Live Rock Wet Paper Vs Water Delivery

[fish farmer]

If you get moist wrapped rock I would plan on some die off like sponges. Plan to inspect the rock for a few days and scrub off whitish or smelly parts. I've cured 20 lbs of Fiji in my main tank essentially starting the cycle. I've cured 30 lbs of Florida coralline in a 10 gallon vat doing occasional water changes and inspection daily. It cured in about a month. I got about 10 sea urchins off that rock...they were microscopic and grew fast. Also had several red macro algae sprout from that rock as well.

I think I did light the rock on both occasions, but a reduced photoperiod.

I think I ran a skimmer on both occasions.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

It’s Nano Tank, so I wouldn’t think shipped in water, would be that expensive. Might save some money on Clean-up Crew. Years ago, “around twenty years,” I picked up live rock on a Florida Vacation. I still have that rock, never been out of the water, since picked up. The Rock still amazes me, on the growth. Red Plating sponge, I haven’t seen in years is back.

 

[Second Shot]

A couple months ago I received a small amount of kp aquatics live rock wrapped in paper. Very minimal die off. Most coralline, sponges, fans etc are still alive.

 

[fisher99]

Hey there R2R!

wanted to post a thread as I’m currently deciding on purchasing LR.

I’ve heard LR delivered via wet paper required curing. How have you guys gone about this in your experience?

delivery in water, did you guys cure as well or add straight to the tank?

also, I plan on doing some remodeling here at home so I won’t be able to set up my nano in the next 2 months, however I’d like to go ahead order the rock.

in the meanwhile, I was planning on adding the rock to a 5 g bucket, phantom feeding, and doing weekly water changes while I inspect the rock of corals. I also plan on letting the LR fallow in case of ich.

does this sound like a practical approach while I can get the tank set up for fishes ( which will be QT’d by me )

I will tell you that I have started two tanks, a 75 and a 125 with Tampa Bay live rock, and I wouldnt do it any other way.
I do know that Tampa Bay Live Rock and Salty Bottom both ship in water and it's well worth the money.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

That sounds like a plan if you want cured rock. Is it possible to get a light over it though? That is a long time, you may lose the coralline.

I would feed for what you want to keep after observing what life is there and then targeting it. Current will help a lot, even a small air stone. Otherwise you will lose the life that relies on moving water like feather dusters etc...

So I have changed plans. I will soon be finished with remodeling. I don’t plan on changing floors, only painting (yay!).

anyways, I do want to keep everything on the rock good or bad. I will add the rock to my DT (which will be a BB). I plan on QT the fish I will purchase which will push my DT without fish for at least a month or two.

i do plan on purchasing either a lesson or AI soon for the DT.

now I am only curious, can I add foods such as mysis to keep the LR ( hitch hikers, and bacteria) alive ?

what sort of things on LR require light ?

also, if I were to order rock wrapped in wet paper and not water, curing would be the way to go, correct ?

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Tampa bay saltwater ships air freight I think, but they are shipped with water.

Awesome ! I will be starting a nano so I believe it shouldn’t be too pricey. Either way, I believe it would be worth the price

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

I got TBS live rock and sand in water, picked up at the airport (sent same day from FL to CA). Went right into the tank. Zero die-off. Even the sponges made it for a while and those adapted to my light and system survive and grow. Bill was large but its been a year and I don't care anymore--I loved having everything so fresh and alive.

The bill is less of my worries. I plan on keeping the tank fish only for a few months, so I won’t spend any money on corals just yet ( If my discipline isn’t broken lol )

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

For keeping rock alive in a barrel or vat? Yeah it will last, and light additions of food helps feed the bacteria.
As far as live rock these days, I only know of one company that harvest gulf rock. Tampa Bay saltwater.
I think there may be a couple outlets for Australia live rock. But it's way expensive.

I was thinking in a bucket or a brute can. I only plan on purchasing 10-20 lbs for my 14 gal reef. I could also add a light to keep photosynthetic organisms alive

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

TBS live rocks is shipped completely submerged in water picked up at the airport via next day air. And yes it's expensive. I paid almost 1k for 80 pounds , live sand and snails. That price includes the airfreight

Wow that’s a lot ! Worth it ?

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Howdy,
Yes, TBS live rock travels submerged in natural saltwater.

Awesome ! I definitely want submerged rock for the nano ! Will give you guys a look !

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

+1 My Gulf live rock came in a bag with wet paper, a bit of water in the bag but not much. Virtually everything survived shipment, serpent stars the size of my hand, decorator crabs, clams, even sponges. everything you'd expect to be sensitive to shipment was fine. Just inspected for baddies and added straight to tank.
As far as leaving it in a bucket for that long I might worry about anything that is photosynthetic or requires large amounts of nutrients in the water like clams, and feather dusters. Managing nutrients and providing light in a bucket may prove difficult but not impossible.

I will be able to add rock into my DT very soon, I won’t have any fish in there as they will QT

Could I just phantom feed to keep bacteria and hikers fed ?

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

It’s Nano Tank, so I wouldn’t think shipped in water, would be that expensive. Might save some money on Clean-up Crew. Years ago, “around twenty years,” I picked up live rock on a Florida Vacation. I still have that rock, never been out of the water, since picked up. The Rock still amazes me, on the growth. Red Plating sponge, I haven’t seen in years is back.

I want those benefits for sure.

the price of submerged rock doesn’t bother me.

