My LFS keeps their live rock outside in cold water with no lighting. Everything is dead on it. Why would they sell this!!??

Natural lighting is cheaper than using electricity, that could be part of it. How cold is it by you?

Yeah how cold is it... Cold doesn't necessarily mean dead... You can get Atlantic LR which is harvested from 45-60 degree water...

The bacteria which inhabit the rock are what make it "live" and they can tolerate a very wide range of temperatures.

Well it's in a cinder block "pond" with a liner. Covered with a canopy to keep rain water out, which thus blocks out the light. It's winter now so It was in the 30's a couple months ago, now maybe the 40's at night. It just seems like a waste of an investment to me, Ive seen their shipments come in and the rock looks nice, with critters and everything with some decent coralline. Then they just throw it outside and it dies, and they want $9 a pound. Maybe they don't care about it. But i'd like my live rock to be nasty, covered in junk and life!

Well you always have the option not to buy from them and reccomend the same to family and friends.

But the sad part is apparently he sells enough of it to keep ordering more.

Its apparent that he just sees the $$$ and dont care about the customer.

Although I am not sure what the absolute low temps that the bacteria can withstand. You have to figure that some places in the ocean are rather cold and I assume types of bacterial thrive.

But as you said, even if the bacteria is alive at them temps most of the rock will be transformed into base rock with no other life on it and $9lb for base rock is a rip off.

so you would by white or doo doo brown rock for 9 bucks a pound w/ little if any hitchers?


where the heck is this hole of a store located?

$9 per lb!?!?!?!? Holy crap...

I wouldn't buy any rock for that price...

As for the condition, again, I think it's where the rock was harvested from. There are plenty of temperate crabs, shrimp, mollusks, sponges, anemones, and algaes which will not come in on rock harvested from tropical locations, which will on rocks harvested from temperate locations and vice-versa.

There are also plenty of people out there who want completely cured rock with little, if any hitch hikers. It all depends on your school of thought. I still can't believe they want $9/lb though...

yeah 9 bucks a pound, id laugh in there face....but where im at now, pickins are slim, and if i were to come across a really nice piece, id be tempted to pay it, but it better be friggin beautiful, and smell like roses

as far as folks who dont want hitchers, wtf , they should just get base rock

i love a good battle.... bring the bad hitchers on!

Haha... LR typically sells for $4-6/lb here... Not too bad I guess, but when I need some I'm always the first one there as they unload a new shipment looking for the gems...

And you're right... for those who don't want hitchers, they should just get some base rock...

Boy you guys got it good, nebraska live rock is often at $12-$15 a pound depending on the store... $8 if your lucky....

Wow. I would give up on SW at that price.

@ 9$ a pound it better be COVERED in 8 diff colors of coralline, have sponges, corals, macros, xmas tree worms, fan worms, etc AND be able emit gold dust when I blast it with a turkey baster.......

LR here is like 4-6$/lb but it isnt that great. You really have to search for the good stuff. The BEST LR I have seen comes from I *think* Sealifeinc. I THINK that is the name of the place, and even it is a decent price shipped and all!

keeping it fresh.

Most of the LFS around here have garbage LR and are between $7-9 lb. When I lived in Houston I was getting GOOD LR for $4.50-6 a pound, but that was ten years ago.

Alot of the fun in this hobby, to me, is all the little critters and lifeforms that come on the LR. It spreads around your tank and makes for a very interesting little ecosystem.

I think one of the biggest problems is how people define 'live rock' Technically as stated earlier, it just needs a plethora of bacteria which can survive some crazy conditions, however IMO they should make 3 main groups. Base/dead rock, Bacteria cured rock, and LIVE rock with critters, etc etc etc.

Which means when it's tossed in a warm tank you get a fast die off caused by the rapid decomp and a nice ammo spike for your trouble. The bacteria aren't an issue - they live in frozen dirt. It's the other dying organisms that cause problems.

I would only buy LR that is kept at the same conditions as the tank I intend it for... sg, temp, maybe lighting. If they are selling cold water rock, thats fine, but that can't do too well in 80 degree water as stated above...

live rock rounds here is the same as ur lfs get. nothing special, and some even cured in freshwater to save on the cost of salt. we also do not have macro rock. I look at live rock a lot differently these days..

where did that come from?