Many customers have asked us what the difference of uncured live rock and cured live rock is so here is the easiest explanation.  It is the same live rock that has been taken out of the ocean, but the cured live rock has just been in our tanks for around a week and a half to two weeks.  The cured live rock can be shipped with slower and cheaper shipping method since the sensitive sponges and algaes have already either died off or snails and crabs have eaten it off.  Another benefit to cured live rock is it does not change the levels of the tank as dramatically as the fresh uncured live rock does since any die off has already done so in our tanks.

This grade of rock is cured, which means that you not get as many of the bugs, starfish and creepy crawlers that normally inhabit the rock. We often keep some cured live rock in the system, but it is best to place an order for the rock around 2 weeks before you want to receive it.

 Aquacultured live rock is one of our specialties. We have the oldest offshore live rock aquaculture site in The Florida Keys, and its unique location results in some spectacular live rock. We hand select every rock that goes in the water, and leave them on the bottom for at least two to three years until they are ready to be harvested. By our standard, the rock is not ready until it has at least 75% coverage by some sort of coralline algae or other durable, reef friendly, encrusting invertebrate. Many rocks will have some sort of live coral growing on them, usually some sort of Porites, Siderastrea, or Millipora.

The rock we use is an extremely porous type of limestone called "Miami Oolite", which is very high in aragonite and is relatively light and full of big holes. We don't buy machine sorted rock so we don't boast of having millions of pounds of rock in the water, but what we do have is very high quality.

Live sand and live rocks are not included in the $40 shipping and handling price. There a few different shipping options for this product please contact me so that we can make the best shipping arrangement possible. A ballpark estimate for shipping is $1.50 a pound for two day or priority mail. If you want just a small amound of live rock 15 lbs or less we can ship it in a large flat rate box for $15.

If you're interested in over a hundred pounds of rock, we would suggest you consider using airfreight for you shipping method. Shipping charges will be around $1.00 a pound but you'll need to go to the cargo section of your nearest major airport to pick up the freight.

If you live in the Southeast, we can probably ship by FedEx ground, which is a two day service and is real affordable, probably around $.75 a pound..

Contact us for a more exact shipping cost.