Friends of MarcoRocks‘ founder Marc Tetreault have known that big things are happening down in Homestead, Florida. For the most part, we’ve kept our mouths shut, eagerly awaiting the day when the beans would be spilled. Well, that day has come.
World Wide Corals CEO Victor Fornari and his Orlando-based team traveled to MarcoRocks to capture a behind-the-scenes look on-site as Tetreault and his team show how MarcoRocks is created from quarried blocks of ancient, fossilized Florida coral. The video tour starts at the existing MarcoRocks facility, including a walk-through of the existing MarcoRocks product lines.
Asked about the impact of MarcoRocks on coral reefs, Tetreault says “I like to call it a net positive. So, rather than even net neutral, a net positive. Simply put, every pound that we sell is a pound that doesn’t come out of the ocean. When you look at it that way, it’s not just a neutral impact, it’s a net positive impact.”
The part everyone is waiting for, is the “new rock,” which doesn’t have a name. It’s “not quite shelf, not quite reef saver”.
But that’s not all. The team travels to the new building and location, showcasing at 12,000 square foot building, 12,000 square feet of greenhouses, and more.
The “big secret project” at WWC is teased by the crew, and the big reveal happens. Now you’ll understand why Vic had to bring a massive bag of clean coraline algae along for the trip; “wet”, MarcoRocks aims to produce seeded, land-based aquacultured live rock.
The system is currently in the prototype stage. The goal is to get the first greenhouse system up and running, tweaked, and then replicate the successful system design and protocol. It’s not just “bulk cured rock”, but specifically creating a new seeded rock with specific strains of bacteria, specific pods, specific coralline algae, “nothing but the best.” This new type of live rock will ship wet, as well.
Watch the WWC tour of MarcoRocks now!
