Not to sound like a broken record....

You could always try ordering dry rock online. I know bulk reef supply and marco rocks have some great prices and great stock, I'm sure there are others if you look too...
Hope this helps, Adam

 

I started a tank with dry rock. You will need to seed it with some live sand and some live/cured rock. It will still takes several weeks to cure your rock before it's ready for livestock.

 

marco rock is great. son got some when he started and was very happy. lots of cool hitchhikers. Usually takes about 3 weeks - month to cycle. When i started my tank i had a combo of wet and dry...

 

Depending on how big your setup is and what your filtration is, you could add a pound or two of dry rock per 10 gallons if you had to. I've added a few 5-10 pounders to my tank(+- 100 gal volume) with no increase in levels.

The best way to cure your rock is to get a container big enough to hold it and put it all in there. Make up enough saltwater to fill the container, do a water change, and then use the "established" water from the water change to soak the rock. Put a strong pump in the storage tank for movement and ideally a heater(not necessary). After a week or two, repeat. It should be good to go in 3-4 weeks. Also, depending on how much sand you have, you could scoop up some and put it in the container to start seeding the rock while it's curing. You can always scoop it back out of the container and put it back in the tank when done.

Good luck.

 

im in the same boat, i live in altoona now and im moving to urbandale at the end of the month and thinking about starting a reef tank in october once im settled in (not a sure thing though still just in the planning stages so dont count on me) if youre still looking for live rock then id split shipping with you from a place like sealife or premium aquatics

 

My lfs sells cured Live rock for $5lb. I was surprised at the quality coming from some small shop, but if you look around I am sure you can find what you are looking for around Des Monies. Great thing is there is near zero dead loss. I had mine in the tank for 3 weeks and did water test every few days and never had any detectable Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates. I just never liked the idea of buying live Rock and having it shipped then cleaning it and curing it for several weeks.

 

Posted By Don on 09/12/2009 11:29 PM
My lfs sells cured Live rock for $5lb. I was surprised at the quality coming from some small shop, but if you look around I am sure you can find what you are looking for around Des Monies. Great thing is there is near zero dead loss. I had mine in the tank for 3 weeks and did water test every few days and never had any detectable Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates. I just never liked the idea of buying live Rock and having it shipped then cleaning it and curing it for several weeks.
yeah thats what i keep hearing, the only lfs i know of in des moines is adams which is $8/lb, petco or petsmart had some that was cheaper (sold by piece probably $3-7lb) but ive heard bad things about them, sealife is $3.50/lb and premium aquatics is $2.80/lb and ive heard nothing but good things about both places