Walt Smith questions

[buff1]

I'm getting ready to buy some live rock in the next few weeks and I began seeing Walt Smiths name a lot. I read a lot on his website and I'm impressed with him as a businessman. If any of you know Walt Smith, how is he as a conservationist? All his systems and collection practices seem very responsible and exemplery. Is this impression the truth? Do his collectors net all their fish? Do they not blast rock to get their live rock? We've all heard examples of wholesalers who claim to provide only net caught and hand collected specimens who were flat out lying. I'm hopeful that Walt Smith isn't one of these types. Any first hand knowledge out there?

 

[MaryHM]

Walt imports fish only from Fiji & Tonga. No cyanide use in those countries.

 

[Expos Forever]

Nothing to add really except to say that Mary is an expert on the subject and that it's nice to hear that people are informing themselves regarding origins of purchase.

 

[buff1]

Thank you for the info. That is comforting to know that at least one apparently succesful importer/exporter can make money doing things the right way. What about the Kaelini rock? I think that he exports that as well. Is that Island also part of the Walt Smith empire? Dr Mac and Sons carries it and it looks very nice.

 

[tomheo]

Thank you for the info. That is comforting to know that at least one apparently succesful importer/exporter can make money doing things the right way. What about the Kaelini rock? I think that he exports that as well. Is that Island also part of the Walt Smith empire? Dr Mac and Sons carries it and it looks very nice.

Hey there buff1,

As far as I know, all the Pacific live rock that's collected for the hobby is collected from rubble zones (results of tropical storms) so that there's minimal impact on the environment.

Kaelini is Tongan rock and is his daughter's name. Not sure exactly where it comes from within Tonga, but it looks really nice! I bought some of his deep ridge Tongan rock (not sure if I bought it before it was named Kaelini or if it's different rock) and the stuff is amazing! It's the lightest rock I've ever seen and has great gnarled pieces!

From my experience, you can't go wrong with anything that Walt Smith imports. He's also a nice guy...I e-mailed the company once and he personally replied (totally caught me off guard)!

Hope this helps, and good luck.
Thomas