Live/Dry Rock in Brand New Tank question

For my new 210 Gallon, I planned on purchasing all my rock from bulfreeksupply. Well this morning I got a call from a local guy that his 180 gallon tank glass broke last night and that he is going to exit from the hobby. Now the past month or so he has had some ammonia and ich problems. He has offered to sell me his rock for a very good price. My question is, should I stay away from the rock due to his recent problems and just buy the dry base rock from bulk reef supply or since my tank is brand new and is day 1 basically of my cylce go ahead and get his rock ?

 

When buying live rock from any source, you always run the risk of getting bad hitch hikers. When going with new dry rock you have control of everything that goes into the tank. Making sure to properly dip corals and quantine fish and corals as well. The choice is yours to weigh the pros and cons. I like the dry rock option. I have realized that this hobby is soo $$$ its better to do it right the first time then save a few bucks short term because it will cost you in the long run. Just my 2...

 

That's what im worried about is the hitch hikers.

Thanks for the input!

 

If the rock is good, porous rock then I'd say go for it. If he's only having ich issues then it's not a big deal. Ich will go away in about 6-8 weeks with no fish in the tank to support it. So, again, if it's good rock then buy it and don't put any fish in for about 6 weeks or so to let the ich die out. 8 weeks if you want to be more sure. Note that you can put in inverts and corals during this time.

 

If he gives you a good price I would go for the live rock, assuming it is normal pourous SW rock. you said he has issues in the past, but you can boil they rock & basically start it over at square one. pre-cycle it in rubbermaid containers & so forth.

 

I'm gonna take a look at it and inspect it and report back.

 

I would just buy his rock and kill it by putting it in fresh water for a few weeks changing out the water every 2 days thats what i did with my old lr and it came out perfect. when your done the rock should be pure white.

 

He shot me over some pics and looks like alot of smaller type peices of rock. It's in 4 rubbermaid his tank water. Some peices are covered in coraline and some are pure white. He said it's 200lb's and is asking 200 bucks. Not very many base peices though.

 

you could fit more than 200 lbs in a 210 easy maybe buy the rock and order a few base pieces from brs too

 

I agree with both above. I would go for it. You are not going to beat that deal. If you are really worried about bad hitch hikers, you do as some have mentioned above as well. This live rock will most likely help you cycle your tank faster as well. ;D If it was me, I would buy it. No one says you have to use it all either. You could just use the really nice pieces with the coraline growth on it.