Looking for some opinions here.. I'll try to keep this brief but still want to give the full story.
1.5 years ago my GF setup a saltwater tank, 28 gallon bowfront. Probably around 25lbs of live rock, one big show piece, and a couple other little pieces.. from different vendors. She also put in some neat bleached corals from souvenir shops. She had to move and couldn't take the tank so I've taken care of it. Some time ago it hit me... the bleached corals have the same colorations, coraline, and life on them as the live rock.. yeah it took a while (I'd say nearly a year) but really cool looking.
So recently I re-did my tank.. just a 29 gallon itself, but with a sump, fuge, etc. I kept the original 50lbs of LR, but only kept the nicest pieces in the display and hit the shops for some neat looking corals to become live rock. The extra LR pieces found their home in the sump/fuge. The display is now much more open and I like it...
Questions... does any else do this? Do you feel it's unfair to show a demand at these shops for dead coral? Are there drawbacks?
I have a 120 tank sitting... ready to go but as we all know the tank is nothing... stand, plumbing, lights etc.. it's a 2010 project. But what I want to do is order LR from multiple vendors, and then go shopping for some real nice decorative pieces from shops around here (S. TX, so plenty) and let all the LR and dead coral cure for awhile together before combining with the established 29gallon system. I think I could create a really unique aquascape like this, not to mention save a few bucks in LR.
What do you guys think? Is this a good or bad practice?
1.5 years ago my GF setup a saltwater tank, 28 gallon bowfront. Probably around 25lbs of live rock, one big show piece, and a couple other little pieces.. from different vendors. She also put in some neat bleached corals from souvenir shops. She had to move and couldn't take the tank so I've taken care of it. Some time ago it hit me... the bleached corals have the same colorations, coraline, and life on them as the live rock.. yeah it took a while (I'd say nearly a year) but really cool looking.
So recently I re-did my tank.. just a 29 gallon itself, but with a sump, fuge, etc. I kept the original 50lbs of LR, but only kept the nicest pieces in the display and hit the shops for some neat looking corals to become live rock. The extra LR pieces found their home in the sump/fuge. The display is now much more open and I like it...
Questions... does any else do this? Do you feel it's unfair to show a demand at these shops for dead coral? Are there drawbacks?
I have a 120 tank sitting... ready to go but as we all know the tank is nothing... stand, plumbing, lights etc.. it's a 2010 project. But what I want to do is order LR from multiple vendors, and then go shopping for some real nice decorative pieces from shops around here (S. TX, so plenty) and let all the LR and dead coral cure for awhile together before combining with the established 29gallon system. I think I could create a really unique aquascape like this, not to mention save a few bucks in LR.
What do you guys think? Is this a good or bad practice?
