Selecting Good Rock

[Cliff]

Just wondering how everyone else here selects good rock for their SW tanks.

Form what I’ve been able to research, one of the qualities that makes for good live rock in a SW set-up is how porous it is. The more porous, the more homes for BB to grow in, the better the filtration system will be (not factoing in the other required elements for a heathly tank).

From what I’ve been able to find, the below pic would be a good example of pours rock.







There seams to be a lot of differening opinons on the type of rock to use in a reef set-up while others seam to use almost any old rock. Is this the type of rock you would put in your SW tank ?

Is there any other qualities that I should be looking for (other than the look and shape your want) ?

[sheamurai]

Rock is a personal preference thing. Rock from different areas all have their own look. You can even guess what coast they are from sometimes by the look of them.
Some people get all their rock from the same location, others like to mix all the types of rock, or make their own. They are all good.
When I look for rock, I look for porousity, shape, hitchikers good and bad, and how bare it is. If it is encrusted with coralline I beleive it's been shipped better and will have more beneficial critters on it. If it's bare, it may still be live, its just not as apt to carry the variety of critters you want in your tank.

One mistake I made tho, was choosing all "interesting" looking rocks. Odd shapes. These look great, but you need some flat bottomed peices for the base of your arrangement - you want gaps and crevices for fish and critters to pass thru, but you also want to be able to pile the rock securely - unless you plan on expoxying them in place. You need to have shelves to place corals on, so some flat peices are handy. Mine were somewhat hellish to pile. In the end, I went with secure over scenic.
The finer the pores, I believe, the better as well, for anaerobic areas.

Have fun choosing your rock! Are you getting it yourself from a fs or ordering it online? LR can be expensive - I'm sure you're scoping Craigslist and local reef club to see if anyone is breaking down a tank. Thats the cheapest way to go - some choice peices of live rock, and then any good looking dead rock that's on sale locally.

[miach]

im pretty new at this but im pretty happy with what i have done. i have a small tank 36g but i love it. click on jimi and youll see what i have.i dont know how to put a bigger pic here cause its on my computer not a web site. but definitely have at least one flat surfaced rock on the bottom to keep sturdy i found one that was about 3.5 to 4 lbs at my LFS. i think how i did it helped me get an idea of what to do. i bought about 12lbs first (only cause i have limited space, buy a bit more if you have room to start out) and mainly bigger pieces but small ones as well to stack or help line up the rock and i used two small one to cover the top of a cave as well u never know. i played with what i choose for a day or two then bought 12 more lbs and a big sand rock with 2 big holes sandblasted in it (the sand rock does fall apart a bit but its cool). i had a pretty good idea of what i wanted the second time based on what i have. draw a pic or have a good mental pic of the outcome. it really helps to dig through what the LFS has if you got one and the LR is already cured. i also bought a pound or so of dead rock because of what they looked like. Keep in mind if you want coral, that the rock you choose has dips or holes to place your frags makes it way easier. my pic doesnt look like much but i have 5 caves and a bunch of little holes here and there to swim through. i put plants kinda in front of of two caves and my two maroon clowns love it. my set up i only need to epoxy a couple of rock together to be safe. a good tip i got as well was to place rocks first and then add sand or whatever your going to use. some fish i want to keep burry in the sand and you dont want them crushed. at my LFS the live rock ranged from $6 to $8.99 a pound, but the fiji with alot of coraline algae and porous was $6 a pound so i went with what i could afford and the $8 dollar stuff was overpriced with little coralline algae. i found two baby stars, a baby snail, alot of white tube worms, a green tube worm, a blue/yellow tube worm, and a hermit crab in my live rock. things just keep popping up

[Cliff]

Thanks guys

Very helpful

Looks like I'm on the right track.