Dry Rock - BRS
 

Anyone ever order from BRS? I'm looking to order their reef saver rock along with some Tonga shelf. If so, did you get raped on shipping?

It seems near impossible to find any dry rock in Canada from anywhere.

There is only one type of rock that BRS can send to Canada. I forget which one it is, but its not Tonga, Shelf or Pukani. Check their shipping notes on each of the products page.

Edit : Its the Reef Saver only.

Doesn't JL carry dry marco rock?

Yeah, I knew that. I just saw that they use UPS, and I assume there will be some extra BS fees at the border. And with 150-200lbs of rock, it won't be looking pretty. I was hoping to hear if anyone had any experience with them?

I believe that's reef supplies, I'm not really interested in Marco unless I hear some good stuff about it. I've heard it's pretty crumbly?? Otherwise that might be the cheapest option.

Does your LFS not carry Real Reef, Walt Smith Reef Saver or Marco rocks?

If I remember correctly, BRS adds a tax/fee to all orders going to Canada, which takes care of the brokerage fee at the border. After adding 150 lbs to my cart the totals are:

$388.50 Rock
$69.93 tax/fee
$137.33 UPS standard

$595.76 Total US dollars.

$715 Canadian dollars........


I'd go with Marco from your LFS.

Wow that cost sure is high. Makes going to your LFS for live or ordering dry rock the only affordable option.

Live rock
 

J & J marine in Red Deer has just got sone flat shelf rock and tonga branch. Also a lot of big lumpy stuff. Cheaper to come get it than pay shipping

Isn't BRS reefsaver just quarried rock from FLA like Marco? I've gone with Marco and never had an issue. We can't really get "new" Pukani / Tonga in Canada readily anymore since Eli shut down, unless there's another person importing it now.

Just gonna insert a sidetrack commentary here:

Shelf rock is one of those things that seems great conceptually (hey look at all this space I have to put corals!), But it never seems to get there in prkactice. Most of the time, you get these pieces that don't quite quite fit, being too big, too bulky on one end, odd shape, etc... The end result being some ghastly Roman-column layout vaguely reminiscent of those terrible slate-scaped African cichlid tanks. Nevermind the fact that you can't really clean under them and fish don't explore caves like an adventure quest; they're either up at the glass waiting for food or being frustratingly cryptic. Flat shelf caves don't help solve either issue.

I believe they carry some sort of live rock, but to be honest...it looks like shit, our LFS are really not that good to be honest.

I disagree, for those who like a minimalistic aquascapes, having separate "islands" looks pretty cool if its well done.

From Tim Tessier. I sell Walt Smith Reef Project Artisan made reef rock. I also sell the Dry Shelf rock as well as the Dry Tonga branch rock.

Price is 6.00/lb including freight.

If you buy some let me know.

Marco rock from reefsupplies shipped is around $500 for 150#'s.

Pretty much

Could check out Neal's in NE Edmonton and see what he has for live rock.

Bayside Corals in Saskatoon carries Marco rock. Lots in stock. It's not crumbly - it's very hard.

What happened to Eli with his Fiji rock and bulk chemicals?

Fiji Reef Rock is no longer operating.

I have sent some of the Tonga Branch and Shelf rock to J&J Marine in Red Deer. This is the same rock as what Eli was selling. It is air freighted in which makes it near the same cost as live rock. The Pukani is also available for order.

There tends to be 2 different styles of shelf rock. There is the flat thin(3/4") plates and then there is the type that is a small(10" to 20") table acro's with base.

The Walt Smith Reef Project Artisan made rock is an amazing product! Your tank doesn't start out with the bleached white dead rock look. It is environmentally safer and some of the proceeds go to help reef restoration in Fiji. Check out their FB site. https://www.facebook.com/reefproject2.0/

We sell premium walt smith live rock by the box


-pukani
-fancy branch
-tonga

Some of each just came in

Wow, look at all the ex-sponsors jumping in this thread and flogging their wares. Lol.

:lol:

Was waiting for that lol

There are different quality levels in live rock that people need to be aware of.

There is rock that is boated into Los Angeles. Boat rock is sent via shipping containers and takes 10-14 days to reach Los Angeles from Fiji. From there it is unloaded and sits in the boxes in a warehouse till sold. There won't be much alive on it after the long hot boat ride and it will be a long stinky cure once you get it into your tank.

There is live rock that is flown from Fiji to Vancouver. This rock is very nice and sometimes has live corals on it. Some stores will opt to have the rock flown to them while others will want it trucked or sent by bus to them from Vancouver.

This is one reason why there can be such variation in rock pricing and quality.