Where to order supplies?

[Coluber42]

Hi everyone,
I want to set up a small opae ula tank in my office. I'd prefer to order online than to shop locally at Petco (basically, I'd rather not shop at Petco because of my concerns about how they treat reptiles). But I'm having a bit of difficulty navigating the places that sell aquarium stuff. Like, I go looking for reef salt and can only find it in much larger quantities than I need for a 3 to 5 gallon tank, and I'd rather not spend all that money on a tub of salt for a 200 gallon reef tank! I'm also confused about whether to get "live" sand/rock, "dry" sand/rock, "dry live" sand/rock, etc. And where to get lava rock, crushed coral, etc, without spending an arm and a leg for pieces/quantities intended for much larger tanks.

So I know this forum isn't supposed to have commercial links, but I'd love some recommendations for where to buy stuff/which stuff to set up a nice little tank with some nice rocks, gravel, and the right kind of salt. Then I'll go order my shrimp, snails, and macroalgae from petshrimp.com (probably order algae and snails first, let everything be for awhile,then order shrimp later; no hurry, because shipping to my area this time of year is probably iffy in any case).

I don't really want plastic fake rocks... but apparently buying rocks is complicated?

I'm guessing that using rocks from outside, or rocks from the garden store is risky because you can't be sure they're clean? Or am I wrong?
Thanks! I'm looking forward to finally having some company at work!

[Mustafa]

All of those supplies will also be available here very soon, but you should be able to find a small bag of reef salt for 10 gallon tanks. You don't need live sand or live rock. Just get any kind of sand (even playsand) and wash it thoroughly. You can use "aragonite" sand if you want to, but not necessary. You don't really need lava rock either, but small pieces are sold in local hardware stores like Home Depot. Etc. etc....with a little bit of search all these things are actually pretty easily available.

Soon, though, Petshrimp will offer small quantities suitable for small tanks of all of those items above. Even starter kits..."just add water." Heck, we'll even offer some "starter water" from the old tanks here.

[Coluber42]

I know some of those things aren't strictly necessary, but I really would like lava rock! I was totally volcano obsessed as a kid and still just kinda like rocks. But I wasn't sure if stuff I might find at Home Depot or wherever would be clean enough to use. To wash it, do I just basically rinse it a whole lot in a lot of running water? I'm assuming I shouldn't use detergents or anything.

Thanks! If you have more of that kind of stuff up on petshrimp.com before I make it that far, I will probably order it from you... gotta love one stop shopping!

[Varanus]

Definitely no detergents, and it'd be best to rinse them in distilled or bottled rather than tap water. Filtered water I guess is also an option. You just gotta consider that anything toxic that doesn't break down is going to have a hard time getting out once it gets in the tank since water changes won't usually be done.

[Coluber42]

It occurred to me that I have a kinda neat dinosaur egg shaped hide that my snake grew out of, which would look cool in a small tank. But since it has been scrubbed with soap before (And also pooped on, hence said soap) it's probably impossible to get it sufficiently clean, right?

[Varanus]

I wouldn't say impossible, but it could be risky. The trouble is that in small tanks contaminants are a much bigger deal than in larger ones, so it pays to play it safe.

I mean you could buy some aquarium safe cleaner and scrub the hide down with it, but I personally would worry about missing something when doing so.

[Trailhiker1]

Just wanted to add a note regarding my recent experience with lava rock. I live in N. California and have about 60 Opae's in a 2 gallon tank. I wanted more lava rock so I picked up 3 fist sized pieces from my trip to the family's cabin near Lassen National Park. Once I got home I boiled the lava rock and then soaked it in brackish water for a couple days before adding it to my tank. After 3 days I realize that I had killed off about 15 of my opaes. Something about the lava rock was toxic. I very sadly had to flush and rework the tank. For future reference, if anyone knows where to get good clean lava rock at a relatively cheap price, let me know. Preferably black lava.

[Mustafa]

Just wanted to add a note regarding my recent experience with lava rock. I live in N. California and have about 60 Opae's in a 2 gallon tank. I wanted more lava rock so I picked up 3 fist sized pieces from my trip to the family's cabin near Lassen National Park. Once I got home I boiled the lava rock and then soaked it in brackish water for a couple days before adding it to my tank. After 3 days I realize that I had killed off about 15 of my opaes. Something about the lava rock was toxic. I very sadly had to flush and rework the tank. For future reference, if anyone knows where to get good clean lava rock at a relatively cheap price, let me know. Preferably black lava.

Hmmm...not sure what went wrong there. Maybe something organic was stuck in the rock. How long was the tank running before this occurred? Did you make up your "soaking brackish water" with actual reef salt and not with aquarium salt or table salt? This could happen with any lava rock from any source. Or any porous rock for that matter. Luck of the draw. I personally have never experienced adverse affects of any rock I put in any tank. If one soaks the rock for several weeks though with possibly a few water changes in the bucket, the chances of contaminants remaining should be very, very low. You can just soak in freshwater by the way, no reason to soak in brackish water.

[Trailhiker1]

Thanks for the feedback. I had my 2 gallon tank and opae going for 3 months before adding new lava. I did use correct salt. I also thought that something on the rock might be toxic. Either that, or i just didn't give everything a chance to more slowly acclimatize (rocks and shrimp). There was a steady progression of deaths over the 3 days though that sent me into a panic! I've redone tank without that new lava rock. My plan is to leave new tank alone to allow opaes a chance to hopefully breed several months down the road. Once I have a big healthy colony I might pull some out and try using the local lava again.

[minishrimps]

I found my lava rock and corals on etsy and ebay respectively. I believe the seller of my lava rocks was based in New Mexico and the corals I got from the some guy in Florida... There are plenty of purveyors of these items on both of these sites. Be careful though and make sure you research the sellers on etsy, many people are selling "Marimo Ball kits" set up stuff and it all ships from China and takes forever! Hope this isn't breaking the rules of the forum

[Mustafa]

Hope this isn't breaking the rules of the forum

Nah...you're fine. The original rules about not advertising were set up so people don't turn this forum into one full of commercials and self-serving links. Other than that the rules can be very flexible. We want the forum to be useful to everyone after all.