[ravenmore]

Hey guys - where's the best place to buy aquacultured live rock.

Thanks,
-Mike

[Ninong]

Are you looking for Gulf of Mexico aquacultured live rock or Pacific aquacultured live rock from Walt Smith?

Ninong

[ravenmore]

Hi Ninong,

Sorry - typed that question while I was on the phone. I've always been horrible at multi tasking.

The Walt Smith sounds interesting - I'v always liked Pacific stuff more. I've come to equate Walt Smith with FF Express - is that the case here?

gracias!

-Mike

[Ninong]

Yes, FFE gets live rock from Walt Smith. I am pretty sure that The Marine Center in Dallas also gets their live rock from Walt Smith and they will deliver it to your door for only $10 (up to 200-lbs). http://www.themarinecenter.com/dfwrockspecials+.htm

I tried to post Walt Smith's website here but it's down right now. The last time I checked, they were offering aquacultured live rock but I am pretty sure it is more expensive than regular collected live rock.

Then there is the Gulf of Mexico stuff from Gulfview www.gulf-view.com/ and Tampa Bay Saltwater http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/

Ninong

P.S. -- Why do you want aquacultured?

[Rin]

My LFS has gulf aquacultured rock. It's some of the best rock I've seen. These things are covered with life--sponges, porites, favites, heavy coraline. This stuff looks good. I don't know about rock that's transhipped from the Pacific, but I may get some gulf stuff the next time I want to add a little rock.

[Green Mariner]

click here Walt Smith aquacultured LR $119 per 45lbs

HTH

[Ninong]

GM,

That's a very interesting link. Do you know anything about them? Any personal experience buying anything? Know anybody else who has done business with them?

I don't believe I have seen that site before and was just wondering what you think about them. Looks like they ship live rock air freight (100-lb minimums), which is usually cheaper than FedEx and other shippers.

Thanks for your input.

Ninong

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

I got some of the TBSaltwater rock (150 LBS). I also received 4 manits shrimp in the rock too. Caught 3 so far! Anyway I dont know how dense the Walt Smith aquacultured is but I do know that he TBS is like boulders! It took my tank 2 months to cycle with that stuff. I do like the rock how ever. Gobs of sponges, and hard corals. Just wish I would have spread my LR out between atlantic, gulf, pacific a little when i started up.
Just my 2 pennies
SHOG

[ravenmore]

Wow - thanks for the links guys.

I'll probably be setting up a new tank in the near future and need more rock. I'm contemplating aquacultred rock(I think it's more "ecologically responsible than ripping live rock from a reef. Have you seen the figures on how much live rock is shipped to the US alone each year for the aquarium trade???). I'm also thinking about just using some large pieces of tufa and seeding it with some existing rock.

Side note - the gentleman I'm dealing with on the tufa rock has become interested that his product is being used in the aquarium trade. We had a long conversation about using tufa rock to aquaculture with, which I think is a fabulous idea.

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

err, umm, what is tufa??

[JustPhish]

Hi ravenmore, don't feel too bad about the rock and "ripping it from the reef" as rock, especially the fiji rock is not taken directly from the reef. The rock which is collected is rock which has been broken off from storms etc. In fact if I recall correctly there is a good thread about it on reefs.org in the newest forum I believe.

The aquacultured rock, at least from tampa bay is extremely dense. I got some a long time ago. It's also notorius for having pests on it such as aiptasia and mantis. The shapes also don;t compare in any way with the other live rock out there so aquascaping may be quite a difficult task. I have not seen the walt smith aquacultured rock in person but I do recall that it's not all that expensive and I was thinking of bringing in a box or two to take a look at it.

HTH,
JP
Just Phish
www.justphish.com

[Rin]

SHOG,

Tuffa rock is a man-made block of rock that resembles pumice. I think it may be primarily calcium carbonate--but I'm not totally sure. It's easy to work with to create different shapes, caves, structures, etc. I've seen a lot of Cichlid use it, but have only heard of people using it in their reef setups.

[ravenmore]

Tufa rock is a NATURAL calcium carbonate mineral deposit. It can be very very light and porous(I really think it might be lighter/volume than my monano island reef rock). I have some in my tank already, and all kinds of life migrated to it extremely quickly(sponges, macro algaes, spaghetti worms, bristle worms, those tiny brittle stars, various pods). To me it seems to grow coraline more readily than reef rock also. You can carve it with simple tools - like a screw driver or stout kitchen knife. I was thinking of getting a single large piece and carving it with a sand blaster to a natural looking reef shape. Imagine a reef made from one large piece of rock.....

Also, since it's made of calcium carbonate(same as argonite sand, btw) it acts like a natural buffer for your tank. Needless to say, I've been very impressed with how it worked out in my tank.

I've never personally bought that they only harvest rock broken off from storms.... but that's just me. I think aquacultured rock is a good idea....

-Mike

[scubadude]

I know you have seen the option before, but why not try and make some of your own rock? You can make it as porous as you design it and form your own shapes!

Here are some pics of the rocks that I made for my tank





Very easy, time consuming, and requires a sense of creativity. I had to cure mine in FW for about 7weeks before and should have done it longer .....I have a bad case of cyano that im slowly winning but I believe i can attribute the cyano to leaching excess nutrients from the rock, which could have easily been cured if I would have let it cure for longer.

[Ninong]

Originally posted by scubadude:

I had to cure mine in FW for about 7weeks before and should have done it longer.

Here's a trick I read about in a thread on another board sometime back: the guy made his own "live" rock, similar to yours, and then he placed a piece or two in each of the toilet tanks in the house. That way every time you flush the toilet there is a "water change." He claims he saved water and cured his homemade creations quicker.

Hmmm...

Ninong

[scubadude]

yeah I have heard that too....Only my wife would shoot me if she found out I was doing that I have also heard that vinegar will help speed the process up which I dont really recommend cuz i have heard that it will give you false readings

[bfeit]

GO TO http://www.petsforum.com/seacritters/ REAL NICE rock

[Green Mariner]

Ninong, I have been getting all my drygoods and even some fiji rock from them, excellent service, and great prices. I believe Andy from IceCap got some of the Walt Smith Aquaculture rock from them, and he is very happy with it, check with him!!

HTH

[Ninong]

GM,

I assume that the rock is transshipped through Los Angeles directly to the customer's airport, right? It doesn't go to Philadelphia first, does it? Except in your case, of course.

Ninong

[Green Mariner]

to be honest I have no idea.