Hi Guys,

Awaiting my new tank, in a local German reef forum I have been advised against buying rock from guys who are selling up there aquariums ?

This is my first reef so can you advise ?

I would cure it in my new tank when it comes ......

Regards & Thanks

Dave

Welcome to TR :)

I have received a few peaces from another personal tank in the past. All i did was ask the water perimeters and then placed the rock in a little 5 gallon tank for a few days to see if anything good/bad comes out of the rock. Unless they know the people selling the rock and know that they have a bad reputation i would say you would be ok. There are many good reasons not to except rock from another tank but i feel that all the reasons can be avoided. If you just want the rock and nothing else on the rock then you can bake the rock for awhile and kill off all the bad stuff on or in the rock, however like i said this will kill off everything that you are probably looking for or you wouldn't be buying live rock. My suggestion is to look into the people selling the rock and if everything is good with there reputation then buy the rock and place in a holding tank for about a week or two. That just my opinion though.

I'm thinking of doing this as well. But ill be starting a new tank, so is there really any risk of introducing the rock into an empty tank?

A few reasons why not to use rock from someone elses tank.

There's a risk that you could introduce some unwelcome hitchhikers, but this risk also exists with fresh LR.

As rock ages in a tank it loses some of the diversity it may have had when it was fresh, this can be overcome by also adding some some fresh LR in your tank as well. Small portions of LR should be swapped out for new every once in awhile anyway to maintain diversity.

If the aquarist didnt properly care for their tank the rock could also have been subject to phosphate buildup which could result in nuisance algae. If the rock is covered in nuisance algae you may want to pass on it, or you could follow a process called rock cooking which is a method of removeing detritus/nutrient buildup from within the rock.

On the plus side the rock is already cured, it should be available at a lower cost than new.

I probably wouldnt hesitate to purchase used LR from another aquarists tank. Make sure to properly quarantine it first as you should do with every addition to your tank.

Thanks for the comments .

I need to get between 80-100kg

Would you purchase this ?

What sort of price per kilo would you pay ?

Regards

Dave

To me it looks semi cured. The first picture look ok. Looks like nice rock actually, However what is on the second top picture? Is the picture taken from the top and its just what i call creep foam?

Hiya,

Yes I think they are all taken from the top. The second photo is like a brown foam but if you click on the pic when its expanded I saw I think some bright red/orange spikes protruding from the rock ?

Roughly how much would you pay for all four boxes ?

Good new/fresh rock here goes from 12 -15 Euro a Kilo

Regards & Thanks

Dave

The rock looks pretty good. Here in the States the average price per pound for cured LR is about 6 - 7 US Dollars per lb. I have no idea what the exchange rates might be. Prices are definately going to vary from place to place.

Thanks for the help!

Hi Dave,

12-15E/kg is about the same as our $6-7/lb. To give you some perspective, when I set up my tank I bought all my live rock for $3/lb from a couple who were expecting their first child and taking their tank down.

Carmie, if you are ever expecting, I'll be interested in buying yours!

Well, my story is that when I got pregnant in '88 I tore my tanks down and was going to set them back up when the baby got a little older. He is 18 now and I just set a tank back up about a year ago. :)

Wow i thought live rock was expensive in Ohio. lol its only $4.99 a pound here lol. Maybe i should think about online shipping.. :)

The only question I would ask about LR from someone else's tank would be if they ever medicated the display tank. Especially if it was a FOWLR... make sure there was no copper involved.

Other than that I wouldn't see a difference between home owned and store bought LR.

Well, my story is that when I got pregnant in '88 I tore my tanks down and was going to set them back up when the baby got a little older. He is 18 now and I just set a tank back up about a year ago. :)


Hehehe i was born in '88:D so im the same age as your son.

*smacks Ben on the top of the head*

just do some curing then u should be fine

Guys,

Thanks for all your input, SeaHorseDreams good point on the chemicals.

I will go for this then as its about 1.5 hours away, and buy some additional nice pieces at the LFS.

Thanks again for your help guys.

Regards

Dave