Buying Live Rock Uncured Live Rock vs. Cured Live Rock - What does this mean? Uncured or pre-cured live rock is fresh rock from the ocean that is full of waste and debris. This waste emits ammonia and will kill everything in your tank if not taken out of the rock through a curing process. You can use uncured live rock at the beginning of a tank set-up to cycle your tank. The cycling process cures your rock while breeding beneficial bacteria. For more information on cycling, click here for information from our Beginner's section. Or you can cure this uncured live rock yourself. For more on curing, click here for information from our Beginner's Section. The reason a hobbyist will buy uncured live rock is that it costs less than cured rock. Cured live rock is "clean", full of beneficial bacteria, and can be placed directly in your tank. Buying Tips Think about aquascaping as you buy rock. Cheaper Fiji rock can be used for base rock while more interesting shaped Tonga Kaelini and Branch rocks can be used to create caves and obstacles for fish or surfaces for coral. If you buy rock from Vivid Aquariums, we can pick special pieces for your needs. Do let us know! If you are setting up a new tank, save money by buying pre-cured or uncured rock! You should have between 1-1.5 lbs of live rock per gallon of water for proper filtration if you are using live rock as your main filtration. (Also, water should pump 10-15 times the volume of your water per hour. See our filtration section for more info.) Buying Sand We use and recommend Arag Alive Aragonite Fine Reef Sand. Arag Alive Aragonite Fine Reef Sand is the most natural looking and it's not too fine. Sand that is too fine will get stuck in cleaning magnets and tools. Plus, this sand allows gobies, nassarius snails, and other sand-sifting creatures to easily sift through the sand. This keeps the sand clean and free of  detritus build-up.