Best Base Rock?
 

So I'm looking at different sources for dry base rock. Part of it is because at this point in my life I cannot justify spending $500 on live rock, and partly because I like building/making things. So I'm gonna cook some dry base rock in a dark bin at the highest temperature my heater will go (to leach the phosphates out of the dry rock) and feed it bacteria, vodka, and ammonia for a few months and see what happens. I've read it works quite well for getting good levels of aerobic and anaerobic bacterias. I'm interested in an "experiment" sort of way. Gives me something to do over the winter. LOL!

So, what should I buy? So far, I think the Caribsea Lace Rock looks pretty good. Has anyone bought a box of this before? What kind of sizes and shapes should I expect? Are there better dry rocks out there? I'm looking for nice shapes (not bricks and boulders!) for a 65 gallon tank, so I would prefer to have several in the 10-14" range, and then the rest in the 6-10" range.

Comments? Ideas?

marcorocks.com <-- Probably the best available at the moment.

^ That is some NICE rock! But they are in the US and ship via UPS, which means I'll get dinged at the border 25-40% which makes those rocks pretty darn expensive. Looks like it will end up costing about $5/lb once it actually arrives at my door and the shipping and border duties are paid.

If you have all winter then make your own.

http://www.garf.org/

Scott

SkyLord has it right. If you have the time then I would definately make your own. I made around 100 lbs myself years ago. It's very easy and you can make some great rock with caves and such. After it gets covered in coraline you can't tell the difference. Google DIY reef rock for lots of ideas.

I have used Caribsea Lace Rock for Base Rock. It works very well. It is very porous so it will accommodate bacteria well. I bought a box and just took a hammer and chisel to the pieces I wanted to adjust to sizes better suited to my needs.

Tom R

Reef Ceramics

www.korallenwelt.de

what are you going to dinged 25-40% at the border for?
I dont understand.

UPS charges a "Brokerage" fee when they ship things from the US into can. This fee is based on the dollar value of the goods, and is usually Stupid expensive

Thanks for the responses everyone! :)

I'm not sure I actually want to make my own rock...I've heard that making it yourself doesn't create a rock that is (finely) porous enough. You seem to be able to make fairly large holes in the rock from the granules of rock salt, but you can't make tiny little pores that the anaerobic bacteria like to colonate. Any comments on that?

Ok, I'll write down the charges I received when I bought a used protein skimmer for $110 that was sent via UPS. The seller paid for the shipping, but I received this bill from UPS about 6 weeks after the package arrived:

$6.25 - Customs GST
2.09 - Brokerage GST
0.26 - COD GST
$8.60 Total Government Charges

$29.00 Entry Prep Fee
5.85 Disbursement Fee
4.25 CA COD Surcharge
$39.10 Total Brokerage Charges

$47.70 Total Charges

On a $110 item!!!!!!!!!! This is 44% the value of the item. I won't be accepting any items sent by UPS from the US ever again. Their brokerage fees are ridiculous. The government charges are based on the value of the item, which I can understand and am willing to pay. If I receive an item via USPS from the US, then the government fees are all I pay, and I pay those when I pick the item up at the post office. The UPS brokerage charges don't vary much with the value of the item, but do vary according to the size of the item (although not much). You're usually looking at $30-50 brokerage fees from UPS for average sized items, then about 8% government fees.

Thanks Tom! I am worried that I will get a bunch of small pieces when I order a 50 lb box. I bought a box of Caribsea reef rock a couple years ago, and they came as a bunch of heavy non-porous boulders, and there wasn't a piece over 8" in the box. Did you receive big pieces in the lace rock?