Another Happy Customer!

[ravenzme]

I ordered 45 lbs of live rock and 40 lbs of live sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater last week to add some diversity to my system. Richard quickly got in touch with me through email to go over the process, and answer questions I had. The day before my order was shipped to me, Richard sent me an email explaining how my airport charged per piece, not by weight, which would have made the cost of getting my order to me almost as much as the order itself! Not to worry, Richard pulled some magic and got things back on track with a MUCH more reasonable airfare. We received the flight details of the order through email, we knew exactly when the order would arrive. If you are even the slightest bit hesitant about having your live rock or sand flown in, let me tell you - it is an awesome experience.

Our order arrived in 4 boxes; 1 for the live sand, and 3 for the rock. Everything was shipped in water.. no... UNDERWATER! The sand was teaming with life, worms, small crabs, and even a nice sized urchin. It had various sized grains of sand and crushed shells, and was exactly what I was looking for to seed my sandband in the DT and turn the refugium into a microscopic zoo. The live rock was next, and it was like Christmas morning as my whole family huddled over each box as it was being opened. The rocks were covered in coraline (pink, red, purple), sponges, and tunicates. I had even made a couple of special requests for the shape and size of some of my rocks, which came exactly as I had described. Once the live rock was all unloaded, we had four large triple lined bags of water. My kids grabbed one of our larger fish nets and a filter sock, and poured the remaining water through to see what was in the water. Glad they did! They found hermit crabs, another urchin, some other really small crabs and many small snails which all went to the refugium for later identification.

I would recommend checking out Tampa Bay Saltwater to anyone considering buying live rock or sand. Richard treats you like his only customer, the product arrives quickly and well packaged, and the rock and sand is FAR better than anything I have seen in a LFS. For about the price of a skimmer, my new reef has come alive and is not the "sterile box" it once was. Best purchase I have made for this hobby, I am very happy I did it.

Please excuse the phone camera pics attached. The stack of rocks is not everything I received, but much of it. The rest is scattered on the other end of the tank and in the refugium.

 

[ravenzme]

Another thing I want to add. I was also very nervous about bad hitchhikers. I unloaded all the rock into a large clear rubbermaid container that was set up prior to receiving the rock. It wasn't the greatest approach as I couldn't see everything on the rock, but it gave me a chance to let things sit overnight in the dark to listen for clicking (mantis).

The next morning, I carefully looked over each rock to see if there were any obvious things. If I found something I couldn't identify, it went into the refugium for later identification.

I am probably WAY too careful, but it helps me to relax a little bit to take these steps. Since Friday, all we have found is a welk that was removed from the refugium and we think a very small Gorilla crab which is in his own time out tank for now. In comparison, I bought 10 lbs of live rock from a LFS which had aptasia, bubble algea, and colonial hydroids. The QT process was much more needed for the LFS stuff that seemed to come with nothing but headaches. Maybe I am a bit more cautious then I need to be, but I am extremely satisfied with the quality of rock from TBS.

 

[ravenzme]

Well, just an update. Not sure if anyone is interested, haven't gotten any feedback to my thread (maybe the crappy cellphone pics). In the past couple of days, the tank has really bloomed with life. Shy life forms are starting to open up or come out to explore the tank. Finding corals I overlooked before, some brittle stars, and lots of feather dusters. Pretty cool stuff.

One issue though,started to find some dead crabs with shells broken near one of the rocks. Pulled the one rock out to see if the homicide will end. Am I right to suspect a mantis at this point?

Already made the decision that if I am fortunate enough to extract a mantis alive from the rock, I will keep him in a 20 gallon I have laying around. The more I read about these things, the more interesting they are to me, as long as they are not in my DT!

 

[liverock]

Well, just an update. Not sure if anyone is interested, haven't gotten any feedback to my thread (maybe the crappy cellphone pics). In the past couple of days, the tank has really bloomed with life. Shy life forms are starting to open up or come out to explore the tank. Finding corals I overlooked before, some brittle stars, and lots of feather dusters. Pretty cool stuff.

One issue though,started to find some dead crabs with shells broken near one of the rocks. Pulled the one rock out to see if the homicide will end. Am I right to suspect a mantis at this point?

Already made the decision that if I am fortunate enough to extract a mantis alive from the rock, I will keep him in a 20 gallon I have laying around. The more I read about these things, the more interesting they are to me, as long as they are not in my DT!

I think the new storm has everybody scrambling...to get out of the way...or hibernate....lol

Do you hear and pops?

If you do, can be a pistol shrimp or a mantis....you will never see a pistol, but a mantis will come out eventually.....

Could also be molts, as many inverts like to molt after shipping..

Keep us posted!

sea ya
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com

 

[ravenzme]

I think the new storm has everybody scrambling...to get out of the way...or hibernate....lol

Do you hear and pops?

If you do, can be a pistol shrimp or a mantis....you will never see a pistol, but a mantis will come out eventually.....

Could also be molts, as many inverts like to molt after shipping..

Keep us posted!

sea ya
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com

I don't hear pops, but I do hear occasional clicking sounds. When I first heard it, it was just one click at a time, so I figured it must be a pistol. Now, at lights out, I do hear clicks but it is 3 or 4 at a time. Not very scientific, I know

I never thought about molts. I guess it could be possible. I will keep my eye on the rock in timeout for now. If I end up with a mantis, or end up finding out I don't have one- its win win for me.

Stay safe in the storm, for sure. Hibernation is a great approach, take it from a Wisconsin native

 

[ravenzme]

Another cool find

Another cool find

Last night while "hunting" through the rocks with a flashlight, I found a porcelain crab. Actually identified him so quickly because he was feeding and I could see his "feather duster" front arms (maxillipeds). Reading up on these guys, they are reef safe. Facinating hitchhiker.

Amazing how much life comes with these rocks.

 

[formsix]

Thanks for sharing -- and I love seeing pictures, even those taken with a cellphone! I'm about to start up a tank and am seriously considering getting our live rock from TBS, and hearing about your experience is very helpful.

 

[ravenzme]

Thanks for sharing -- and I love seeing pictures, even those taken with a cellphone! I'm about to start up a tank and am seriously considering getting our live rock from TBS, and hearing about your experience is very helpful.

Thank you for the reply, Formsix. I appreciate your comments!

I would recommend TBS, absolutely. I can't imagine what it would cost to populate a tank with all the cool things included with this rock. And the rock itself is so much better looking then things I have seen in LFS, it really is a night and day difference, at least in my area.