Buying Dry Live Rock

Hey guys Im getting ready to order some dry rock for my tank. Thinking either Bulk Reef Supply or Reef Cleaners. I like BRS because they have a variety to chose from and the Pukani looks really interesting, but RC is much cheaper with free shipping. I am new to SW and this will be my first time aquascaping so I am nto sure which rock will allow me to achieve the look im hoping for. I want lots of nooks and cranies and little caves and archways. Im thinking of spending the extra cash on the Pukani but is it worth it? Also if you go with dry rock and dry sand how do you introduce all the coppods, sponges, and corals you get from liverock? I dotn want all the nuisance species you risk getting with LR but do want a diversity of good lfie forms. I have a LFS that sells aquacultures LV covered in purple corraline that I plan on getting a piece so I have a start for the algae and bacteria c olonies but it does not have any other lfie forms.

 

You can generally get the creatures you are talking about by seeding your system with Live rock. Copepods can be found online, and at LFS' normally in bottles. You can add them directly to your tank, but many people recommend a refugium for them to populate without being eaten.

 

Does anybody have an opinion of the ebst rock to aquascape with for a newbie?

 

i got some marco shelf rock, great rock, a friend of mine also ordered their cherry pick rock and was very pleased. also reef cleaners is great too. with aquascaping its really just up to your imagination, some people can have the best rock in the world and still have a freaking ugly aquascape.

 

I guess that is very true

 

You can also just buy the rock and seed it with bottled bacteria. I've never dealt with BRS but John from reef cleaners (I believe he is the owner) is the best. They're fast, cheap and have good live stock.

 

Oh and btw you ca buy pods from reef cleaners- cheaper than anywhere else I've looked.

 

I bought from reef cleaners and LOVED it. The rock is exactly what I wanted, and dealing with John was amazing. He responded immediately to my emails, and was courteous in his responses.

You can check out the pics in my sig to see what it looks like. I ordered 30lbs and got about 34lbs total. The only draw back with dry base rock is it comes white and you have to wait awhile (months) for it to grow the coralline algae that makes it look authentic. I already have some green and purple coralline growing on it after about 2 months now.

ps: two of the rocks in the pics are live rocks I bought to seed the tank, can you guess which ones?

 

reefcleaners is sounding good to me, that pukani looked neat from BRS though I was even thinking about takign a chisel to it lik in their video lol

 

Live Rock in the Marine Aquarium

good read for ya for rock ????? and sand ???????'s