A few weeks ago, I ordered 30 pounds of uncured "Tonga Deep" from Foster &
Smith. This is supposed to be larger pieces for larger tanks. It arrived two
days later by Fed Ex, packed in a foam box inside a cardboard box. When the box
was opened, the pieces didn't look quite as lively as the photos on the web, but
they sent me one marvelous large piece and several medium-sized chunks. No
discernible crabs or mantis shrimp. Plenty of pods. I am pleased with the
quality, the price, the service, and the appearance. The only problem was that
they only sell this in 30 pound boxes.

Last week, I decided to order some more. I felt that 40 pounds would be enough
to complete my tank, so I ordered that from Premium Aquatics, asking them to
ship large pieces. That arrived yesterday. They "drop ship" from who knows where
and use UPS instead of Fed Ex. The rock was in a plastic bag in the bottom of a
cardboard box; the remainder of the space was filled with wadded up brown paper.
They sent me two large pieces (one that is very interesting) and several
medium-sized chunks, but they also sent me between 5 and 10 pounds of small
debris and broken branch rock. Not useful for aquascaping. As with F&S, there
were no discernible crabs or mantis shrimp. Too early to tell if there's a pod
population. The appearance of this rock is about the same as the F&S stuff. The
per-pound price (including shipping) is a bit higher than F&S.

In conclusion, I feel that the Premium Aquatics Tonga rock is not as good a deal
as the Foster & Smith Tonga rock. If you're in the market for some and can use
30 pounds at a time, I would recommend F&S. I basically got 30 pounds of good
rock in each shipment and spent about 35% more for it at PA.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.