Obviously rocks void of stuff like black jelly lookin' spots, green algae, red slime, diatoms, detritus - but all this is mute if you scrub and cure the LR. Curing is a process much like the initial cycling of a tank. if you have any desire in the future to add corals then look for rock with long flat surfaces.
LR generally means the rock was collected in the ocean from dead or dying reefs at which point other aquatic life has moved in.
Sometimes in a good way for the aquarist but more often than not in a bad way. I've heard of all kinds of stuff hatching off LR -
clams, octopus mantis shrimp, nudibranchs, star fish, worms, etc... Not all ppl want this stuff and this stuff can kill off stuff we paid big bucks for.
General under the intensity of light we are limited to purple coralline thrives. The sun and oceans have no such limitation. Multiple colors are a byproduct of mineral content and light and temp. There's really no guarantee it will survive but with that said I have pink, yellow, red, purple, green and white. Why's this relevant- don't just limit yourself to one region of rock - Caribbean rock can give off red - Atlantic shelf is pink and white, Solomon's yellows and greens etc....If the coralline survives the rocks can be quite colorful in the years to come and it does take years. Buy all dry rock to skip the curing process and this will not happen. However in the current eco - climate it is more responsible and earth friendly to buy macro, dry. or man made rock - this your choice.
