Why does dry rock so much..?

[SoloChromis]

I don't know if I'm missing something or what, but why on God's green earth does dry rock cost so much? These companies such as 'Real Reef' are having to compete with the preexisting live rock, all of which is imported mainly from Fiji, Haiti and Florida now, and yet this man made rock, that claims to want to put a dent in our ecological footprint as a hobby, charges anywhere from $9-15 per *pound*. I can't imagine how this sort of pricing can be justified, given the fact that production must be relatively cheap. Not to mention, this rock really offers up nothing spectacular IMO. It's fairly dense rock, most of which seems to be similar sized and of similar shape (the "boulder" look :beer, and it's painted purple, like Disney's rendition of what a piece of reef rock would look like in The Little Mermaid. All in all, to my understanding, their business model is "wonky" to say the least. I just recently bought 35 lbs of partially cured live rock from KPaquatics at $3.50 a pound, with $33 shipping. You mean to tell me constructing pieces of rock, dropping it into a reef in the Keys, letting it populate with organisms over time, taking it back to shore, partially curing it for me and then shipping it, with care to make sure most of the fauna survives transit, all being accomplished from a relatively small, family run business, is *less* strenuous of a process than whatever it takes to formulate Real Reef's "game changing" eco-friendly dry rock? Please Rant over, feel free to express your opinion on this matter and maybe fill me in if I missed anything. Thanks guys :beer:

 

[toothybugs]

That's why I don't buy that fabricated stuff. Marco, GLR, or TBS all the way.

 

[lespaul339]

I agree with you.

Why does everything in this hobby cost so much? It can't be that expensive to make salt. It's just minerals. Protein skimmers are just plastic and a pump yet they can cost anywhere from 300 bucks on up for a good one. LED lights are really cheap and inexpensive to produce but the fixtures cost top dollar. I think the answer is most things cost what they do because people continue to pay the prices. They know they can get what they ask out of it.

 

[Mg4life0331]

Capitalism is a full contact sport.

 

[thegrun]

Someone has to mine it, hand selecting the rocks, place it in the ocean or large containers if the rock is going to be live, ship it half way across the country or world, pay workers to package it, pay for shipping and still (hopefully) make a profit. Stop and think about it that way and it's a wonder it doesn't cost twice that amount.

 

[chiltdogg75]

Pukani rock...most "bang" for ur $$

 

[TylerHaworth]

First and foremost, if you don't like the price/benefit of an item, don't buy it... I bought a new Rolex last month, and it tells the exact same time as my 10 year old $60 Seiko at nearly 150x the price tag, but they fit entirely different niches.

I just bought Walt Smith man made rock for less than $4/pound shipped and dry rock can be had from multiple sources for around $2 shipped...

I think you should shop around before cherry picking the most expensive ones to rant about.

Keep in mind that the bulk of the cost on these items are related to shipping to the end user... They're boxes of rocks.

 

[Cliving1]

Someone has to mine it, hand selecting the rocks, place it in the ocean or large containers if the rock is going to be live, ship it half way across the country or world, pay workers to package it, pay for shipping and still (hopefully) make a profit. Stop and think about it that way and it's a wonder it doesn't cost twice that amount.

I completely agree with the above. I work in supply chain, sometimes the cost is not visible until you layout the full scope of getting it from the ocean into your tank.

 

[FishN00b83]

I'll pay triple over the cost of live rock for dry rock. I want to know that I dont have anything i dont want in my tank, and dry rock is the only way to do that. Follow that with a good QT program and you never have to worry about aptasia, crazy gorilla crabs, any kind of majano, or any unidentifiable crap that can raise absolute hell on your tank. If your treat the dry rock right you can avoid serious outbreaks of algae as well (not saying its not going to happen, but you can seriously reduce the outbreaks with new tanks). I know what's in my tank and I want to keep it that way.

 

[nuxx]

Marco hear as well.

