue the plumbing to the tank tonight than I'll start the post. I'm pretty nervous about it, my previous tank had all hang on the back equipment no sump so this is a large step up in volume & work.

 

[diana a]

I hear you on the hang on equipment. I have been running my past 90g and current 40b with a Fluval FX6 and HOB skimmer. Now I am looking to do a sump and don't want to buy the wrong equipment. Look forward to seeing your tank setup

 

[Sponge]

One mans opinion. Dry Rock. The real difference is time. And it’s a good test to see if you are ready for a hobby like this that requires serious patience. If you wait out the cycle, avoide pests, and end up the same place then all the better. Best of luck. I look forward to your tale of the tank. The good and the bad. We learn from both

 

[jgraz]

That store is my local as well, I'm in Bordentown. Do yourself a favor and don't go there, it's an absolute garbage pit.
Unfortunately the next 2 closest, Fish Factory, and The Hidden Reef aren't that great either. But compared to Allquatics they are heaven.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[DangerDave]

Regardless of how you go, aptasia happens. It’s something you’re going to have to face periodically as you add corals. If you’re going to QT the coral for a month or so then you’d have a better shot at never getting them. Don’t get me wrong, I try really hard to keep it out, but new troops show up on new corals, even ones I’ve worked hard to “clean up”.

I went with dry rock on my current tank and would do it again. What I would have done differently is add some live rock to in the beginning to get a higher level of biodiversity sooner... I mean we want a mature tank, a mature tank is more stable, and that means a biologicaly diverse tank.

 

[harthag12]

Thanks Sponge, hoping to be in for the long haul. Broke down all my tanks previously when my oldest was 1. I just couldn't committ to them like I should with the little guy and wife talking about moving. Fast forward my kids are 9 & 7 and we're in our permanent home so feeling pretty good about the situation. Took the oldest with me to Reef-a-palooza last year & he was excited about it which is helpful.

Jgraz nice to know there's another local along with MRX to me, and I remember the Hidden Reef was nice & large, I look forward to checking it out again as it's been awhile. Video's of it from Billy Pipes youtube recent meetup looked ok, way better than Allquatics. Someday maybe I'll pester you when I'm in Fieldsboro for wings at The Cool Cricket.

 

[Mark Shelly]

I have been to that store and seen their live rock. It is in a separate container away from the corals, and they have some really nice large pieces. If I was starting, I would get it there. You can look at each piece in the water before hand. Plus you can brush it off and let it dry out for a few weeks before using. You keep the bacteria that way (per my understanding). But you would loose larger hitch hikers. I personally like the more porous rock, and that is becoming harder to find.

 

[diana a]

@harthag12 how is the tank coming along?

 

[harthag12]

Coming along well, thanks for asking. On the 100g I dosed Ammonia to start the cycle roughly 3 weeks ago but I raised it to off the charts on my test kit by accident. Tuesday it was finally downto .25 so I redosed ammonia, last night it was .25 so i figure by Sunday I might be able to go get a few fish. I stuck with all dry rock in this tank, a mix of dry Tropic Eden sand & live sand and dosed 2 types of bacteria with it. I have a few things I'd like to get done before the fish shopping (screen, rock rearrange, water change) but it's a crazy weekend, my son turns 10 Monday though so shooting for it.

As far as live rock I've decided on my 65g I'll use half dry & purchase 10-20 lbs from KP Aquatics which appears to be one of the top 2 places to get lots of life based on my interneting, if I get anything odd it'll be in the smaller not SPS tank so I think it'll be interesting. The 65g should start getting wet this weekend & starting to cycle next week; once cycled I'll order the live rock to try and keep die off to a minimum. Fun times ahead.

 

[diana a]

Yes TBS or KP Aquatics are the top two. Well good luck.

 

[horseplay]

I started my first tank with when someone selling live rocks from their tank already cycled. The key to a successful aquarium is to have a diversity of life and let them reach a balance. A sterile tank is not good. If I were you I would start with some live rocks ideally sourced from a successful hobbyist's tank. When I started my current nano I bought a few easy corals and ask for a few pieces of rabbles from their tank.

Pests are kind of unavoidable. Over time you will learn to deal with them. Do worry too much it's all about learning from mistakes.