The cultured live rock available from Tampa Bay Saltwater is the result of years of work. This rock is "growing" on a State of Florida Lease site in the Gulf of Mexico in twenty feet of water six miles from shore. The project started in 1990 shortly after Florida banned collection of rock from state waters.
First a site was located and a lease application was submitted in 1991. It took nearly two and a half years of red tape to receive our lease, the first issued by Florida. Over one million pounds of imported Bahamian coral rock was barged to the site and dropped by crane in September 1993.
