A
selection of useful tidbits of information for the aquarist.
Readers are encouraged to send their tips to
terry@advancedaquarist.com or to post them to our Hot
Tips sticky in the Reefs.org General Reefkeeping Discussion forum for possible
publication. Next month's Hot Tip theme will be "Plumbing
Tips".
Live
Rock Selection Tips:
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I've
typcially purchased my live rock uncured. I've cured it
in the display tank it was going to end up in and I've cured
it in a separate tank with a skimmer and lighting and that
is the best way to go in my opinion.
The
key to getting good rock in my opinion is to communicate
with the individuals involved. It is amazing what you can
find out with a simple phone call.
I
think the best way to get the rock is to leave it in transport
as short of time as possible. Typically the rock will arrive
at the LA wholesalers only 1 or 2 shipments each week. You
want to communicate with your retail outlet to make sure
that you order the rock on the day the rock will get to
the wholesaler. That way the rock is not sitting around
in boxes for several days. You will need to be flexible
if you want to buy your rock this way because live rock
is a low priority on the shipping list and gets bumped periodically
at the source location (vacationers bags seem to have priority
over live rock for most airlines) and once it makes it to
the wholesalers and is drop shipped to you, you will typically
need to pick it up at the airport for the best shipping
rates.
Several
retail outlets will spend the time and effort getting the
rock fresh and sell you the rock after it is already cured.
You need to communicate with them to determine exactly how
they cure the rock and verify that they are getting the
rock as fresh as possible to start with to avoid massive
die offs.
I've
also purchased florida aquacultured rock and it has some
really great hitchhikers but alot of the sponges and stuff
die off in your tank pretty quickly and the rock is very
dense.
That
would be the last point to make in selecting live rock.
I would put Fiji rock as the standard. It is typically nicely
shaped with lots of holes and caves in the rock. The Florida
aquacultured rock is much denser than the Fiji rock and
it will take about 50 lbs of Florida rock to fill up the
same amount of tank space as 25 or 30 lbs of Fiji rock.
Marshall Island rock and the Kaelini rock is even lighter
than the Fiji rock with more holes and caves and it may
only take 20 lbs of Marshall or Kaelini rock to fill up
the same space as 25 lbs of Fiji rock. Not as much of a
difference as there is with the Florida aquacultured rock
but still there is typically enough of a difference to justify
the difference in the price per lb. I know the Kaelini rock
that I got in a 60 lb box was about the same size box as
the Fiji rock I got in an 88 lb box. I paid more per pound
for the Kaelini rock but actually paid less for the entire
box of rock that was basically the same volume.
Oh
well, That's my take on live rock selection. Like anything
in reefkeeping there are alot of opinions on the matter
and a lot of people will say that company X has the best
rock or company Y has the best rock. A lot of that depends
on how you have it shipped and cured.
--
Nathan Paden ("npaden")
If
you decide to get rock local, and are adding it to a stocked
tank, fish ,corals, make sure it is fully cured by giving
it the smell test. If it's fully cured it should not have
any detectable rotting stench.
I
prefer to cure rock in a seperate tub from the main tank.
Most of what's on the rock will perish, sponges, soft corals,
algae, etc, which will lead to unwanted fuel for hair algae.
I would rather cure it in another container and clean it
well before adding it to the main tank.
--
"t gallo"
When
selecting pieces of rock for a small tank, choose many smaller
pieces, rather than a few big chunks. When I set up my first
tank (15H) I picked out the best looking pieces not thinking
about aquascaping. When I set up my tank it looked like
I had two pieces of rock sitting ont he sand bed. Not aquascaped
at all.
When
I bought rock for my next tank 10 gallon. I chose smaller
more interesting pieces. It made the aquascaping easier,
and it looked a lot better.
--
"Bingo"
I
second buying uncured (not even pre-cured) and curing it
yourself. I can proudly say that my rock looks much better
than any at the LFSs (lots of coraline and life). The fact
that was also cheaper is a bonus.
Finally,
rocks from different sources look differently. Some stores
would let you mix and match rock types (e.g. premium aquatics).
I love the variety.
--
"Mihai"
I
would reccomend that you purchase half or one quarter of
the suggested lbs. per gallon, unless your planning on stocking
your tank with only frags. Remember that most corals you
buy are already attached to rocks. There's nothing worse
than taking out rock you paid $10/lb for and having to put
it in your sump to make room for your new coral.
