Live Rock and live sand

[Jolio99]

What is the best live rok and live sand to use? Ive seen some at my local pet store for 8.99 a pound but it didnt look to good. Also I havent seen any live sand for sale anywhere around here. I am going to a aquarium only store and I will look there.

-Tyler

[galleon]

Well Tyler, to be honest, I think the best live sand to use, hands down, is a handful of sand from a buddy's reef tank, a detritovore kit like one sold from IPSF, and some old fashioned patience. As far as live rock goes, one of the recent weekly discussions was completely devoted to the subject. You may find the information you're looking for there. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...threadid=12811

HTH,
Chris

[digital_dragon]

Walt Smith Fiji from Flying Fish Express www.ffexpress.com. For $161.00 you get 45 lbs Premium Fiji standard over night shipped FedEx for free. I liked it so much I bought two boxes and it is awesome rock IMHO. Local Pet Stores sometimes have unique pieces of rock that you may want but if you are trying to fill your tank with rock you can't beat online retailers. Just make sure that you get feedback or information from someone who has purchased from the online vendor before and make sure that they have a secure website. If they don't have SSL encryption on their website call in your credit card so you don't have someone trying to steal your credit card information on sites that are not secure. Hope this answers your question.

Earl

[Alice]

Ditto on what was said above. If you can't find rock locally that is closer to the price of the rock itself and the shipping from an online vendor, let your wallet be your guide. I believe in supporting my Local Fish Store, if they are a good one, but $8.99 for rock is way too much.

Beware of anyone trying to sell you "live sand" in pre-packed plastic bags. There may be some bacteria in there, but personally, I think it's hooey. Similiarly, don't buy 100 lbs of live sand. If you don't know any reefers in your area who can give you a handful or two of live sand, you may want to look at buying 10 pounds, if it has "critters" in it. The stuff is expensive to ship though, because of the water weight.

You will get critters (worms, copepods, amphipods, mysis shrimp, mini-brittle stars and the like) that will come in on your live rock, but buying a detrivore kit, or getting some live sand full of critters, is a good way to boost the population.

HTH,

Alice

[mikeMersot]

I also purchased rock from ffexpress, the walt smith rock definately wasnt bad, but it definatley wasnt CURED either, i spent about 6 hours pulling dead rotting stuff from inside the rocks, including a dead octopus. The rocks did have good shape however, and some cool life has come out since, including lots of macros, some unidentified encrusting corals, and some brown button polyps.

[semajftw]

Tyler,

read my PM for a good local store in the Cleveland Area. Only good one around here that i have found.

Lemme know if you need anything else.

-James