Breezie July 14, 2022 Share July 14, 2022 Hi! Wanted to get others opinions on this, esp since we're all relatively local. I have a 32g biocube and plan to re-start it (bought it off facebook marketplace and the previous owner didn't set it up the way I would have (lots of pulsating xenia everywhere lol), and so going to do a re-start. I plan to start with live rock. What LFS locally has the best live rock for purchase? I'd likely probably start with about 20-25 lbs of it. I've also been looking at KP Aquatics and shipping it in. Just want to minimize bad hitchhikers. Would love to hear the thoughts from other locals. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJMasta July 14, 2022 Share July 14, 2022 Live rock from a local shop will be fine to setup and get things situated, but if you want the hitchikers (good and bad, you will get both), maricultured rock ordered online and shipped overnight (or better yet air freight) in water is your best bet. The key is really to minimize time in transit if you want as much survival as possible, and something packed in newspaper and shipped priority, for example, will have more life on it than most local and aquarium cured live rock, but will need a curing time (a cycle, ideally with water changes to minimize additional dieoff) and you will lose a bunch of what's on it. I got ~30lbs of rock when I started my tank last year air freighted into Dulles from Salty Bottom Reef and it had by far the least dieoff and most stuff on it of the rock I've gotten, but it will virtually always come with something undesirable, so expect to have to catch some things if you want the full diversity of the real stuff. KP Aquatics and Tampa Bay Saltwater are both known for good stuff, and as I understand, KP's mariculture location is further south, in slightly warmer water than many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman July 19, 2022 Share July 19, 2022 I bought mine for my 20 gallon from gulfliverock.com , his customer service leaves a lot to be desired but his quality and shipping was awesome. With that being said I had no livestock, just a 3 inch sandbed and the tank had been running for close to a month. Upon adding it I ran a lot of carbon and was dosing daily with MB7 and Seachem pristine. Ammonia and nitrites really never gave me any issues. I would buy from him again if the need arises. The main reason I went this route is for the natural look and the hitchikers. I am a big fan of the keys reef landscape . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menglish July 19, 2022 Share July 19, 2022 Tropical lagoon in Silver Spring has lot of nice purple LR to choose from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezie August 4, 2022 Author Share August 4, 2022 As an update, I went to ReefEscape in Fairfax and picked up some really nice live rock. I had a minicycle, and all seems well now. Fish, nem and inverts are all happy and healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami August 5, 2022 Share August 5, 2022 8 hours ago, Breezie said: As an update, I went to ReefEscape in Fairfax and picked up some really nice live rock. I had a minicycle, and all seems well now. Fish, nem and inverts are all happy and healthy. Nice! Thanks for sharing. ReefEscape is a long, long-time WAMAS sponsor and their staff is top notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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