# Live Rock



## garfield (Oct 17, 2007)

I am going to start off my 90G in Dec. Can anyone give me some idea for the for the following:

(1) Where to buy the light weight LR (preferrably curved)
(2) ocean sand (in affordable price)

Thanks


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

I cant say where, but I get mine from SUM "Sea you marine" at great prices.

USe Dry sand, forget live sand, it just costs more and no benefits.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Since your location states markham I say goto SUM as well.

Is this your only SW tank? Why not buy dry sand and seed with a few cups of live?


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

gucci17 said:


> Since your location states markham I say goto SUM as well.
> 
> Is this your only SW tank? Why not buy dry sand and seed with a few cups of live?


you really do not need to "seed" sand, the seeding comes from the LR that you get......


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Big Ray said:


> you really do not need to "seed" sand, the seeding comes from the LR that you get......


You're right BR.

Question though, wouldn't a couple cups of sand contain a larger biodiversity than just the live rock alone?


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

There is a post in here somewhere about how to make your own live rock. I went through it and it was pretty simple. I know it won't be "live" when you begin, but that part is easy; just place a few pieces of real live rock and wait.

Since you are starting out you will need a lot and trying to find the pieces you like may take time. If you make it youself you can customize it any way you want. Wish I had done that.

Just a suggestion.


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Found it. Here's the link.

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19004&highlight=make+live+rock


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

gucci17 said:


> You're right BR.
> 
> Question though, wouldn't a couple cups of sand contain a larger biodiversity than just the live rock alone?


honestly, if you can get Fresh live rock, then you should have all the biodiversity that you need. A cup of sand from an established/ULNS system with Shallow sand bed could help.


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

Knowing what i know now, i would probably make alot of my own liverock (caves and such....) and then add a bunch of 'live' LR.

I purchased my LR from aquarium pro's, which alot of torontonians use for salt water classifieds.

As for sand, I just bought aragonite sand (live) for about 1 buck a pound... didnt think it was so expensive that i needed to downgrade.


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

what alot of ppl dont understand is that Live sand is just dirty sand to kick start cycle, there is nothing ALIVE in it  (sealed package )

second hand LR.... it has to be a GREAT price ... the reason fresh live rock is so much more expensive is that it contains ALOT more alive organism, much higher biodiversity and also ... it hasnt sat in anyones tank for years taking up po4 and no3


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

True (about the old LR)..... I guess I got lucky, as my rock has kept my tank stable since day one... And ive never had to deal with any problematic hitchhikers....


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

I bought a box of pukani rock from BRS during the black friday sale just to see how it would be. I plan on mixing it with the box of indo I got from SUM when their last shipment came in. The indo has been sitting in a tank for over a month now. Will there be any problems? It's just a tank with a couple koralias and heater. 

As for sand, I'll probably buy mine from mops. I don't think Ken has special grade at his place.

Update: No pukani rock as I was told it doesn't ship to Canada so it was substituted for Reef Saver rock...


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

Heat and water circulation is what you need to keep rock 'alive'

Dont keep it air tight

Light is used if you have any corals that you want to keep


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Kweli said:


> Heat and water circulation is what you need to keep rock 'alive'
> 
> Dont keep it air tight
> 
> Light is used if you have any corals that you want to keep


Yes, that's what I've been doing. I didn't bother keeping a light on it. Wanted to avoid any nousance algae growth.


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## Big Ray (Dec 8, 2009)

Kweli said:


> Heat and water circulation is what you need to keep rock 'alive'
> 
> Dont keep it air tight
> 
> Light is used if you have any corals that you want to keep


or Coraline algae ..


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## Flame Angel (Oct 13, 2010)

garfield said:


> I am going to start off my 90G in Dec. Can anyone give me some idea for the for the following:
> 
> (1) Where to buy the light weight LR (preferrably curved)
> (2) ocean sand (in affordable price)
> ...


You should start off the 90G now. Live rocks take time to cure to get rid of ammonia before you can keep the corals and delicate fish. I would buy 90 lb of live rocks or more to cure. Use the live rocks to cycle the tank. There are lots of living things moving around the live rocks that helps the cycle.

I bought 220 lbs of live rocks at Sea U Marine. They have no pests and there are tons of living creatures crawling between rocks. You will find it amusing and enjoyable. Do more research as saltwater hobby is a very interesting topic. I am addicted to saltwater after switched over from freshwater 6 months ago.

Welcome to the hobby.


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