"Tristan" wrote in message
...

Is i t fun to stalk old ladies Tristan? tell us abuout the thrill it give
you you can't get any other way you sorry piece of ****.

Other than stuff that is on the rock like various critters etc, which
I view as a bonus, as the main reason I want live rock is for a
bacteria house, it is indeed cheaper to use cheap live rock or dead
base rock for a lot less money and add a nice piece or two of good
live rock and allow it to seed. Same for the sand. Its gonna get most
of its critters from the live rock used to seed, or a some what more
diverse mix of critters from a cup or two of live sand removed from a
exisiting tank. Dry bagged sand is what is most common here or natural
sand from the Gulf of mexico region is what a lot of folks use. Then
they head to a friend house and scrounge a cup or two of live sand or
head to a lFS and buy a cup or two. It may all take a bit longer but
what the hey, its stlil neat to watch stuff grow and get established
and still be able to keep a few bucks in your wallet......the end
result is the same it just takes a bit longer......Another good item
to add pods and some other critters is a wad of chaeto or calurpea
macro algae.



On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 19:06:23 +0000, Gill Passman
wrote:

Tristan wrote:

Same for that wet bagged live sand that is sold. HOw much good do
you
really think that stuff serves. I see bags of it that are expired,
or
laying on a stores display shelf in direct sunlight and hot/warm, it
sets for days on end in a hot truck while being transported, or in
a
cold truck during winter.......Best bet on that sand is buy cheaper
dry pack sand and get a cup of live sand from someones established
tank or add live rock and let it seed the sand with bacteria. Thats
all the bagged sand is capable of having anyhow, and that can come
from good live rock anyhow....

I used dry sand as the substrate....the tank is now 4 months old and
the
substrate is alive and crawling with all sorts of life and has been
for
the majority of time that it has been in the tank since the LR was
added
- so my conclusion was that dead sand will become live sand quite
quickly and at a fraction of cost to whatever might be sold as "live
sand". I even took this live/dead thing a bit further and used "dead"
rock as well as the live stuff when setting up the tank....the "dead"
rock is now very much alive and again cost a fraction of the price of
the live stuff - I guess the key was to find the balance in quantity
between the live and dead (I guess I did 2/3 LR and 1/3 dead) and also
to be very slow/patient about the additions of anything into the
tank....of course, when it comes to buying the LR it also has to be
remembered, well certainly for the stuff I buy, the coral
colonies/frags
are actually sited on Live Rock - which again just adds more and more
into the equation and balance of the tank

Gill





On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:40:45 GMT, "TheRock" wrote:

I meant "purchasing cured rock"...you are correct.
And to further clarify...internet cured rock.

Especially when they ship it in wet newspapers.


"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:9Ntqh.386$AG6.142@trnddc06...
TheRock wrote:

Somebody correct me if I am wrong but i believe there is no
such thing as
cured rock.

Live rock that has been marinated in water (as you put it)
until nothing
dies anymore is said to be "cured live rock." The curing
process typically
involves low light levels, lots of circulation, and large
water changes.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.




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I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!



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I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!