Tufa Rock

[SpateD]

The Marco in Lethbridge is 4.50/lb.

Considering on marcorock.com the price is $285.00 for 150 lbs.... up here, it's beyond pricy.

[Rogue951]

j&l aquatics here is $150 for 50 lbs. free shipping over 100$.
only other sugguestion is shut down tank rock.

[NanoN00b]

I doubt J&L will ship rock for the $100 deal. It's on dry goods only, not even lamps.

Tufa can be sourced from eastern BC in Alberta. There is a fellow who mines it for rock garden builders and the horticultural market. I recall near Sparwood?

Anyways, I'd recommend buying it at $4.50/lb or driving to Calgary for a day.

Tufa seems like a rock that would definitely invite algae, but I'm not about to setup a tank to try it - and I've never done it. YMMV.

[intarsiabox]

I set up a 75g reef tank about 7 years ago with tufa and a few good pieces of real live rock to seed it. I had the tank running for 2 years and never had any algae problems. I only had soft corals and a few fish in it but everything grew like crazy in the tank. I personally wouldn't use tufa again though because it really doesn't look much to me like actual live rock, even after cured, and it is probably 4x as dense as live rock as well. Keeping an eye on canreef for people selling cheap live rock is what I would recommend even if it takes awhile to buy bits at a time as your budget allows. Good live rock has lots of amazing things on it to keep you interested while you build your collection and I think you will be more satisfied in the long run.

[SpateD]

I've decided to stick with Marco Rock. Thank you everyone.

[RedCoralEdmonton]

Have you checked Red Coral Lethbridge? I know we have Marco rock in stock and its not that expensive in Calgary or Edmonton, check our website for pricing

Steve