What's everyone doing for live rock now?

L

lgtentacle

New member
I'm returning to the hobby after many years away and realized that live reef rock doesn't seem to be available anymore. I always used Fiji rock previously since I liked the color, shape, weight, and ride along critters that came with the rock.

Marco rocks don't look too horrible, but it sounds like they have phosphate leeching issues. Florida rock always looks like base rock to me and I usually don't like the ride along critters from there. The color dyed Walt Smith Fiji artificial rock looks pretty hideous from the pictures.

So what's everyone doing now for a live rock replacement?
 
If you want Pacific rock, you're kind of stuck in a waiting game at the moment. The two largest exporters of natural live rock in the Pacific were shut down by their respective governments last spring (Indonesia and Fiji).

This is just my guess, but I think it's unlikely that natural live rock from the Pacific will ever be available again in any substantial quantities. However, my LFS just received some of the artificial Walt Smith LR from an aquaculture operation in Tonga. And there's rumors that Walt Smith's operation in Fiji will be allowed to resume exports of the same (cultured artificial rock).

So if you want the ride along critters that come from the Pacific, that may be your best hope. As others noted, perhaps your #1 best source for aquacultured rock right now is Richard at Tampa Bay Saltwater. Quite a number of RC members have had good things to say about Richard's aquacultured Walt Smith rock, though I don't have any personal experience with it.
 
It's too bad that the manufactured rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater that they make in Fiji doesn't just get placed in the local waters there rather than being sent to Florida to make it live. I'd rather get the hitchhiking critters from Fiji than Florida. I'm having a hard time liking the idea of dye colored rock as well.

Ok, sounds like my options are very limited now. Thanks for the info guys!
 
I’d vote for Tampa Bay Saltwater. My rock was very nicely shaped, and not like base rock at all. The added critters, were plentiful, and added to the realistic look. Looking back, I’d do the same. The dyed purple rock just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.
 
lgtentacle said:
It's too bad that the manufactured rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater that they make in Fiji doesn't just get placed in the local waters there rather than being sent to Florida to make it live. I'd rather get the hitchhiking critters from Fiji than Florida. I'm having a hard time liking the idea of dye colored rock as well.

Ok, sounds like my options are very limited now. Thanks for the info guys!
Click to expand...

They do. I just got some from the LFS yesterday. I was mistaken - thought it was Walt Smith aquacultured in Tonga, but it was in fact Walt Smith volcanic ash "live rock" aquacultured in Fiji. As I understand it, this was a "special permit", but was told that export permits for this on a regular basis is in the works. Of course, "in the works" could mean just about anything when it comes to "island time".
 
dkeller_nc said:
They do. I just got some from the LFS yesterday. I was mistaken - thought it was Walt Smith aquacultured in Tonga, but it was in fact Walt Smith volcanic ash "live rock" aquacultured in Fiji. As I understand it, this was a "special permit", but was told that export permits for this on a regular basis is in the works. Of course, "in the works" could mean just about anything when it comes to "island time".
Click to expand...

dkeller nc, could you please post some pictures of the rock that you just got? I would be interested in seeing what it looks like.
 
lgtentacle said:
dkeller nc, could you please post some pictures of the rock that you just got? I would be interested in seeing what it looks like.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can't since Photobucket went off of the deep end in 2017 and wanted to charge folks $400 a year for 3rd party hosting. They've since been punished enough that they've dropped it to about $50/year, but I'm still not going to pay that, and am unwilling to setup yet another online account at Imgur, Flickr, etc...

So I'll offer a description: It's considerably more dense than real live rock as one might expect for a manufactured product. One very nice aspect of it is that all of the horrid purple/red dye that just about every manufacturer insists on putting in their product has been leached out after a couple of years in the ocean. So the underlying surface is "live rock gray". That's topped with a bunch of very colorful encrusting algae in red, orange, blue and other colors that's typical of Pacific live rock.

There was little to no macro algae on it, and it had clearly been colonized by coral during its time in the ocean. That had been removed or had died, of course, since shipping rock with live coral on it is a major no-no for CITES permits.
 
Tampa Bay!
Shipped same day air freight. Packed in the morning in water, and placed in your tank in the evening. Doesn't get an fresher or more LIVE.
www.tbsaltwater.com
I highly recommend getting "The Package" to reduce/skip any kind of cycle and maximize the health of your tank.
 
lat0403 said:
You don't have to set up an account to upload to a place like Imgur. Just upload them all together and then bookmark the link to the page if you want access to them later.
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't need to. Kengar just posted a note about Fiji "rock" being shipped again - the pics are on livestockusa's website, and they're pretty much what I got on Saturday.
 
Its been well over a decade since I bought live rock. All my tanks are started with dry rock I have hand picked at my LFS (Like Macro Rocks sells) along with a few pounds, depending on the tank size, of GARF Grunge or Grunge +. The GARF Grunge adds a lot of creepy crawly critters, mini brittle stars ect..., but you get a lot of sponges and coralline algae spores to seed the tank with as well. Not the best route to go if Instant Gratification is number one on your list, but I have been very happy with the results although it takes some time for the rock to "mature".
 
Thanks for sharing the LR link. I wish I bought a box when setting up my tank (though I guess it wouldn't have been available then). I started with dry rock and bacteria. Plenty of coralline, but it's all purples and green, and there isn't much "life" to the tank, even with the addition of frags and pods over the year. I may look into the GARF grunge (though how diverse can their grunge be if it's been recycled for the last 20 years, even if it has been fed a varied diet?).

I'd love to buy a rock or two of that fiji direct LR, or maybe a bag of live sand from the pacific.
 
Check out http://www.livestockusa.org/UPDATES.html

They have just made available artificial Fiji rock -- I ordered two boxes and will see it Friday.

Per email conversation with Mitch, they are also still ACTIVELY working to get some real, genuine, authentic OLD-SCHOOL stuff in the next few weeks. This could be worth your wait..... See further down in the Current Update page: "For live rock, there is a guy on an island in the Pacific right now setting up to ship live rock. We are hoping to hear in the next couple or few weeks if it is ready to go. So there is light at the end of that tunnel, it is getting closer, and soon there will again be 5-star, AAA-grade, real deal, air freight fresh live rock from the Pacific. I am guessing it will be higher too. They are working on the freight rate negotiations, which is most of the cost of it. "
 
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