Our pals at Aquarium Specialty, an online retailer of aquarium equipment and livestock, recently announced on their blog that they have secured a distributor agreement with CeramEco for their VidaRock. Long on the hunt for an affordable, well-made ceramic rock product, Aquarium Specialty was tired of the high prices associated with importing ceramic products from Europe. So, they took a greater interest in the American made CeramEco brand, eventually reaching an agreement to inventory and distribute their products to retail and wholesale customers. And from the looks of it, the Vida line of rock will really bolster what Aquarium Specialty has to offer, especially for aquarists looking for a more eco-friendly solution to their marine setups.
CeramEco is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah and they currently offer products for both gardens and aquariums. Their aquatics product line, called VidaRock, features ceramic wall panels, frag stations and plugs, stackable rocks, various artisan shapes, and even fake barnacles. The Aquarium Specialty website currently lists the VidaRock frag stations and artisan rocks, and that offering will only grow from there.
So what’s so special about ceramic rock alternatives, especially the CeramEco VidaRock? For starters, it’s eco-friendly. This rock is made on land and not mined from living or dead reefs. The rock is made from the same clay that bricks and pots are made out of, and it crafted right here in the US. Another major benefit is that the rock is completely free of pest and nuisance algae. So, there’s not “cooking” required. In addition to being pest-free, the rock is also quite porous, which aids in biological filtration. According to CeramEco, the VidaRock was designed with a specific internal porosity and microstructure to support bacteria growth. The last major benefit to using this rock, as if you needed another, is the fact that it has such interesting shapes that you would normally have to stack, glue, and drill normal live rock just to get. The VidaRocks were designed with stacking in mind, and many of the products are solid, pre-assembled structures that can be dropped right into an aquarium and instantly look good.
The retail prices for the VidaRock vary extensively, but they are quite affordable. The VidaRock Frag Stations, for example, start off at $29.99. Each product comes in multiple sizes, with varying number of coral frag mounting areas.
