They're the only store relatively close to me but I am unsure of the quality. They label it as being "premium live rock" but I doubt that means anything. I'm just unsure if I'm buying live rock with actually good life on it or just dry rock left in saltwater. Thanks.
Beginner Wondering If I Should Buy My Live Rock From Big Al's?
- Thread starter Lindebrah
- Start date
look at it this way , do you want pests or not
I think everyone of us in the hobby will say take your time , don’t kill this hobby for yourself out the gate , imo I bought rock from big als , aquarium by design (not around anymore) and it was good stuff , just get what looks good .
If I could go back would I still do that , absolutely not . No one wants to hit the reset button on a tank , I would buy dry rock and cure it yourself .. I personally like rocks like stax rocks shelf rock etc .
Pests sucks , but there’s things that can battle them , but dry rock will be way cheaper and peat free , for only 2-3 months of your time (if done right) what’s there to lose ? I’ve spent more time going to buy things to eat / help the pest battles that it would have been easier to wait for dry rock .
Again my 2cents
I think everyone of us in the hobby will say take your time , don’t kill this hobby for yourself out the gate , imo I bought rock from big als , aquarium by design (not around anymore) and it was good stuff , just get what looks good .
If I could go back would I still do that , absolutely not . No one wants to hit the reset button on a tank , I would buy dry rock and cure it yourself .. I personally like rocks like stax rocks shelf rock etc .
Pests sucks , but there’s things that can battle them , but dry rock will be way cheaper and peat free , for only 2-3 months of your time (if done right) what’s there to lose ? I’ve spent more time going to buy things to eat / help the pest battles that it would have been easier to wait for dry rock .
Again my 2cents
Would you know if the live rock from Big Al's is directly from the ocean covered in life? Or do you think it's more likely to be old dry rock that was just thrown in a vat to cure? Also, will dry rock look as good as live rock in the end? Thanks
If you’re new in the hobby , it may be hard to trust people in the beginning, but there’s some good trusting guys around you just gotta find one you like / store you can trust . Personally my rock from big als Kitchener was from 5+ years ago , and personally I think it’s a risk for pests either way from ocean or cured , all it takes is a small rock to be tossed it (pest free rock) and it’ll seed pests pretty quickly . That’s why it’s so hard to really know .
Imo you want your rocks to be covered in corals any way? There’s a diy stuff like making your own dry rock , saves you a ton of $ but it’ll set you back 2-8 months depending how long and how well you curing the diy rock .
So I would do dry rock , check online sites to see what style you like , big als sells nice dry rock shelf stuff , all in how you make it !
Imo you want your rocks to be covered in corals any way? There’s a diy stuff like making your own dry rock , saves you a ton of $ but it’ll set you back 2-8 months depending how long and how well you curing the diy rock .
So I would do dry rock , check online sites to see what style you like , big als sells nice dry rock shelf stuff , all in how you make it !
If I do the dry rock I'm leaning towards Marcorock Reef Saver, which is considerably cheaper. If I go that route and use some bacteria/ammonia to quicken the cycle, will it take much longer than a month?
I would watch a few YouTube vids on that , i believe I did the shrimp or food method , I never looked at the other stuff but I think a few have good success rates , BRS on YouTube are the best videos for general information, I do think they hype their products (they are a store after all) but numbers never lie and the information they provide is simple and to the point , the cover a few ways of cycling and live rock / dry rock
Keep in mind pests and come on corals or rocks with corals you buy and may introduce them to your system , so always check and dip , and a QT is always good if you are able to set one up .
Keep in mind pests and come on corals or rocks with corals you buy and may introduce them to your system , so always check and dip , and a QT is always good if you are able to set one up .
If you want to keep cost down order 75% of your rocks dry then get the 25% prime reef. It will take a littler longer to seed to the dry but it will over time. A 50 50 split is a good balance, Or if you have budget do all reef rock. You should be cycling with nothing in the tank for a few months anyway. So do whatever fits your budget and works best for you. I find at least at one time the wet rocks were better quality and cooler shapes. But that was because it was real reef rock vs dry on land. Now real reef is hard to find and you have so many more options to choose from. You don't get that issue anymore.
Copperkills
Member
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2015
- Location
- London
There is still something to be said for live rock. If it wasn’t so expensive and detrimental to the reefs I’d still use it. The advantage of dry rock to me is simply aesthetics and cost. Dry rock will never be “live” in our lifetime. Will beneficial bacteria seed itself, yes, but at its core, it will never be live like ocean rock is.
