Where to Buy REAL (Old-School) Live Rock Harvested from Pacific Ocean?

[VR28man]

Contact Walt smith directly. Yes he still imports old school actual from the ocean live rock. I asked him in person.

I did contact the company, and it seemed that they only work with one or another importer (who's really sketchy).

As far as the OP: I thought about this and considered this as well, and found most of the links here. In the end, I will probably go with Tampa or Keys (ARC reef or KPaquatics) rock, for this purpose.

1. the survival rate of organisms will be much higher. Tampa bay saltwater in particular will send the rock out by plane maybe around lunch time and if (in my case) you live near a major East Coast airport you'll get the rock by dinner time. Very minimal die-off to me is worth it.

2. the key pacific organisms of interest (hitchhiking corals) can be bought on your own.

3. I'm not convinced that there's really a difference, functionally, between pacific sponges, tunicates, shrimp/crabs etc. and the carribean ones. Yes, most will be different species, but for reef aquarium purposes I'm not sure it will make a difference. Especially if you don't make an effort to keep them alive. In the end, in North America we live much closer to Florida's reef's than the Pacific's reefs.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I did contact the company, and it seemed that they only work with one or another importer (who's really sketchy).

As far as the OP: I thought about this and considered this as well, and found most of the links here. In the end, I will probably go with Tampa or Keys (ARC reef or KPaquatics) rock, for this purpose.

1. the survival rate of organisms will be much higher. Tampa bay saltwater in particular will send the rock out by plane maybe around lunch time and if (in my case) you live near a major East Coast airport you'll get the rock by dinner time. Very minimal die-off to me is worth it.

2. the key pacific organisms of interest (hitchhiking corals) can be bought on your own.

3. I'm not convinced that there's really a difference, functionally, between pacific sponges, tunicates, shrimp/crabs etc. and the carribean ones. Yes, most will be different species, but for reef aquarium purposes I'm not sure it will make a difference. Especially if you don't make an effort to keep them alive. In the end, in North America we live much closer to Florida's reef's than the Pacific's reefs.

I dunno. It's Walt smith and they distribute world wide and have for decades. I wouldn't consider that sketchy.
Fwiw because of the distribution methods and supply chain, most of us have been buying his fish and corals regularly and have no idea that we have. I spoke to he and his wife about this At length last year.

As far as regionality, Fiji is just cool.
And there is a difference between the animals and coral hitchihers. Weather it matters for a successfully reef. No. It's just cool.

 

[smcquary]

wow.saltybottomreefcompany.com is awesome with great pricing and customer service with rock they harvest from the Gulf.

 

[Shredded]

This is absolutely the best "old school" or as close as you can get to the good old days.
http://www.livestockusa.org/
Super airy, very fresh, great rock!

 

[Forsaken77]

Fiji used to be the best back in the day when I worked in a fish store. One of my LFS still sells uncured Fiji rock. Extremely expensive and heavy. That's why a lot of people switched to Pukani, because it's much lighter in weight and more porous.

But Fiji is beautiful rock.

 

[ThunderGoose]

I got my live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater and it's been great! It may look chunky but mine is full of holes, crevices and even tunnels within the rock pieces. Absolutely love it.

 

[JonJ]

For reference, in the picture I posted on the 1st page of this thread, that is 107 lbs of rock in a Red Sea Reefer XXL750 (6x2x2). At the lfs I went to, their Caribbean rock would have been closer to 200 lbs for the same volume.

 

[batfish5]

For reference, in the picture I posted on the 1st page of this thread, that is 107 lbs of rock in a Red Sea Reefer XXL750 (6x2x2). At the lfs I went to, their Caribbean rock would have been closer to 200 lbs for the same volume.

Been buying all my LIVE ROCK from KPaquatics and it is always crawling with critters,this is old schoolrock like 20- 30 yrs.ago!!!!

 

[yort265]

Been buying all my LIVE ROCK from KPaquatics and it is always crawling with critters,this is old schoolrock like 20- 30 yrs.ago!!!!

Will KPaquatics work with you on rock size? I want to order 10lbs to help seed a new tank and need smaller sizes.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Will KPaquatics work with you on rock size? I want to order 10lbs to help seed a new tank and need smaller sizes.

In my experience KP is very willing to work with aquarists. Shoot them an email and ask.

 

[Midrats]

Not interested in Tampa rock. See post #4.

I know you don't want the dense football-like rocks that are typical of aquaculture, but there's an option now, live Pukani. It's the nicest live rock I've ever seen. That says a lot because I handled literally tons of Walt Smith Fiji back in the Nineties and that was NICE rock.

 

[ThunderGoose]

I know you don't want the dense football-like rocks that are typical of aquaculture, but there's an option now, live Pukani. It's the nicest live rock I've ever seen. That says a lot because I handled literally tons of Walt Smith Fiji back in the Nineties and that was NICE rock.

I have to say the stuff I got from Tampa Bay is full of holes and crevices, it's not as textured on the surface as pukani but I'm not sure if that's because it started out smoother or because it is covered in barnacles.

 

[Midrats]

I have to say the stuff I got from Tampa Bay is full of holes and crevices, it's not as textured on the surface as pukani but I'm not sure if that's because it started out smoother or because it is covered in barnacles.

Richard sells actual Pukani rock harvested from his aquaculture site. You just have to ask for it. Nice big pieces too!

 

[Kengar]

Well, I made the trip to aquatictech in Ohio. Drove the 350 miles from home instead of just piggy-backing onto a trip to the in-laws. Very glad I did. Bought about 120 lbs, including a cool 40 pounder that will be centerpiece. Lots of coralline and sponges and other polyps. Purportedly fully cured as it had been in their large vats since the market shut down. Will post photos when I get home — stopped in Steubenville to spend the night at in-laws — and get the rock into water. As they say, now THATS what I’m talking about!

 

[Kengar]

Well, I made the trip to aquatictech in Ohio. Drove the 350 miles from home instead of just piggy-backing onto a trip to the in-laws. Very glad I did. Bought about 120 lbs, including a cool 40 pounder that will be centerpiece. Lots of coralline and sponges and other polyps. Purportedly fully cured as it had been in their large vats since the market shut down. Will post photos when I get home — stopped in Steubenville to spend the night at in-laws — and get the rock into water. As they say, now THATS what I’m talking about!

 

[mtraylor]

Looking forward to see the pics. Just caught up on thread. This has been in the makings for a while.

 

[Kengar]

Here are photos of the rock. System is still being built, so it's cycling (to extent still necessary) in the tank. The large piece in the last photo is a 40-pounder and will be centerpiece of the tank.

FYI, it's sitting on perforated plates, which are supported above the bottom by those acrylic cubes you see in one photo. (Plates need to be re-positioned before adding substrate.) Tank has a closed-loop system, drawing from back of tank and returning into bottom of the tank. Assuming it works as intended, the plan is for the flow to lift detritus up out of the substrate to keep it clean. Closed loop pump will either run constantly at low flow rate or, more likely, be controlled by Apex to come on full-bore for a minute two once an hour.