Live Rock Question...

koda_dad

koda_dad

Mr. Paranoid
Not sure if I am suffering from buyer remorse.... or what.

But as some of you know i was about to purchased a bunch of rock from a guy but the rocked turned out to be majorly infested with apatacia. I decided against that route as I was just starting out.

I then found what I thought was amazing looking rock.
Live Rock for Saltwater and Reef Aquarium - Halifax Pet Accessories - Kijiji Halifax

However, this rock is aquacultured rock ie. MANMADE
I purchased about a 3rd of the premium and 2/3 eco.

Now here is where the buyers remorse started to set in... as I am waiting for the tank to cycle...I read and read and read and ask questions etc. etc.. In all my reading I am now starting to worry that this rock will be lacking the many of the micro organisms found in real live rock. Yes it has Coraline algae but is that it? is that enough? should I have spent more and went with the fiji?

When I purchased it...I "thought" it was all about the coraline....now I am starting to read that it is a lot more than that?

Opinions? Should I try and switch it? or I am just parnoid....
 
There are some people here that use man made LR and are just fine. Man made us pretty much the same as dry base rock. Over time they will become live with microrganisms. It's def. a great way to save some $$. "live" LR will help seed anything in your tank. So you could always buy a couple of pieces to help everything along it's way.
 
Just because it is man made(kinda) doesn't mean it doesn't have all the creapy crawlies on it. You make live rock by putting live rock in a tank with dead rock. All the algae, worms, bugs, etc transfer and multiply onto that new live rock. So really your still getting live rock.
 
If you have manmade rock in a tank next to "harvested" aka wild rock, you won't be able to tell the difference within a few months. Both will be live, both will be inhabited by the same critters, and both will look the same.
 
After seeing the diversity of stuff on the live rock I just got...I admit both good and bad...I really started to feel I made a mistake on the eco. It has coralline (not much I might add), but this rock WAS NOT seeded by other live rock. (I confirmed this) So it has no other live matter at all other than the beneficial bacterias etc....
So after a quick email to the guy explaining my concerns I am now faced with 3 options....

A)The guy will take all of the eco-rock back for a complete refund.

B) I can get 55lbs of live rock that has been very poorly cared for a great deal. . However, when I asked about the condition here was his reply...."Yea I don't know a lot about it at all. That's the prob...I don't have time for all the work. It has never been dry and there was a fish in there till about a few weeks ago.... no growths on it not sure about anything else.(referring to my question about aiptasia, etc)" (All of this would cost me $50 more than I paid for the 35lbs of eco-rock) plus compared to the last deal I found at a store...I would save $2/lb compared to the store stuff. Also, this is actually a little too much rock for me so I would be able to pick and choose and just sell what I don't want. Which would give me some cash back too...

c) Fiji Totoka Premium for the $2 more a pound than the (55lbs of used rock) or a $1/lb more than the ecorock. Very good price especially considering it is retail. Guaranteed no aiptasia but said I could get pests or Hitchhikers (which goes for all rocks of course)

What would you do?

I have to make the decision by tomorrow morning.... :frustrat:
 
FYI - here is a shot of the 55lbs of rock in question if that helps...
tank.jpg


I should also explain what he said to me...he spent $3500 on the setup... lost interest before it finished cycling.....but...that is what he said.. I have no way to confirm that.
 
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Personally, I would go retail in this case. You have no idea what you'd be getting from the guy that doesn't "know much" about his own rock. For all you know, he could have treated his tank with copper in the past, which will leech outta those rocks and poison any invertebrates you put in the tank.
 
I honestly think you are expecting too much of your rock. The rock you have in your tank looks like the majority of live rock that people start off with. Coralline will come with time! Even if you did get new rock that was covered in coralline, it would die the instant it was exposed to air. And then you'd have to wait for it to grow back. The same as you are having to do with your current rock. If you are not happy with your rock, send it back. But don't go with Option B. He obviously doesn't know much about the tank, and you will probably be bringing in rock that is loaded with phosphates and even metals like copper.
 
If it's got coraline then it's been seeded with something that's live. I'd say to stick with the eco rock since you are happy with the price and just buy one or two pieces of Fiji from your LFS to ensure that you are starting off on the right foot. You said in your post that all it has is coraline and bacteria but those are the things that we are looking for our live rock to have. I'm not sure what else you are hoping for, but I don't see any reason to abandon this if you are happy with the price and the way it looks.
 
but what about the good hitchhikers? How important are those?

With the live rock I did get to add to the eco, I can see TONS of stuff on it...feather dusters, green stars, and even a few tiny corals. (as well as 3 aiptasia but..)

This Eco rock has nothing.... except for the 2 large pieces I bought of the premium stuff.. that has Coraline on it
 
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Hitchhikers are never guaranteed. They come in on the rock by accident. You'll love them if you get some rock with good HH's but you'll hate it if you get some bad ones. You could look at this as a blessing that you don't have any bad HH's to deal with.
 
So basically...other than cool stuff to look at...not going to make a heap of difference?

Would it speed up the process though with the love rock? or slow it down? or really no difference?
 
Exactly! Aside from TBS who seems to be shipping LR that's always loaded, you may never find a HH in your LR. The Bacteria is the only thing that really matters. If you want to gamble, you can pay more for real LR and hope that you get some cool stuff, but if it were me, I'd rather spend the money on corals and livestock
 
I would just get a few pieces of live rock and let it seed your existing rock. In 6 months you probably won't be able to tell which one is different. I just read a post on the forum the other day, that Yote mentioned to somebody that you can take a piece of live rock that has coraline on it, put it in the tank, and scrape some of the coraline off of it, it will float through the water land on a unseeded rock and seed it...pretty easy. You can certainly pay through the nose for live rock, btu what's the point, if you've got decent rock, in a few motnhs it's going to be coveredup with coraline and other stuff that you place in there. Tank a look at some of the more mature tanks in the showcase threads, you can barely see any of the rock. I'd save the money and buy something that's more fun than a rock.
 

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