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PREMIUM LIVE ROCK
This photo shows one of the areas that we use for the harvest of our Fiji Premium. The area shown on the left is about 40 kilometers in length and runs along the western side of the main Island. We are able to utilize this coast because of its heavy agricultural runoff and high nutrient content in the water. Very little coral grows on this coast because of the heavy wave action and large amounts of sediment and algae (including coralline) in the water.

This picture shows a close up of the same area with some of the collectors working in the tidal zone. Interesting to note the average depth of the water that live rock is collected in and the lack of most other types of coral life.
This will give you some idea of how we accomplish a sustainable harvest. The are in the circle is known as the inter-tidal zone. This area is usually a little deeper than the reef flat which runs from there out to the reefs edge. The inter-tidal zone is more sensitive to harvest due to it's proximity to shore and erosion. We instruct our divers not to collect in this area. The areas between the lines represents about four months of harvest while we selectively choose loose or imbedded rocks with good coralline growth. We then move down the coast to the next area leaving behind most of the substrate while nature replenishes the rock in various ways and the coralline continues to grow. As we move down the coast it usually takes from one to two years before we re-visit the same area again. The box represents an area that we would work for about one week.

Once the rock arrives at the warehouse in Fiji it receives a thorough cleaning by our crew. First we clean off all of the excess plant life and sponge that will just decay in the shipping process then we power wash it to remove the mud. This step is very important to insure good clean rock during transit rather than stinky unclean rock that will really cause havoc on your system on the receiving end. This step also allows us to judge the rock for good coralline coverage and reject any pieces that do not meet the standards for Fiji Premium from Walt Smith International.

 

Once the rock is cleaned it is placed in our system and receives a constant spray of clean filtered water. We use spray to keep the coralline alive and moist while some of the "undesirables" either crawl off or (in the case of sponges) die off. Many people ask why we do not keep the rock fully submerged and the answer is simple. If we were to keep the rock under water at this stage of curing the ammonia created in the system would kill off everything, including coralline, and the stinky mess it would create would reduce the Fiji Premium to base rock. From our experience rock kept our way for at least 4 - 6 days prior to shipping allows for nice clean rock upon arrival without fouling your system. 

Once the rock ready for export we carefully select the pieces that meet our standards and pack them into our boxes to an exact weight of 21 kgs. It is at this final stage that we can reject rocks that do not show significant coralline coverage before export. Next stop .... Pacific Aqua Farms and the many distributors who carry our Fiji Premium.