Good live rock

[jslaney]

So I am going to ask the newbie question.

How to buy good live rock?

I have read lots on live rock and have a general understanding of the different areas that it is collected and what life forms it may have hitch hiking.

Unfortunatly whenever I go to LFS, the live rock I see in their sale tanks looks like crap compared to the pictures on the internet. I dont see good corraline growth, I dont see any possible hitch hikers and most of the rocks look like they are covered in some kind of ditritus.

I will be spending 3 bills shortly and want rock that has as much life on it as possible.

I will not ask that anyone names specific stores because that is unfair, (and I think not allowed in the forum) but I will ask, can I expect to purchase what I see online and in books? Do I only have to be patient for a good shipment to come in or is what I see what I get and no one really gets all the cool hitchhikers.

I want to go through the fun experiance of finding odd creatures crawling out of my live rock.

I dont think I should have to pay premium prices for rock that is simply has been colonised by bacteria. I could create similar live rock in my tank with some dead rock and a decomposing shrimp.

Was that a rant or a question? you decide and answer, hopefully.

Thanks.