live rock?

[Hunter21]

Hi Joel, had a few questions, do you sell live rock and if so, how much to the pound and where do you get it from? my mom had the bright idea of when she goes to FL in oct. she would buy some live rock down there off the coast and bring it back with her! lol well I told her, we might get it cheaper around here but she said she thinks we could get it for diver's price down there, paying less as it's right off the coast! she wants to bring back something for my tank, but nothing like fish or anything like that! lol any help with this would be appreciated! thanks! 

[Slicktrax]

if she is in tampa, check out tampa bay saltwater.  very interesting rock from the gulf and the keys.  i think pretty much all rock harvested in the florida region is aquacultured.

[Hunter21]

she said she's flying into Ft. Lauderdale airport, and will be staying in Boca Raton and will go up to Orlando for a few days as well!

[REDPYRO]

one thing to remember carribean rock is cheaper per pound because you get less per pound.  it is much more dense than pacific rock

[Slicktrax]

yea, it is more dense than pacific rock.  the aquacultured stuff is from land rock (still coral skeleton) that has been placed in the ocean.  the land rock is usually fossilized remains that have been somewhat compressed over time.

[ohioreef]

Watch out for mantis shrimp!!!

[verper]

I may be mistaken, but I believe you cannot harvest virgin rock without a special license or maybe not at all in FL.  TBS puts rock that is mined on land in a special area and it is seeded by the ocean.  Check it out to be sure its ok before you harvest any.

[verper]

Just read on TBS website that Florida banned the collection of rock from state waters in 1990.
Read here:

http://www.tbsaltwater.com/liverock/index.html

[Hunter21]

oh no...she doesn't wanna collect from the ocean cuz I told her she'll prolly get fined if she did so, she was looking at going to some of the fish shops down there and getting some of their live rock that they collected!

[Joel]

The collection of Naturally occouring live rock in FLorida is Illegal.  I'm sure that plenty of people still collect it any way but it's very risky. If you get caught the penilty is pretty harsh. You most likly can buy the aqua cultured rock in local pet shops for less than here because there would not be as high of shipping costs to get it to them assuming it was locally collected cultured rock. THe largest producer of cultured rock is in Tampa. THey have ocean floor leased from the state very near New Port Richie (north of Tampa) out in the anclote area. THier facility is on Hillsboro ave in Tampa I believe. The thing to consider is although your getting it for less down there, how much is it going to cost to get it back here to ohio?

Typically what I sell is Fiji rock although I have other types. What most people do who are setting up thier tank is buy the fiji rock to be the majority of thier rock and after the tank matures they hand pick nicer, more expensive pieces to be on the top. The Fiji rock I sell is about $200.00 per box (about 50 lbs) comes to about $4.00 per lb including shipping. Larger quanities will drop the price a little. I think at 4 boxes it's $3.80 per pound. I have had multiple people all go in on an order to get the lower price in the past, I can do that just about any time.

I have real nice carribean rock & fiji rock right now. All this rock is cured and many of the pieces have polyps, feather dusters, tube worms, mushrooms, etc...and has lots of coraline algae. These pieces are great pieces to be on top where you'll see them. They average in the 7-10 dollar per pound range. They are a little more expensive but they are completly cured and many have live coral on them.

If your interested in some rock, let me know and I'll get it in for you.

Joel

[Hunter21]

Thank you Joel, I'll keep this in mind..I know I'll get some of the nicer rock for my 55 gallon as that will be my coral tank but my 240 will prolly get the Fiji as I'm going aggressive on it and don't want my fish filing teeth on expensive and beautiful rocks! lol 

[aquavista99]

I have about 225 pounds of live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater and I have yet to see anything I like better (IE, that is legal and available to hobbyists). I like tonga live rock as well.  The only downside to TBS aquacultured live rock is that it comes loaded with gorilla crabs and mantis shrimp, along with  all the good stuff, like stony corals, sponges and good crabs.

I was in Joel's shop yesterday and he has about 50 to 100 lbs of live rock in stock that looks like the aquacultured stuff available in Florida. ..... very nice stuff. 

I attached a few pictures of my TBS live rock below, with coral hitchhickers included.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Secondgen]

That is some really nice looking rock.

[Hunter21]

very neat aquavista! now if you don't mind me askin....how much did you pay per pound? as I know the website says base rock is 3 per pound and the most expensive is 6 per pound! also...another thing came up that we were thinking about putting all the rock in a rubbermaid tub with a heater and airstones....does it need lighting and if so...how much?

[aquavista99]

Since this thread is in Joel's forum, I would recommend you purchase all the live rock you can from Aquariums Etc before the good stuff is gone (Emphasis added).  TBS is not cheap, but you can get good deals if you buy everything together (IE, live rock, live sand, inverts, snails, etc). The cure time for TBS is greatly reduced because everything arrives alive and is shipped in water so I would place the rock in a reef with lights and water flow (but without fish until the tanks cycles which is usually just a few weeks).

However, the stuff Joel has in stock now is worth making a trip to Aquariums Etc. ...looks like aquacultured Florida live rock to me for a good price and is ready to be added to your reef (cured) without doing major water changes as TBS recommends.

[aquavista99]

Okay,so this thread was in Joel's forum, but Gary once again moved it I would recommend TBS to anyone. Richard, the owner, is great to work with and the website listed above is very informative.

Hunter21- I sent you a PM on what I paid for everything from TBS and what to expect etc. I would post another picture of the live rock, but I am afraid Gary may move the thread again to the Photography section   (just kidding)