Live Rock Drs.Foster Smith - Liveaquaria.com
- Thread starter JBendel
- Start date
NateHanson
Non-member
I haven't gotten from them, but you can get it from an LFS for the same price (often for much nicer rock) and you don't have to pick it up at the airport.
I just bought a 40# box of Kaelini from my LFS and I'm very pleased with the quality. Much nicer than Fijian rock.
Nate
I just bought a 40# box of Kaelini from my LFS and I'm very pleased with the quality. Much nicer than Fijian rock.
Nate
NateHanson
Non-member
ducker said:
Whoa! dude, you must be shopping at Sea World in Salem!
I paid $4.50/pound for a 40# box of Kaelini at my LFS (pickup on delivery day). It's VERY nice rock.
Nate
~Flighty~
Now with more baby
Well my entire 70g MACNA tank is from drs foster smith and the rock is very nice. As they donated the entire setup I guess it is a bit of a local showcase for them.
In my opinion, there is very little die off if you get things dropshipped to the airport. ~3 hours on a plane is it. That is unless it hasn't been cured or has been on a trip from tonga or somewhere. The AA rock is very nice, and the dry rock from marco67 at Fishy Business is the best I've seen. You need some live rock to seed the dry rock and I've found the florida rock straight from the ocean and lots of dry rock is a great combo.
In my opinion, there is very little die off if you get things dropshipped to the airport. ~3 hours on a plane is it. That is unless it hasn't been cured or has been on a trip from tonga or somewhere. The AA rock is very nice, and the dry rock from marco67 at Fishy Business is the best I've seen. You need some live rock to seed the dry rock and I've found the florida rock straight from the ocean and lots of dry rock is a great combo.
nunofs
Non-member
NateHanson said:
Nate,
was that rock fully cured?
I will be buying around 75lbs of Kaelini shortly, but need it to be fully cured so that it can go straight into the tank. For my 15g I bought cured Kaelini from Premium Aquatics and it was awesome, but if there's a local supplier with similar quality, I'd probably go with them instead.
Nuno
NateHanson
Non-member
It was not cured, but it didn't smell very bad at all. I wouldn't put it in an existing system though. I took it home and put it in a rubbermaid tub with a mag pump and some heaters. I'll let it run like that for a week and I expect it'll be ready to go when I set up the 65g tank early next week. AA stocks the Kaelini in their rock tanks, so it is cured if you get it about a week after delivery. However, it may be picked over pretty good by then. IMO the best way to go is buy it by the box, and spend $5 on a 30g rubbermaid tub at walmart.
Nate
Nate
NateHanson
Non-member
You'll still have to cure that though. It's going to spend a day in a cardboard box getting to you!
I'd pick up the tanked Kaelini from AA instead (or another LFS, I don't know if others carry Kaelini). AA just filled their tanks yesterday, so try them later this weekend, or go buy it now, and see if they'll hold it for you (they might). That way you'll save over a hundred dollars, you'll get to pick the rock, and it won't have just spent a day out of water.
Just my opinion though.
I'd pick up the tanked Kaelini from AA instead (or another LFS, I don't know if others carry Kaelini). AA just filled their tanks yesterday, so try them later this weekend, or go buy it now, and see if they'll hold it for you (they might). That way you'll save over a hundred dollars, you'll get to pick the rock, and it won't have just spent a day out of water.
Just my opinion though.
nunofs
Non-member
My experience with the PA cured rock was that it could go straight into the tank with no ill effects... I used 2-day shipping to keep the price down, and when I got the rock I just scrubbed things like featherduster tubes off the rock with a toothbrush, as some of them had probably died during shipping (just as a precaution, it didn't smell bad at all). I put it into the tank, had a single ammonia reading of 0.25 the next day and after that no more trace of ammonia or nitrites (I tested daily for around 2 weeks to make sure I wouldn't go into a mini-cycle again).
Nuno
Nuno
PenMan
Non-member
Take a look at this article. It explains a lot of the problems with "cured live rock".
http://www.themarinecenter.com/rockbs.htm
We have bought most of our rock from AA in Salem and love it. The problem is that Mike gets it in Thurdays and it is pretty well picked over by the weekend. The only local store that is really curing live rock in any volume that I have seen is CRA. Jeremy has the greenhouse and does cure rock. It sounds like Marco is going to try it on the Cape. Love his dead rock, we won 20 pounds at the cookout this year. It has been in the sump since and is hard to tell from "live rock". If anybody remembers the rock in the Orca tank at Macna, that was our "dead rock".
Be careful adding new rock to establish tank.
Dr. Foster and Smith brought the live rock for Macna in salt buckets in water. They did a great job on that tank.
http://www.themarinecenter.com/rockbs.htm
We have bought most of our rock from AA in Salem and love it. The problem is that Mike gets it in Thurdays and it is pretty well picked over by the weekend. The only local store that is really curing live rock in any volume that I have seen is CRA. Jeremy has the greenhouse and does cure rock. It sounds like Marco is going to try it on the Cape. Love his dead rock, we won 20 pounds at the cookout this year. It has been in the sump since and is hard to tell from "live rock". If anybody remembers the rock in the Orca tank at Macna, that was our "dead rock".
Be careful adding new rock to establish tank.
Dr. Foster and Smith brought the live rock for Macna in salt buckets in water. They did a great job on that tank.
nunofs
Non-member
PenMan said:
I wouldn't trust that article much... it comes from someone who's trying to sell uncured rock
There is a huge difference between "pre-cured" (which means nothing IMHO), which is what a lot of online places sell, and "fully cured", which is what PA sells (and others, I'm sure, but I can only speak with regards to PA).
"Pre-cured" is supposed to have been cured at the origin, but you'll obviously have to cure it again as it's been dry ever since it was packed in the tropics; "fully cured" has been cured in the seller's tanks, and the only dry time is the shipping from them to you, which ideally will be overnight. So there shouldn't be any more curing needed, it's been done by the seller and that's why you pay a premium for it.
Anyway, don't get me wrong, I'm not pushing for PA here, just relating the experience I had with their rock. And, as I said, if I could get the same thing locally, I would (partly to save on shipping, partly to support a local store).
Nuno
nunofs
Non-member
OK, I didn't mean it to sound that harsh... I looked at their catalog and they only offer uncured rock, thus my comment. I agree that the article is informational by explaining that 'pre-cured' rock is nonsense, but I also felt it never quite acknowledged that it is possible to get real cured rock, it's not something you must do yourself at home.
J.B., sorry for hijacking your thread... I have no experience with DrsFosterSmith.com rock.
Nuno
J.B., sorry for hijacking your thread... I have no experience with DrsFosterSmith.com rock.
Nuno
Chris A.
Formally toomanyfish
I think he gets your message guys but he also states that he got it from PA and it really had no spike in it.So to each his own.I can`t afford to stack my 55g with lr all at once so i`m putting a few pounds(2-5lbs)at a time and get no cycle from it.Alot of people would do it difrently but it works for me(doesn`t have to work for everybody).
Last edited:
