Ocean Pro Aquatics LR
- Thread starter fishy_mcfish
- Start date
Nemo_0916
In Memoriam
i just got a heads up from a buddy of mine. He can get the Walt Smith LR 'Premium' for $120 a case SEALED from Walt Smith. Endless supply from what I'm told.
Originally I thought Mike had a great price but now that I heard that ... hhmmm not too much of a deal like I originally thought ...
Originally I thought Mike had a great price but now that I heard that ... hhmmm not too much of a deal like I originally thought ...
It goes;
Base-has been dried out in a yard--often $1 per pound or lower
Premium- nice rock all sizes (purple writing on case)-$2 per pound wholesale to the public price
Ultra premium- (gold writing on the case if it's real)
-huge chunks 30 pounds each rock for most cases-$4 per pound wholesale cost-probably 20% higher for sales to the public
Mike had ordered some Ultra for his show tank a while back, it was two huge rocks in a case! The rocks were covered with life but the cost was double!!! I bet after curing they would look the same, but the rock size is consistantly larger.
Since Mike gets his cases cherry picked you can find rock of the same quality or better for the lower premium price. I have never had to ask them to cut open more than 3 cases to find exactly what size/shape/colors I was looking for--it's the good stuff!!
The funny thing is that your buddy is probably middlemanning Mike's rock, I know I did for a while, it sells itself
Base-has been dried out in a yard--often $1 per pound or lower
Premium- nice rock all sizes (purple writing on case)-$2 per pound wholesale to the public price
Ultra premium- (gold writing on the case if it's real)
-huge chunks 30 pounds each rock for most cases-$4 per pound wholesale cost-probably 20% higher for sales to the public
Mike had ordered some Ultra for his show tank a while back, it was two huge rocks in a case! The rocks were covered with life but the cost was double!!! I bet after curing they would look the same, but the rock size is consistantly larger.
Since Mike gets his cases cherry picked you can find rock of the same quality or better for the lower premium price. I have never had to ask them to cut open more than 3 cases to find exactly what size/shape/colors I was looking for--it's the good stuff!!
The funny thing is that your buddy is probably middlemanning Mike's rock, I know I did for a while, it sells itself
If you get it shipped overnight it doesn't appear to be any less expensive than the other places. Is there a disadvantage of getting Ground UPS if my tank is not established yet? My thinking is I can put it in the tank, it might smell and be cloudy but it will come back when it is curing in my new tank. Thoughts?
i just placed an order for tonga kaeline and tonga branch. i am waiting for it to arrive. i will let you know how it turns out, but for the price with shipping i still saved over 100$ from going to lfs here in town. i hate to do that but it is a new tank and i figured what the heck.
Yeah, that's why Mike ships air freight
Do you have any livestock in your tank?
How big is it?
You can add some more if you haven't added livestock yet, just put it over the other guy's ugly rock. I have even seen people scrap thier bad rock to a local reefer and start over with all Mike's rock....I did it myself.
Do you have any livestock in your tank?
How big is it?
You can add some more if you haven't added livestock yet, just put it over the other guy's ugly rock. I have even seen people scrap thier bad rock to a local reefer and start over with all Mike's rock....I did it myself.
well i reciev3ed my tonga kaleniea and am very happy of course there was alot of die off and i am soaking it in a 30g for now still have to drill my glass for bulkhead. anyhow i am very happy with the rock and would have no problem recomending him and ocean pro to anyone. i had called a couple times to check my order because when i originally placed it they had said they were out and it would be a couple days. both times i spoke with mike very personable. by the way i am in iowa and its cold here.
Yea, Mike is a super cool guy to do biz with. He has the highest standards of customer service I have found, after all where else does the president of the company personally see to each customer's satifaction?
They are great allies to all us broke reefers out there, they practically sell that rock at thier cost, I have seen people pay more for a case at the wholesalers than I pay at www.oceanproaquatics.com wholesale to the public. Mike does insane volume so he gets a better price than 90% of dealers, which he then kindly passes along to us broke folks.
They are great allies to all us broke reefers out there, they practically sell that rock at thier cost, I have seen people pay more for a case at the wholesalers than I pay at www.oceanproaquatics.com wholesale to the public. Mike does insane volume so he gets a better price than 90% of dealers, which he then kindly passes along to us broke folks.
i figured i would post this question here first and see if i get a response. i recieved my tonga lr and have been recuring it in a large container with lights heater and pump. what is the plaster like substance covering the rock? it isnt on every peice and it doesnt cover the hole rock, but there are parts that have it on it. it is hard and white, almost like another layer of rock forming. i thought i read somewhere that this is the dead part of the lr hardening and becoming rock. also i have had this for a around a week and have noticed alot of tiny little frag some red some purple and even some white/pink ones. i am impressed with this so far. i planned to put it in a 20gh with a sump, so i got 30lbs. misjudged that i may need to think about setting up two 20gh. anyhow if i need to i will post this in a different forum.
I got my 35 lbs of Fiji Premium from Ocean Pro Aquatics delivered this afternoon. I'm kicking myself for not buy a bit more. I paid $2.10/lb through their ebay auction. It was just under $100 including delivery.
I'm very happy with the rock I received. It took a little longer than I expected for them to ship my product,, but overall I'm completely satisfied.
I got four rocks total. One fairly large rock that's probably 9-10" long and 5-6" tall, it's a good 12-15lbs with lots of crevices. Two medium sized rocks 7-10lbs each, and one smaller rock about 5lbs.
I highly recommend this rock, especially if you're on a budget. This rock is covered in plant life, quite a bit of coraline, and some sponges. It was packaged in wet newspaper, wrapped in plastic bag and then the box was stuffed with bubble shipping envelopes. There was absolutely no smell from the box or the rocks. It's much better than most of the rock I've seen sell at the LFS's here for $4-6/lb.
I'm very happy with the rock I received. It took a little longer than I expected for them to ship my product,, but overall I'm completely satisfied.
I got four rocks total. One fairly large rock that's probably 9-10" long and 5-6" tall, it's a good 12-15lbs with lots of crevices. Two medium sized rocks 7-10lbs each, and one smaller rock about 5lbs.
I highly recommend this rock, especially if you're on a budget. This rock is covered in plant life, quite a bit of coraline, and some sponges. It was packaged in wet newspaper, wrapped in plastic bag and then the box was stuffed with bubble shipping envelopes. There was absolutely no smell from the box or the rocks. It's much better than most of the rock I've seen sell at the LFS's here for $4-6/lb.
fishy_mcfish
New member
yea, i wish i needed more rock just so i could get some more from OP
hehe, last time I rearranged my rock I sold off 90 pounds of the original tank owner's tonga and replaced it with OP's fiji premium. The tonga stuck out like a sore thumb next to my original 50 pound case of OP fiji I tried to mix in. I love that bulbous purple corraline, I have rocks with a complete crusty shell over the tops.
Have you seen any of OP's Marshal Is. LR? I'm in the market and was considering either 2 boxes of 30lb Marshal OR 2 boxes of 50 lb Fiji Premium OR 1 box of each. This is for a new setup...65 gal AGA. Part of my problem is that I have to have it AirCargo shipped to Albany New York, so thats extra. BUT...I AM partial to Marshal Is, but havn't read much about OP's Marshal Is. rock...have any of you seen it? I like low density rock. Fiji and MI are basically the same price...You guys with OP experience, whatcha think?
Appreciated
Tony
Appreciated
Tony