Just got a buddy of mine some live rock and he wanted it shipped ground, going to nuke it anyway.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

I'll pay triple over the cost of live rock for dry rock. I want to know that I dont have anything i dont want in my tank, and dry rock is the only way to do that. Follow that with a good QT program and you never have to worry about aptasia, crazy gorilla crabs, any kind of majano, or any unidentifiable crap that can raise absolute hell on your tank. If your treat the dry rock right you can avoid serious outbreaks of algae as well (not saying its not going to happen, but you can seriously reduce the outbreaks with new tanks). I know what's in my tank and I want to keep it that way.

This is all I've ever done to a degree. I seeded my tank and dry rock with some live rock from a friend's tank that I had a chance to inspect before use. Never had a single aiptasia, mojano, flatworm, gorilla crab, mantis shrimp, etc, etc, etc issue.

 

[SoloChromis]

First and foremost, if you don't like the price/benefit of an item, don't buy it... I bought a new Rolex last month, and it tells the exact same time as my 10 year old $60 Seiko at nearly 150x the price tag, but they fit entirely different niches.

I just bought Walt Smith man made rock for less than $4/pound shipped and dry rock can be had from multiple sources for around $2 shipped...

I think you should shop around before cherry picking the most expensive ones to rant about.

Keep in mind that the bulk of the cost on these items are related to shipping to the end user... They're boxes of rocks.

Although I'm sure you got a kick out of shoehorning in the fact that you can afford a Rolex, the example was unnecessary, as I'm fully aware that people blow money on things for the sake of blowing money on things all the time. Every LFS in my area sells their purple dry rock for around $10 ($15 per pound for "tonga branches"). I don't intend on spending money on this product because IMHO it is highly overpriced for a subpar product. If listing out some other frivolous purchases would help your self esteem further, have at it :bum:

 

[SoloChromis]

Someone has to mine it, hand selecting the rocks, place it in the ocean or large containers if the rock is going to be live, ship it half way across the country or world, pay workers to package it, pay for shipping and still (hopefully) make a profit. Stop and think about it that way and it's a wonder it doesn't cost twice that amount.

What I'm talking about is dry rock, as in rock that was mined in this country, spray painted and thrown onto a shelf. I can't see any reason to charge such an absurdly high amount for it. Like I said, I have worked with and bought from plenty of *much* smaller businesses, who charged a fraction of what these rather large companies charge for rock that is typically dense, artificial looking, with little variety in shapes & sizes.

 

[SoloChromis]

Pukani rock...most "bang" for ur $$

+1 People mean to tell me if these rocks were purple the price would have to triple to make a profit? Give me a break :debi:

 

[FishN00b83]

the purple stuff you have an argument, I would not pay for some purple rock...but straight up dry rock like the BRS reef saver, I'll pay up for that. It's definitely worth it to know nothing is going to pop up in your tank.

 

[chucko]

Stores/brands/companies charge what people will pay. That goes for pretty much any thing.
Why sell salt for $30 a bucket when everyone is willing to pay $70?

 

[KStatefan]

+1 People mean to tell me if these rocks were purple the price would have to triple to make a profit? Give me a break :debi:

if the seller does not get to set their prices, who does?

 

[Mg4life0331]

Although I'm sure you got a kick out of shoehorning in the fact that you can afford a Rolex, the example was unnecessary, as I'm fully aware that people blow money on things for the sake of blowing money on things all the time. Every LFS in my area sells their purple dry rock for around $10 ($15 per pound for "tonga branches"). I don't intend on spending money on this product because IMHO it is highly overpriced for a subpar product. If listing out some other frivolous purchases would help your self esteem further, have at it :bum:

I think that was a bit uncalled for.....he gave an exaggerating example to make a point. Complaining about high priced items you never intend to buy is wasted action. You want to get cheap purple man made rock? Buy dry and paint it yourself.

 

[RWEngineer]

I don't intend on spending money on this product because IMHO it is highly overpriced for a subpar product.

Then why does it mater what it cost?

 

[SoloChromis]

Then why does it mater what it cost?

I'm honestly just curious to know if I'm missing some key factor that makes this add up, as so many stores hold this product with such high esteem IME.