Important Information Regarding Live Rock Availability and Quality
Aquarium Arts
Ships Live Rock Only by Air Express
Recently reef importers, trying to save money and avoid price increases, have switched from air freight to containerized and refrigerated ocean freighter to transport "live rock" to Los Angeles. Time on the ocean may be three weeks and additional time is required to offload and clear customs, deliver to the wholesaler, then to the retailers, then to the customers throughout the U.S. Total time since collection may be as much as 5 weeks! You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that because of the low temperature and duration of the shipment, the quality of this "boat rock" will be very poor, perhaps lacking any living reef organisms. Although the price is lower, curing time for this rock is months, not days. When you shop for live rock, ask the seller how long it has been in transit. If you get a suspicious or devious answer, don't buy!
Aquarium Arts' live rock is shipped from its origin to our Los Angeles wholesaler by air, then to our shop where it is immediately placed in our curing tanks, usually within hours of its arrival in the U. S. When fully cured, our Prime Cured Live Rock is hand picked, packed and shipped to our customers by Fedex Next Day Air. Our Prime Cured Live Rock is as good as you can get!
According to our supplier in Los Angeles, as of October 6, 2011, Aquarium Arts is the
only retailer of air-shipped Fiji live rock in the continental U.S.
The amount of Live Rock exported from Fiji is controlled by CITES
Each year international agreements made by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, determine what quantity of certain plants or animals may be exported from different regions and countries of the world. The limit depends on the condition of the habitat and the abundance of the species. In some years the quota of coral rock shipped from Fiji is met in November.
Increasing political pressures will probably mean the Fiji live rock quota will be reduced every year. Wholesalers are tending to purchase larger quantities of "boat rock" because of the lower cost, so the supply of air-shipped rock is inconsistent. We are working to deal with the situation, but it is largely out of our control.
Aquarium Arts
has plenty of fully cured live rock in stock, ready to ship.
For more information, click on cured live rock or pricing.
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661-834-8516