Florida base rock ?

Is there anywhere near Bradenton FL to pick up base rock ? I have found FL base rock on the internet for preety cheep but after I pay to ship it to Ohio it runs the price up concederably so I though I would get my parents to bring me some up on there next trip down to the sun shine state ( next month ). Thanks for any help .

 

You don't want Florida rock. It may look cool, but it can be loaded with phosphates and is also very heavy. It's not porous (most of the time) and for the price per pound, you get less bang for your buck and less room for bacteria to live. A few pieces can be good for aesthetics, but I don't recommend getting a substantial amount.

 

I use Fl. base rock and have been for many yrs never a problem . I would take it from new building foundation work and road jobs to a bunch from a quarry . Never had any PO4 issues either , Bacteria are small and a tank can only build up and support only so much bacteria

 

I have Florida live rock and some base rock in my tank now and haven't had any problems . I can order Florida base rock for around a doller a pound but the shipping is killer . Do the Florida LFS sell it for a decent price ?

 

I use only FL. Base rock, and like tangster, never had any problems.

I recently bought a batch from www.liverockandmore.com for $4/pound, and that included shipping. I have a thread out there on my 120G tank that actually shows pictures of the rock.http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/my-new-120-gallon-thread-57116.html

 

I picked up 30 lbs at the LFS yesterday for $2.39/lb.

It looks good to me but I'm just a noob ...



Is there some way I can (or should?) test it for phosphates before I use it?

 

Soak it in r.o. water for a few days then test the water for phosphates.

 

I picked up my base rocks on the side of the road (Islamorada). They are not as nice as the Fiji rock, but they look ok. No phosphate issues with me.

By the way, welcome back Tangster and Amcarrig !

 

bulk reef supply sells pretty nice base rock

 

I've got 90 lbs of Florida base and 30 of tonga shelf in my 90 gallon and have no issues with either, I got mine from bulkreefsupply.com also