Live rock

[Muddguts]

Anyone care to comment on this e-mail I received from a co. selling live rock.I told them it was cold here and will be until March.My interpretation of this e-mail is it is do able.Has anyone here received live rock in the dead of winter.Gosh I'd hate to wait untill April .

...............

 

 

 

5 Degrees? Ouch. Here's how the rock would travel on a two day air trip:

If I packed it Monday, it would go to ft Lauderdale then Memphis by midnight

It would sit in Memphis all day Tuesday, then get set up to fly to Des

Moines early Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning it would land in des Moines then be flown or trucked to

the distribution hub nearest you where it would be sorted and set up for

delivery. Since it's a two day service, they would most likely leave it

sitting in the distribution center for the morning then deliver it in the

afternoon. It's possible it would sit outside during that time which would

be devastating for the livestock, but it might also sit inside.

 

We heat pack all the boxes, so the heat packs would take some of the chill

out of the box. We could also try Priority mail which might take three days

but will go from heated building to heated building and will never be left

sitting out in the cold (other than in transit). We actually have much

better luck with priority mail than FedEx Two Day. It would cost about the

same, maybe less if I can get it in the large flat rate box.

[ddr_phish]

Your going to have die-off from live rock anyways, so I would say go for it (Priority Mail).

[RedMan25xl]

same here..im in virginia and got some lr a week ago..it was about 15degrees when i got it and mine is doing great..you can check my threads to see it in my tank.. and im flying to iowa on tuesday..if you could please go to omaha and keep the runways clean..

[Muddguts]

Thanks you two.

I went ahead and e-mailed for a price quote on priority.Red I went ahead and called Epply your good to go.Buy wear a winter coat.

 

 

I can't belive I said "Gosh" ....{blush}

[RedMan25xl]

yeah i dont arrive until 930 so im still watchin..good luck with your lr

[Jakesaw]

If you're worried about the Live Rock sitting outside - I suppose you could 1 day deliver it. At Liveaquaria - it's about .20 cents per pound difference. OR - you could wait til after Chritmas. Holiday season gets such volume in UPS - I'm guessing that's why your package would be sitting outside if it were.

[monkeytrumpets]

What part of Iowa are you from? I got my LR from a couple places in Des Moines, and I've been reasonably pleased with it (once I smashed the crap out of it so it was in nano-sized pieces). I'm hoping to set up a pico in the next few months, and I'm debating whether to order LR online or head back to Des Moines. I'll be anxious to hear how your LR fairs. Stay warm!

[reefdan]

it's going to have to cycle either way so i say screw the 1 day delivery.

 

since it's so cold, you'll probably lose any macroalgaes growing on the rock (potentially a good thing)

[Muddguts]

I went with the uncured rock.My main concerns are losing the coraline and the beneficial bacteria.

Today is -29 degrees ,I work outside,I must enjoy self torture.

 

Solo ,I'm in the northern part of the state.I hear the good shops are in the eastern part ,is that what you are hearing?

[monkeytrumpets]

That seems to be the trend. I'm in the southwest corner, so my choices for an LFS are really limited. Where did you decide to get your LR from? You'll have to let me know how it fairs. It was a balmy -15 here today!

 

edit: for spelling

[O-man21]

Hey! It's like an Iowa party!

 

 

 

Adam's Aquatics very rarely has decent rock. When it does it goes fast. Iowa Pet Foods rock is garbage. I haven't looked at Petco in forever, but I assume the same. You could try the Petland out by Jordan Creek, I've never been there because I refuse to shop at places that sell puppies.

 

 

Anyways, the farther east you go the better the shops get in Iowa.

 

OP: I ordered my rock for Sea life Inc. about 2 months ago when it was about 40-50 out. It survived just fine. I'd definitely do overnight if you want anything besides algae and bacteria to survive though.

 

 

EDIT: I'm in Iowa City for college, Des Moines over breaks, btw.

[Muddguts]

O-man,I ordered from sealife also .Ken seems like a cool guy.Did you get the cured or uncured?I bought mostly base just because of the weather.I hear Bobos in Cider Rapids is good .but dam,it's like 4 hrs.one way from me.Hard to believe Iowa is that big.I work 6.5 days a week right now.We got snowed out today ,we are in a white out ,visibility is zero.Cool thing about the snow is it warms up the temp. so I won't be so cold tomorrow.

 

 

 

"Hey! It's like an Iowa party!"

 

 

 

 

Now pass the mad-dog......

[O-man21]

I got the uncured. It came with a lot of Macro, good coralline, and a couple encrusting corals that surprisingly are still alive.

[monkeytrumpets]

I got most of my LR from Adam's. I guess I lucked out and got there on the right day.

 

I wouldn't waste much time on Petland. I was not impressed by their hard sell tactics the one and only time I went. My fiancée dragged me in to look at the puppies (of course). They then tried to sell me a puppy I knew nothing about on the arguement that it probably wouldn't be there if I came back. Apparently I said something wrong when I informed them that you impulse buy a cup of coffee, you do not impulse buy a dog.

 

You can't go wrong with SeaLife inc. I ordered some florida rics from him a few months back. Primo stuff and he threw in a couple freebies.

 

Gotta love the Iowa party!