45lbs Tonga Ridge or 45 Lbs. Aquacultured Fiji

[vasilithegreek]

What would be better or favorites for people.....45lbs Tonga Ridge or 45 Lbs. Aquacultured Fiji ?thanks im deciding for my new tank..both are the same price 190

 

[vasilithegreek]

bump

 

[arkman]

Aqua cultured is the only way to go. Rock doesnt grow back, once its out of the ocean it's out forever.
I'm looking for some good cultured rock - can you send me the details (price, ect.)

 

[saltyrich]

Arkman,
I agree that aquacultured is very nice, but I have to disagree with you on your rock theory. MOST (and I say that with some exclusion) of the rock harvested for the hobby can and is replaced through time. For example, Fiji rock appears to be nothing more that a conglomerate of things, including dead coral structure. I'm not certain of the cementation process, however due to its very porous nature, it appears to be easily brought together. Reef build up in certain areas continues to occur, while in other areas it does not. Whether or not the build up in certain areas occurs faster than the hobby that purchases it is a different matter. I believe that the seemingly faster (in geolical terms) rate of conglomeration in the reef rock known as "Fiji" is probably the reason it is the most prevalent live rock on the market. If someone else has better or contradicting info, I'd be interested.

 

[vasilithegreek]

so the aquaculterd would be better to get than the tonga ridge rock overall than....i got the info from ffexpress.com you have a choice between three the other that i mentioned was fiji rock for 161 for 45lbs

 

[jonthefb]

i would do the aquacultured rock, simply because it typically has more and more diverse life on it. salty i agree with you and also wanted to note that the majority of the rock that we as hobbiests get in the trade is rubble that has been damaged from natural occurances such as high powered waves, hurricanes, storms etc, which often results in much rock beign broken off from coral heads. the collectors then go out and simpley pick up all the broken pieces and sell them to us. thsi woudl have occured naturally in the wild, however, we are just putting the rubble to use by creating aquarium decor out of it!
good luck
jon

 

[saltyrich]

Aquacultured is very nice. There are differences though. Aquacultured rock from Florida for example is very dense rock whereas most Pacific rock like Fiji is very porous. What this means is that a 3 lb piece of Fiji rock is much larger than a 3 lb piece of aquacultured. I personally prefer to hand pick my rock. Ordering in bulk is convient, but you don't know what you'll get. There are also many reports of mantis shrimp (bad) from the aquacultured rock retailers. I've read it on the feedback from customers on the retailers websites. I must say, I do respect them for even posting those feedbacks at all. It looks great, but I've also seen great pieces of Pacific rock also. It seems to be a matter of choice.

 

[vasilithegreek]

thanks for all the info guys.....ill probally go with the aquacultured fiji from what ive read this is probally the better of them and it looks like it would have for varation of life on it..

 

[saltyrich]

I'm very sorry. I'm getting lazy and not reading the post clearly. When you said aquacultured rock, I automatically assumed you meant the aquacultured stuff from Gulf View or Tampa Bay Saltwater (still very nice rock). Who is aquaculturing Fiji rock? My understanding of aquacultured rock is that people will lease an area of the ocean just offshore at which they can then "farm" the rock over a period of time.
As a secondary note - I would probably get smaller orders of each and combine them. I really think that a variety of diversity in the rock is just as neat as diversity in the livestock. Just an opinion though, considering that they are both the same price.

 

[vasilithegreek]

The rock that i want to get from is ffexpress.com i was wondering if they would do half and half i would like that much better...i think 45lbs of the aquacultured fiji would be alot in my 50gal tank since i want some fish inthere and others....with them leasing land thats what i heard also and then they have there own caged off area and then they dive for it when ever they need to...i found a website a couple of weeks ago that showed the whole proccess of how these guys did it in florida...but it seemed to me that they were getting rich off of free rock...they were showing themselves going to a stone query and picking out rock in big dump trucks and then putting the rock into there leased land..all i know is that if they get the rock from a stone query then its free because the ones out were i live if you want broken rock they give it to u free.

 

[saltyrich]

Actually, you need somewhere around 1.5 lbs per gallon to be effective for filtration. This equates to 75 total pounds. Trust me, the fish will love it! I would try to split it up if I were you.

 

[jonthefb]

yeha do 1.5 pounds per gallon an dyou will have more than enough room for fish/inverts, as well as having a very efficient biofilter, adn if you cna mix the two up, the more the better!
good luck
jon

 

[vasilithegreek]

Yeah most likely ill stick with that setup 1.5 per gal..ill let you guys know if they let me do half and half..thanks for the info

 

[gregzbobo]

The rock likely ISN'T free, not in quantities like that, you have to account for the fuel to run the dump-trucks and the front-end loaders, and to pay the people that operate them, plus overhead for the mine. They might let an individual take a few rocks, but if you want a truckload, you are going to pay for it more than likely.

 

[vasilithegreek]

Originally posted by gregzbobo
The rock likely ISN'T free, not in quantities like that, you have to account for the fuel to run the dump-trucks and the front-end loaders, and to pay the people that operate them, plus overhead for the mine. They might let an individual take a few rocks, but if you want a truckload, you are going to pay for it more than likely.
whoa..sorry if i offended you buy putting that up there...no kidding your gonna pay for hauling it out and what not thats not what i was talking about..if i was gonna talk about the lagistics of fuel.dump trucks etc. i would give a geographic economic lesson to everybody....i was talking about JUST the rock ITSELF...nothing more nothing less..

 

[saltyrich]

I knew exactly what you were saying. The point was (for me anyway) is that these guys doing aquacultured rock in Florida are probably cashing in on their lease investment right about now!

 

[vasilithegreek]

Oh yeah i bet they are banking prety good...ill try and find that website that i was talking about and ask them not for an exact but close to what or how much it would be to lease down there and how excatly they go about doing it..i think it would be interesting..

 

[gregzbobo]

No offense taken at all, I was just making a point. As for the actual cost of the rock itself, it depends on who owns mineral rights to the land its mined from. And I am quite sure that those gents with the leased off-shore acreage are raking it in. That rock must cost only a couple hundred bucks a ton, just guessing here. Then they turn around and sell it a few years later for 3 bucks a pound or more. Major rakeage of green.

 

[arkman]

Way more than $3 a pound - the Florida rock is very expensive --- but who's really cashing in? The "farmers" in Florida or the pickers in Fiji? I'm thinking the guys who just take the rock and had no long term investment (and 3rd world workforce) are the ones making BIG $$$.
Cost is irrevelant anyway --- market prices folks. We pay $5-$9 dollars a pound for ROCK. Think about that for a while

 

[vasilithegreek]

to be excat $4.22 a pound for 45lbs for aquaculter fiji..ha