I’m curious, do you believe it would be worth it QT fish If I add the rock with fish in ?

or should I QT fish, and let rock fallow for the meanwhile?

if fallow, phantom feed to keep critters and bacteria alive ?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I was thinking in a bucket or a brute can. I only plan on purchasing 10-20 lbs for my 14 gal reef. I could also add a light to keep photosynthetic organisms alive

But a few posts back, you said your tank will be without fish for a month or 2. I would plan to inspect the rocks when you get them, pull/scrub off anything that's obviously dead/dying (usually macroalgae or large sponges), rinse in fresh saltwater, and add directly to the display. Then start testing for ammonia and nitrates a day or 2 later. You shouldn't need to add any ammonia source, and really won't need any bottled bacteria but you can add some if you want... Anything in the rock that dies in the first week (or stuff already dead) will produce ammonia and feed the bacteria already present in the rock. A light is optional and will depend on whether or not the rock you get has coral on it that you want to save.

Sounds like you're at the beginning of a gun adventure! Please post pics!!!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I want those benefits for sure.

the price of submerged rock doesn’t bother me.

I’m curious, do you believe it would be worth it QT fish If I add the rock with fish in ?

or should I QT fish, and let rock fallow for the meanwhile?

if fallow, phantom feed to keep critters and bacteria alive ?

Quarantining fish is to prevent fish diseases from entering your tank. Some people do and some don't. You will have to decide if you want to quarantine fish or not.

If you have established rock that is not at risk of having die off from transport (like if you took a bunch of rock from a friend's tank or were upgrading your tank to a larger one), then yes, in the majority of cases, the rock will cycle the tank immediately and there will not be a risk to the fish related to ammonia poisoning.
But since your rock will likely have *some* amount of die off, unless you already have a robust population of nitrifying bacteria in the tank, adding fish at the same time as the rock will put them at risk from ammonia.

The rock you order will be safe once it is cured. "Cured" means it is not still producing ammonia from dead or dying organisms. You can cure the rock in the display if it's empty (no livestock) or in another container if you already have fish or inverts in the aquarium...

I hope that makes sense.

 

[JoJosReef]

I want those benefits for sure.

the price of submerged rock doesn’t bother me.

I’m curious, do you believe it would be worth it QT fish If I add the rock with fish in ?

or should I QT fish, and let rock fallow for the meanwhile?

if fallow, phantom feed to keep critters and bacteria alive ?

If you get the rocks submerged, it could come with any number of hitchhiking corals (e.g. cup corals, star coral, gorgonians), tunicates, bivalves, sponges, anemones (e.g. curliques, some aiptasia but in my experience not the plague kind that come on your frags), macroalgae and non-sessile living things like crabs (porcelains--yay!--, gorillas--boo--), shrimp like pistols, urchins, snails, chitons, etc.

If it comes in wet paper, might not have much of the above that makes it alive.

In any case, if you put your submerged rock in the DT and have any of the above that are photosynthetic you'd need a light. And phantom feeding mysis might be unnecessary unless you have gorillas and pistol shrimp you want to feed. I would consider a limited amount of oyster feast and phyto for filter feeders, and blow off the rocks frequently with a baster/pipette--should keep things alive and well. There will be no curing, as everything arrives with very minimal or no die-off and the little that occurs afterwards is already taken care of by the resident bacteria.

Now, there are a few nasties to watch out for, of course. Submerged rock can come with isopods, the cirolanid variety of which are parasitic to fish and a bad hitchhiker. Mantis shrimp. Gorilla crabs. Certain worms (flatworms for sure, Eunicid worms maybe). And other crazy things. Quite fascinating seeing what comes out of your rocks, especially after lights out when the real freak show begins! Still, million times better than the dry rock uglies!

How exciting! Makes me want to start a new tank...

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I’d get a clear plastic storage container from Walmart, set it near a window. With Air Pump, and a Couple Sponge Air Driven Filters. Heater set to 74-75 ish. Put Blue Masking Tape on the Side, at Water Level, and Maintain that Level with RO/DI. It’s Extremely Rare, to get a Fish in the Rock. If so I wouldn’t worry about Ich. Most of the Ich on Saltwater Fish, comes from Shipping, Handling, coupled with stress. When I was a Teen, and Collected my own Fish, never had Ich.

 

[d2mini]

Wet paper requires curing. There is going to be a lot more die-off than if shipped in water. I've started more than half a dozen tanks over the past 10+ years with Tampa Bay Saltwater, and the rock and sand always goes straight into the tank and then fish and coral can start going in just days later. Never even had an ammonia spike. Just starts producing nitrates. I just got another shipment last week if you want to check out my current tank build.

 

[mfinn]

I was thinking in a bucket or a brute can. I only plan on purchasing 10-20 lbs for my 14 gal reef. I could also add a light to keep photosynthetic organisms alive

If this is live rock harvested from the ocean, no extra feeding is needed.
Back years ago when people would get fresh live rock from the ocean, cured the rock in barrels without light. This would help eliminate some nuisance algaes.
From what I'm seeing, seems people these days are wanting everything on the rock to survive because it's from the ocean. It can't be bad, right?

 

[ReefGeezer]

Live rock shipped in water would be my go-to, particularly for a small tank. The difference is substantial. Coraline doesn't turn white and die off, sponges and other cryptic life survives much better, and there is little die-off overall. There won't be much of an ammonia spike or nitrogen cycle. All that is required is a tank with stable salinity and temperature. If you have an airport close by, even if you have to drive a little bit, shipped in water is the way to go.

I'd order a lot of base rock and just a little of the premium rock. Live sand is a great way to provide diversity also, but be advised it isn't fine white sand. TBS has a package that might be good for your Nano. @LiverockRocks is a good contact for questions.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Wow that’s a lot ! Worth it ?

Would i buy it again? Is it worth it? Yes and Yes. Every penny.