Getting a 550 gallon tank next week...

[aclockworkorange]

I wouldn't boil rocks...

I just go to a local landscaping supply yard and buy a ton of rocks. They're usually a few cents a pound. I get my sand from a local sandblasting supplier for a few cents a pound. All different grades to choose from...

[clekchau]

i bought alot of large rocks for very cheap like $150 for a truckload including 700 lbs of the river rock substrate i just showed you, don't go to home depot go to a landscaping place

[ChiPerf]

I think the quarry right behind my house sells landscaping rocks, but not sure how small. I'm gonna check that out today. Thanks for the tips! Anything special I need to do with the salt water tank to use it for fresh water? It comes with chiller, sump, and some other saltwater stuff I'm sure I have no idea about and I'll probably want to not use.

[clekchau]

I think the quarry right behind my house sells landscaping rocks, but not sure how small. I'm gonna check that out today. Thanks for the tips! Anything special I need to do with the salt water tank to use it for fresh water? It comes with chiller, sump, and some other saltwater stuff I'm sure I have no idea about and I'll probably want to not use.

just rinse/clean it out real well. you can reuse most of the stuff except for skimmer, hydrometer etc, everything else is still applicable for a freshwater. you should invest in a large piece of driftwood from manzman he's a vendor here, that really makes the tank stand out.

[ChiPerf]

just rinse/clean it out real well. you can reuse most of the stuff except for skimmer, hydrometer etc, everything else is still applicable for a freshwater. you should invest in a large piece of driftwood from manzman he's a vendor here, that really makes the tank stand out.

Yep, I will get a large piece of driftwood for sure. There are swap meets around here and I saw a bunch of larger pieces being sold for about a hundo each. Really nice stuff. I will check Manzman out too, but I prefer to shop local if I can. Shipping on that stuff has to be expensive.

One more question now. So the tank has 3 fish in it and some reef rocks too. Can I reuse those rocks in fresh water, or is that dumb? I am probably going to donate the fish to a local fish store I shop at regularly and get a credit of some sort.

[clekchau]

Live Rick would look a bit funny in a freshwater you can probably sell it over Craigslist for $3 a lb. Why don't you just go sw?

[monstermonkee]

i would imagine the live rocks would have caroline algae on it. You can make a few bucks selling them off to local reefers in your area. Since your tank is 550, im assuming you would have hundreds of lbs of live rocks at 1-2 dollar a lb. That's a lot of cheese for other stuff : ]

[ChiPerf]

No way I'm going saltwater yet. I am killing fish in freshwater still. lol I know nothing about salt at all. Do I have to keep the rocks alive somehow? Or just throw them in a bucket and take them to the LFS? Same with the fish, how long will they survive in a 5 gallon bucket without a tank and filtration? I'd hate to have them die because of my lack of knowledge.

[clekchau]

they are full of beneficial bacteria, take them to your lfs for some store credit , people pay good money for it. transporting sw fish is the same as fw, what kind of fish are they?

[Jon M]

Damn that looks great! They have that at HD? What do I ask for? Is it typically used for other things?

Nothing special to ask for. I believe someone else has already mentioned in the thread, but if they haven't, they are common landscaping rocks. If you go to HD just go to the side with all the play sand and they should be right there. On the side it even says for uses -outdoor ponds -landscaping -etc.