Good Source for live-looking live rock?

[soarin']

Where is a good place to get good-looking live rock?

Right now all the live rock I can find looks pretty dead -- there are places like tampabaysaltwater.com where you can get it fresh from the ocean, but I am wondering whether it is worth it or not.

Currently I have a 55 that is half set up right now, with about 30 pounds of dead-looking live rock, some sand, heater, powerhead, and lights.

I am also thinking of getting some "GARF grunge" to kick start the diversity in the tank.

The tank looks pretty much like a barren moon-scape in there right now, and I want to get some stuff that will look good while I slowly add the critters to it and get the pod population up.

What do you recommend?

 

[jcusmarine]

Liveaquaria has some nice LR, but there is some die-off on shipping. If you are looking for some nice show rock, check out some local FS's and cherry pick em' - you will pay more though.

I got some great Lalo LR from Liveaquaria and I bought some really nice Tonga at Cap Bay locally.

 

[basscyn]

Cap Bay has nice rocks!
But for the money you cant beat a parting out. Keep your eye on the Drygoods/livestock forum.

There are always rocks coming and going there. Generally $2.00 - $3.00 lb

Good luck!

 

[stickx911]

it's probably too far of a drive, but Blue planet usually has really live looking live rock. lol, like algae blooms, tiny corals, orange algae...its pricy though. like 8.99/lb. It is the nicest rock ive seen around though.

 

[roundman]

Bobby at Cap Bay always has a nice selection and Sal at Saltwater City has nice looking live rock.

 

[tebriel]

i got mine from tampa bay saltwater more than 3 years ago, i killed it all because i was new and didn't know what i was doing, but it had crazy amounts of live stuff on it, if you have the $$ i think it's definitely worth it!

 

[Reefplumber13]

go see sal at swc best rock i have seen and i have been to cbay aswell. they have good fis and corals though

 

[drnecropolis]

Tampa bay is known as of late of having tons of Mantis Shrimp in there rock...if you did get a few it would be a hard lesson learned..

Jeremy can you shoot me a txt. I switched phones and don't have your number anymore...

 

[gwhiz]

tebriel;182442 wrote: i got mine from tampa bay saltwater more than 3 years ago, i killed it all because i was new and didn't know what i was doing, but it had crazy amounts of live stuff on it, if you have the $$ i think it's definitely worth it!

Here's some pics of my TBS rock when it first arrived. Watch for critters on it--mantis shrimp, xanthid (gorilla) crabs--but I also had a lot of good hitchhikers (pistol shrimp, porcelain crabs, sponges, macro algae, etc.) My rock was in Tampa Bay on Thursday and in my tank Friday night.

It's denser than most other rock--I'd advocate a mix of rock rather than all TBS.
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[ace1204]

Gwhiz did you get that mantis in your rock? Do you want to get rid of him?

 

[gwhiz]

Charlie's right--I had a total of four of 'em--one green, three red. They were all given away.

 

[tebriel]

I had one, but he was easily baited into a trap with some fresh shrimp meat

 

[FutureInterest]

Why start with live rock? Just get quality dead rock and then seed it with the life you want. This way you don't get any detrimental hitchhikers and you get more rock for your money as you're not paying for water drenched rock.

 

[kwasniew]

Marine Fish just got an awesome shipment of Fiji live rock yesterday, it would definitely be worth the trip this weekend to pick it up. I just needs to cure a little bit.