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new to austin


neal90

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i have been to most of the lfs and have seen zero lr that has looked good. Most with little to no coraline algae on. I will be geting the rock in the next month or 2 and didnt want to order it. If I cant find any local would any one want to go in on some and split the shipping???

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Eh, are you talking about in the last couple years or so? Because they are "saltwaterfish.com" now and have the same supply side for rock as about a half dozen other companies in Florida. We bought some rock from them (hell, we didn't *know* about prof!) and are very happy with it. Needed a bit of curing of course.

Tampa Bay Saltwater is really good too, but a bit more costly.

-Paul

Don't buy from Aquacon. They have a TERRIBLE reputation. I mean awful.
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Not to flog a dead horse or toot me horn here but just a bit of info as to where Prof's rock comes from.

Most of the rock comes from the tanks we tear down. It seems that without failure Prof buys up 1-2 very large tanks a month and I get asked to help with the tear down. We come across a lot of rock. The best rock goes into the waiting vats for sale. Some of the rock has been in the hobby for a dozen years. The older rock is much nicer than the new stuff being offered for sale today. It is much lighter, meaning you get more rock surface per pound, and this also means it is much more porous. Being more porous offers more surface area for bacteria and micro-organisms to grow upon which is why we buy live rock to begin with. The rock in most shops these days is almost free of pores and is increasingly heavier in weight, meaning less rock for your money. The good rock was easy to come by in the beginning, but like most things has been relatively picked over by now. When you find really good rock at the LFS or online being sold as "Premium" for $10-14 a lb this is close to the quality of rock that Prof has for around $5 or less. The rock is kept in 2 very large tubs of circulated water and about once every 2 months we order 200lbs or so of rock from a vendor to place within the vats. This rock helps to reseed the older rock with micro-fauna and organisms that may have been picked off by predators. If the rock from the tank tear down comes in covered in algae, looks less then stellar or to plain it gets dried out and offered at a great price.

When you buy from Dave you are buying a recycled product that has no expiration date. You are helping the natural reefs, if just for a tiny little bit, by not disturbing the reef and removing rock to put in your tank. So not only does it save you money, it is pre-cured, and will save you a ton of money that you can use to buy corals from his ever changing supply. This same principal can be applied to about 50% of his corals as they are recycled instead of removed. When you buy corals that were removed from an established tank you are doing yourself a favor, they are already acclimated to captive life. This will also leave another specimen alive on the reefs.

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Eh, are you talking about in the last couple years or so? Because they are "saltwaterfish.com" now and have the same supply side for rock as about a half dozen other companies in Florida. We bought some rock from them (hell, we didn't *know* about prof!) and are very happy with it. Needed a bit of curing of course.

Tampa Bay Saltwater is really good too, but a bit more costly.

-Paul

Google Aquacon/Aquatic Connections and you will see they are still around. With some searcing you will also find hundreds of complaints against them. They are not Saltwaterfish.com which is a good company.

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