Live Rock in Canada

BigRedSpecial · Nov 20, 2017

Hello all,

Who knows where to find decent live rock in Canada, that's actually, you know, LIVE? If anyone knows a place currently selling (and shipping) quality rock I'd love to hear about it.

I don't like the Ecorock J&L is selling right now since it never sees the ocean. I want as much biodiversity as possible. Seems like all I ever see locally is taken out of old tanks or has been dry for some time as there is no life on it at all.

Oh how I miss what was available 10 years ago.

aquariumreefers · Nov 20, 2017

Message me your cross st and zip code I have a few LFS friends in canada will ask them if they can ship to you.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 20, 2017

PM sent

Anyone else? No one has any idea where to get rock?

Kyl · Nov 20, 2017

BigRedSpecial said:
PM sent

Anyone else? No one has any idea where to get rock?

I would assume the regulatory requirements to get ocean-direct live rock into the country now outweigh the potential market for said rock.

All I've seen locally (B.C) is cured rock offered, but it's not ocean sourced.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 20, 2017

Contact the live rock dealers in Florida. I'm sure they have dealt with this before.
Also contact Walt smith and see if you can get it direct from them or what they're supply chain is in Canada.

aquariumreefers · Nov 20, 2017

1 Fish 2 Fish Dartmouth Aquarium Supplies Call +1 902-446-3474 They are in Canada

BigRedSpecial · Nov 21, 2017

Kyl said:
I would assume the regulatory requirements to get ocean-direct live rock into the country now outweigh the potential market for said rock.

All I've seen locally (B.C) is cured rock offered, but it's not ocean sourced.

I hope that isn't the case but it's seeming pretty accurate

saltyfilmfolks said:
Contact the live rock dealers in Florida. I'm sure they have dealt with this before.
Also contact Walt smith and see if you can get it direct from them or what they're supply chain is in Canada.

I've been in contact with TBS last year; they won't ship here but will help out with paperwork to bring it across the border yourself. My issue is that I'm a two day drive and eight hour ferry from the border. TBS would be my ultimate solution; so much life on that rock!

I did find a post on another forum about a BC distributor for Walt Smith but haven't been in contact with him.

aquariumreefers said:
1 Fish 2 Fish Dartmouth Aquarium Supplies Call +1 902-446-3474 They are in Canada

Thanks for this; I sent them a message to see what they offer.

MapleReef · Nov 21, 2017

Where are u located? Do u have a big als near by? Here in the Toronto area they have lots for sale all year round.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 21, 2017

Derek's Reef Shop (http://www.dereksreefshop.ca/product.php?productid=662) in New Brunswick sells Walt Smith, however I had exchanged a couple emails with him last year and he stopped responding when I asked for a picture.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 21, 2017

MapleReef said:
Where are u located? Do u have a big als near by? Here in the Toronto area they have lots for sale all year round.

No Big Als here. I'm in Newfoundland; we only have a single LFS dealing with saltwater for the entire province right now.

MapleReef · Nov 21, 2017

BigRedSpecial said:
No Big Als here. I'm in Newfoundland; we only have a single LFS dealing with saltwater for the entire province right now.

Oh geeze that’s terrible. Any local clubs ? In all honesty I always prefer starting a system out with dead everything sand and rock. I’ve had to many bad experiences with nuisance hitch hikers on live rock.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 21, 2017

A couple facebook groups keep everything going for the most part. The hobby is in a sad state compared to what it was ten years ago.

I'm looking to bump up my diversity in an established tank, but personally I would never start a tank with dry rock. The chance of getting a nasty hitch hiker is far outweighed by the sense of wonder that comes from never knowing what's going to spring to life next. I used to spend hours at night with a flashlight looking at the rock in my first ten gallon tank; most tanks now are sterile in comparison.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 21, 2017

Incredible Aquariums (http://www.incredibleaquarium.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=31_44_135) is another source I've found. I haven't dealt with them before but they list Indonesian (Bali?) rock as well as rubble (which would be perfect for my needs)

Sea MunnKey · Nov 21, 2017

I spoke with our local lfs and seems like everyone is into the marco or whatever so called dry rocks ... I have 5 bucketfuls of dry "used to be" live rocks which I had offered to the lfs and they told me it doesn't sell too well.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 21, 2017

Yeah that seems to be the case. Too bad.

I did find another cool company, Canada Copopods. I ordered a bottle of live pods and one of phyto to stock up my pod population. I had an explosion of mysids, but my former pod population crashed shortly after for some reason

squampton · Nov 21, 2017

Glad I am not the only one that dislikes the real reef eco rock, no diversity on it at all. I ended up going with dry rock as it's cheaper then the real reef rock that is not to my liking as I could not find live rock of any quality locally in Vancouver that I liked, seemed to be nearly all old rock from peoples tanks who left the hobby and not of a quality worth $10 per pound.

I know Blue World Aquariums in Victoria, BC sells Walt Smith rock, I think at $10/lb but I have not been able to get over there to look at it (requires a fairly expensive ferry trip.) but they might be willing to Fedex it or air freight it if you cover the cost of shipping, but no idea if they ship.

Really sad the direction the hobby is going in Canada.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 22, 2017

Unfortunately that seems to be the case here as well, when you can even get it. The few new pieces that do come in usually look bleached, which makes me think they were stored and/or shipped dry at some point.

From what I've seen of Walt Smith rock I'd be very happy with it.

Another thought I've had is getting some dry rock and seeding it myself here in coldwater, just to see if anything survives.But that's a topic for another thread.

Rip Van Winkle · Nov 22, 2017

BigRedSpecial said:
Another thought I've had is getting some dry rock and seeding it myself here in coldwater, just to see if anything survives.But that's a topic for another thread.

If you're in NFLD, then you should be relatively close to the ocean. It's the Atlantic (and cold) but you should still be able to seed from there. I guess being almost December it must be pretty cold now, though.

Years ago, I collected from Halifax, in NS but that was in summer, so maybe it was easier than it would be for you now. You might need a dry suit.

BigRedSpecial · Nov 23, 2017

I'm very close haha... Haven't mixed dry salt in a year. Yes, the water is very cold now but truthfully it's only a 5 or 6 degree difference from late summer; it doesn't change much and only gets up to 10 degrees or so.

Did you have much life live form the seeded rock? I'm definitely interested in trying it but if I lose everything but the bacteria it would be all for naught.

I don't have a dry suit but I do have a 3 mil wetsuit