buying old LR, what to look for?

[S14_Silvia]

I've made a couple of offers to people tearing down their systems in hopes of getting some cheap LR. What types of things do I want to look for in the rock to find out if it is worth the $ or not. What kind of questions should I ask to determine if the live rock has been taken care of or neglected? Just trying to make sure I don't waste my hard earned $ on some junk rock. Also what would be a good price to pay for it, I know I can get some from JNS for around $3/lb so would around $1/lb seem reasonable?

[Floppy]

Just make sure it has no aptaisia and nuisance algae and you're set. If it has shapes you want, sizes, etc.

Good coralline coverage never hurts either. LR is basically LR.

[S14_Silvia]

I found out that one of the sellers has about 10-15 aptasia in about 50 lbs. How easy is it to get rid of?

[clownfishcrazy]

Not easy, usless you get a copperband butterfly, or peppermint shrimp to eat them.

[Floppy]

Yeah, its a battle I haven't won in 3 years. Although I'm down from 100 to 2 thanx to some pepp's.

[S14_Silvia]

I've heard something about joe's juice, but how does it work? And have any of you had success with it?

[clownfishcrazy]

It works, but if any of the base is left, it will grow back.

[Floppy]

Never worked for me. They always came back 3 weeks later.

[S14_Silvia]

So how do you get ird of them without the aid of pep shrimp. If you pull them out they will just spread, correct?

[clownfishcrazy]

Yes, beside I doubt you could pull one off of a rock.

[oyam123]

cant you keep peppermint shrimp? i got a lot of nice LR at great price, and it had the buggers. now i have none....i keep a peppermint shrimp and a copperband.
IMO get a few $4 shrimp and get your cheeeep cured rock.

[S14_Silvia]

If I can get it at a decent price I think I'll go for it. I'll just add a couple shrimp and a copperband and go from there. Wish me luck and thanks again.

[David Grigor]

IMO: Anything that isn't covered with hair algae is worth $1 a pound. However, even used rock rarely goes that cheap..... Aptasia wouldn't keep me from buying provided it's not covered. Look for Flatworms too. It's best to quarantine the rock in a tub with light for a while and not throw it straight into a show tank so you can keep any eye out and erradicate pests.....

[Fahz]

Copperbanded Butterflys are not an easy fish to keep they require a well established tank. If you get rock with Aiptasia you would be better off with five or six Peppermint shrimp. If Jerry is placing an order you can get a good price from him, generally one or two doesn't work as well.As far as LR $3 a pound is a good price if you find it for less you'll be lucky, jump on it.

Fahz

[jules77]

I recently bought 120+ pounds from a tear down and ended up with faltworms, aptasia, and bubble algae. So I called JNS and got 5 emeralds, 5 peppermints, a sixline wrasse and 2 blue damsels. As of today about 3 months later I have maybe 1 or 2 aptasia that I can see, and an occasional bubble algae here and there. The blue damsels are fat from eating all the flatworms, and the peppermints have grown quite a bit. Was kind of fun actually, and not that big of a deal. The peppermints are actually quite fun to watch at night when they are swimming around, and I love the sixline. I agree on the $3 a pound, mine was around $2.50 but did have a lot to deal with initially. I might suggest doing what I did and put it into a rubbermaid container and that way if you want to remove any of the livestock later on you will have that option when it is time. I have a big rubbermaid that works ok if you want to use or trade for it.
JZ