[Max]

Im so new to this it scares me. I take everthing i hear and do what I can afford.
I have 2 semi nice saltwater LFS's in town and both give the exact opposite advise and opinions. That is the one thing about being a newbie that realy sucks. oh well

I just got a few pieces of live rock and I cant tell if they look good or bad.
They look like 2 different kinds. It would be a big help to know if this guy sold me his junk knowing im a newb or he did ok/ I did ok.

Can anyone tell by looking if YOU would have bought these pieces, I didnt buy alot till my tank ages a bit so no biggie but if you say they look bad i wont buy from him again.]

The 2 on the left are different from the 2 on the right.
The right ones look the best but I have no idea what looks good and what doesnt.

[Reefland]

None of it looks very lively to me. The pieces on the bottom and left don't even appear to have any potential. You might get some coloration from the 2 darker pieces on the right though.

Really judging the quality of liverock from a picture is difficult, unless it is very obvious. You will have to give it a little time in your tank and see if you can notice colors coming back (algae) and what kind of critters you see moving about (amphipods, copepods, etc.).

[Max]

That was my thoughts on the bottom and left ones as well. live and learn. Ill leave them in till they dont do anything and then ill toss them. I really didnt look at them at the store and for good reason.. I couldnt tell a good piece from a bad one. But I didnt think so either. I was hoping that you would say OH YEA those are nice sponge rocks or something like that but since my thoughts about them matched yours exactly I guess Im not to bad off. Ill know to look at them next time.

[Samper]

They aren't bad shapes though and over time will get color to them, patience young jedi and your rewards will come.

[saltjunkie]

dont get rid of them.. just add good live rock.. that will help seed these!

[Reefland]

Don't toss them by any means. A lot of people purchase dry base rock to place on the bottom of their reef structure and then good premium liverock to place on top of it. Given time and good husbandry, the base rock will become very live and teaming with life!

[Max]

[Reefland]

3 posts saying the exact say thing at exactly 8:53pm EST.

[Max]

LMAO Yea i saw that and with that id say they have a new home

[saltjunkie]

Originally Posted by Reefland

3 posts saying the exact say thing at exactly 8:53pm EST.

i noticed that.. i got 3 emails almost instantly as i hit submitt.. i was like, wtf.....
lol

that is exactly what i did.. i only had a bit of rock in my reef.. maybe 40 pounds.. for years, all i could afford...
then afew months back i bought 60 pounds of dry, base rock.. took my reef apart, put all the new dry on the bottom, and the good back in on top..

[Poseidon]

Ewww!!! Yucky stuff! the piece on the lower right shows the most potential to me! If it makes you feel any better the rock on the left looks just like the stuff that is available at the LFS in my area! YUCK!!! I bought a lot of "lace" rock when I upgraded to my 135, and today I have a hard time telling it apart from my live rock. Except when I pick it up! Then I know for sure! The lace is much more dense, but at 1.69 per pound it was also MUCH cheaper!

[saltjunkie]

here are before and afters..

[saltjunkie]

[Max]

Well I have 40 lbs of base rock and those few pieces of supposedly live rock are about 10 pounds so 50 pounds in my 44 gallon corner tank. Still has LOTS of room for more. Ill give them some time like you all said and then add some really nice stuff later down the road. Im hoping you all can point me in the right direction for good rock when the time comes.

[LowCel]

When the time comes check out www.tbsaltwater.com . I bought about half of my rock from them and I am very impressed. On a side note, I also have about 80 pounds of base rock in my tank and after about six months you can't even tell a difference. I also added another 25 pounds of base rock about four months ago, it is starting to blend in pretty well too.