Fla keys live rock from KP Aquatics (picture heavy eye candy)

[Retro Reefer]

So for the most part I have been happy using artificial rock on my last couple reefs but I had some unusual battles with different bacterias and the tanks just seemed to be lacking something, so for my new reef I wanted to go back to using real ocean collected live rock.. after reading lots of favorable reviews I settled on KP aquatics.. I placed my order Friday, they shipped Monday afternoon and it was in my tank this morning.. the Rock is absolutely beautiful and super fresh, when I cut the bag it smelled like a early morning summer breeze on the beach. I didn’t visually see or smell any die off so I’m wondering if this stuff is even going to go through any curing to speak of... well enough chatter here’s the candy

 

[Retro Reefer]

The KP aquatics Florida Keys aquaculture farm

 

[Johniejumbo]

I miss getting good live rock fresh from the ocean! You just get so much more LIFE!

 

[User1]

I miss getting good live rock fresh from the ocean! You just get so much more LIFE!

You get a lot, that is for sure. TBS is pretty amazing rock and Richard is a cool person to exchange emails to chit chat about diving. I'm sure KP's rock will be good as well.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Pictures from there site..

 

[cracker]

Nice looking rock ! Iv'e talked to these guys If your in driving distance A weeks Va Ka to the keys is really nice . On the way back You can buy some Lr & SAVE A lot on shipping.
You would not believe all the hoops Kp had to jump thru to lease land in Florida waters !

 

[Retro Reefer]

You get a lot, that is for sure. TBS is pretty amazing rock and Richard is a cool person to exchange emails to chit chat about diving. I'm sure KP's rock will be good as well.

TBS has some really nice rock also and I was torn between the two, my decision was based on the huge amount of positive reviews I had read over the years and the fact that KP rock is Aptasia free.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Nice looking rock ! Iv'e talked to these guys If your in driving distance A weeks Va Ka to the keys is really nice . On the way back You can buy some Lr & SAVE A lot on shipping.
You would not believe all the hoops Kp had to jump thru to lease land in Florida waters !

Yes I’m grateful that they are able to lease the land and provide us with such nice rock, I think it’s just them and TBS legally aquaculturing live rock state side.. A trip to the keys is on my bucket list, we are in va so it would be doable but a long drive none the less.

 

[squampton]

I miss getting good live rock fresh from the ocean! You just get so much more LIFE!

Same. If I were in the US, I would order from one of these places in Florida. Being in Canada, and Vancouver the selection of live rock is well poor, so I went with old rock that I had, and put in a couple pounds of the real reef rock the local store sells for the base, but its just not the same.

 

[cracker]

This type of rock will be the source in the future,=. As The Pacific sources close this will be the only place. Not a bad idea Let the rock stay where it is. The environmentals , I "hope can't see issues in this. Also all the research in spawning & raising fish fry. I don't have a problem with this . It's the future !
Any old live rock You have ,keep it live !

 

[Retro Reefer]

Speaking of lots of life, I’m already seeing critters poking there heads out not sure if this is a decorator crab or not.. looks awful thorny and long legs? Need to find my red light for some late night stealth viewing..

 

[Retro Reefer]

This type of rock will be the source in the future,=. As The Pacific sources close this will be the only place. Not a bad idea Let the rock stay where it is. The environmentals , I "hope can't see issues in this. Also all the research in spawning & raising fish fry. I don't have a problem with this . It's the future !
Keep any old live rock You have ,keep it live !

I agree.. wish I had saved the 40 pounds of Hawaiian rock I had from the 80’s it was some crazy stuff so much life you really didn’t need to add anything else to the tank.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Rock in tank.. interesting observation, the tank has been filled and running for 5 days.. I had added a few gallons of water from another tank a couple days after filling and the following morning my water had turned milky and I had stringy clear slime bacteria growing in my sump.. 8 hours after the rock was introduced into my tank today the water is crystal clear and slime in sump is gone..

 

[squampton]

This type of rock will be the source in the future,=. As The Pacific sources close this will be the only place. Not a bad idea Let the rock stay where it is. The environmentals , I "hope can't see issues in this. Also all the research in spawning & raising fish fry. I don't have a problem with this . It's the future !
Any old live rock You have ,keep it live !

Future in the US maybe...lol

We can't (at least I have not found anywhere in BC ) find even Florida aqua cultured rock north of the 49th. The future here seems to be real reef rock which looks fake as heck to me, or dry rock.

 

[Retro Reefer]

The future here seems to be real reef rock which looks fake as heck to me, or dry rock.

I have used the “real reef” brand rock on two nano tanks and for the most part I was real happy with it.. never had any algae at all in one and the other I had a huge hair algae out break and it covered everything in mats but would not grow on the rock at all.. what I did have major issues with for the first year was bacterial issues in both tanks.. white slime, clear slime, brown slime and other forms of cyano. The rock is pretty fake looking at first but after it’s been in your tank for a while it will look more natural.

New tank with Real Reef brand

After a couple years..

 

[ca1ore]

Rock looks really nice - though remove that neomeris stalk if you haven't already.

 

[EW_Fish]

I have always loved their coral trees

 

[grassy_noel]

Yes, that rock is lovely. I miss the red and green macroalgae that comes on real live rock from the ocean, but I agree that culturing the rock like this is the only long-term viable path for the future.

Another player in the Florida game is Atlantic Reef Conservation (ARC), although their website says that their culture reef was damaged/destroyed by a hurricane, so they are out of commission for the time being.

 

[BigAl07]

Great thread. I was just thinking last night, "Where do people buy quality Live Rock these days?" Now we know

 

[ZoWhat]

Beautiful

Wonder what $$$ amt the State of Florida requires to lease that area. Betcha it's a chunk of change and the Gov ppwrk is as thick as an old phonebook



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