Another Satisfied Customer!

jdegrasse

New member
Reading the forum and TB Saltwater's website, I knew Richard would be supplying my live sand and rock for my new tank (JBJ Nano cube 28G).

Communication was beyond expectation. Placed order on Thursday PM and the LS/LR was in my tank on Saturday PM. Richard was in communication with me on Saturday PM to make sure all was well. I appreciate that.

Opening the boxes was like Christmas morning. Stuck on the side of the live sand bag was a limpet and he was the first of many little creatures in there. The rock is spectacular -- and truly live! Barnacles, fan worms, sponges, macroalgea -- and that's just on the surface. Who knows what lurks in the many many hiding spots! One rock, which I have dubbed "barnacle rock" is front and center with its sponges, fan worms, barnacles, and other worms.

I have to honest here -- I never thought I'd be enamored by barnacles. :D

I have the 25g package. Here's my list of hitchhiking critters (that I have seen/heard so far): limpets, tops/turbans, horns, small snails, and a pistol shrimp or two popping about. Also a little hermit crab made his way in. Since he is the only guy on the block, he thinks he owns the place already. He is paying his rent by eating everything in sight.

Like others, my ammonia after 24 hours is low (0.25 ppm). The bacteria pack really kickstarts the cycle (I also tossed in Instant Ocean Bio-Spira). The nitrite levels are moderately high so I'll keep on with changes until it and the ammonia gets down to 0.

One problem: The airline was quite rough with the box and there was some leakage. But Richard is a true expert. The rock was so well packaged that there was plenty of water in the inner bag and there is no evidence of die-off.

You cannot go wrong with TB Saltwater. Three reasons I recommend TBS:
1) great value for your dollar, 2) aquacultured, so need to worry about the environmental impact of LS/LR, and 3) TBS is a small American business. In this tough economy, we need to support American businesses.

More than that, TBS is a model upon which each company should be based upon. Here is a company run by someone who is obviously passionate about his business and takes pride in providing a great product at a fair price with great customer service.

Anyways, I'm off the soap-box for now. But it is just so rare to have such a positive buying experience these days.

When I get Part 2, I'll update and share pics.

JD
 
Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks so much for the kind words.....I am a one man show here, and it really makes me happy to see my customers as happy!

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Richard TBS:rollface::rollface::rollface:
 
Hey all,

Just wanted to post an update.

So its day 5 and my tank's cycle has turned the corner. For the last few days my ammonia has been fairly low, but my nitrites/nitrates were through the roof. Those numbers are coming down with the daily water changes.

I cannot wait until the cycle is over.

Other than that all is well. I caught the two mantis shrimp that hitchhiked along and gave them away (the seltzer water trick worked like a charm). I caught a few gorilla crabs and I also dispatched the whelks with the mantis so they won't eat the other snails.

The hermit crab, 3 limpets, a couple of ceriths, and the rock worms are doing OK! The sponges look a little weak and hopefully they bounce back. There was some sponge die off but most are holding strong.

I'll keep y'all posted.
Jeff
 
Update...

So the first part came 1/8/11. The tank was cycled (0 ppm Nitrites) 6 days later. The second part came on 1/22/11 and the ammonia and nitrite went up a bit but came back down 3 days later.

The second part -- wow -- instant aquarium! In addition to what was advertised, Richard was kind enough to include gorgonians, a halimeda, sponges, porcelain crabs, Condylactis Blue anemome, and a Tiger Goby. He did not have to do that, but it is another example of how this excellent shop takes care of its customers and I appreciate it.

Plenty of hitchhikers. Got most of the gorillas, but a few made it through. A small sea star, decorator crab, white crab and an urchin came along for the ride on the rock.

All the critters acclimated just fine and I'm currently working to bring the nitrate level down so these guys will be less stressed.

I'll post some pics soon.

I cannot say enough about TB Saltwater. If and when I set up my next tank, or I want to add/replace some critters, I am definitely coming back to Richard.

Jeff
 
Last edited:
That brittle star vid is pretty neat. Don't be surprised if you start to see more porcelain crabs in a few weeks. They are pretty shy and hide very well.
 
Richard always sends only the best quality sand, live rock, critters and free bees!
It all looks great!
You will still be finding new stuff six months from now in there.
My little black urchins from 09/2010 are now 2 -- 3 inch :) things will grow fast then they can't hide as well.
 
Wow! The tank looks great! Richard turned me on to the forum, had read some great stuff about TBS so off I went ROCKIN as he says! He is absolutely great to deal with thus far and lighting quick to all mail ect.... Packing was incredible! The rock is great... having seen yours Im sooooo excited to see what is to come in my 2nd part! What was the trick with the seltzer? How many partial changes did your first cycle take? Thanks and tank looks amazing again, I only hope for the same!!!
 
Thanks! You'll be blown away with part 2 -- for sure!

I pulled out the rock that the mantis was living in, held it over a bucket with saltwater and poured seltzer water into the hole where he is. Flushed him right out and into the bucket and it doesn't take a lot of seltzer, maybe 1/4 cup at most. Then I transferred him into a fresh bucket of saltwater.

I was doing 10-20% water changes every day for the first 7 days -- mostly to lower nitrates. After that, I'm doing weekly changes.

I'm hunting gorilla crabs now. They are behaving but who knows for how long.

I should put up some fresh pictures!
J
 
Thanks for the tid bit on that! Im on day 6 now and had my first spike in Nitrite! Funny wasn't .1 last nite and checked this afternoon and got .2...... needless to say I just changed out 70% of the water and am good now but yikes! Thought that I was ok to give Richard a call for part 2 but will see how the weekend goes! Did you have alot of welks in the tank? Im finding alot of them! The site says that they are bad news long term.... Gonna try to get rid of em. Great to hear about part 2.... want it soon but gonna be smart and wait till its perfect!
 
Hey JD thanks for the article and pics found both.... at least I know who to eradicate if needed! Funny read a post from White Reef........... "thought I would share a video of one of the porcelain crabs that I have in my tank from my TBS package I setup last year. Since that time most of my sponges withered away, all of my barnacles are gone, and all of the tunicates are gone too. Unfortunately, I still have not been able to get rid of all the gorilla crabs...a work in process. There are about 5 of the porcelain crabs that hang out on the side of my reef where the flow is good, and they feed non-stop and a joy to watch"............ have you had any problems with any of the sponges or such? Wonder if its the lighting? Ill try to put up some pics soon in stages....
 
Well I don't think sponges respond to the lighting. The red sponges seem hard to maintain and mine are whithering even though everything else is thriving. The white or gray sponges are living strong.

Now I'm vodka dosing so I hope that brings life to the sponges!!
 
Tried to get info on the vodka dosing and it seemed to get screwy....... looks like the amount to use is a guess, and the right amounts of nitrates and phosphates have to be present! Thought that a RODI took care of most of the problem? So why do the dosing? SOOOOOOO MUCH TO LEARN!
 
Your tank looks AWESOME!! I have my first part of the package, which I hope will by done cycling soon. Can't wait to see what package #2 will be like. Caught the last of my Gorilla Crabs today. Now have to get ready for round 2, LOL.
Richard sends some really neat critters.
 
Hey Pelfire -- I'm doing the vodka dosing right now. I don't plan to do it forever, but I do want to get the nitrates down to a level where water changes will maintain >10 ppm nitrate. If you are running a FOWLR, like me, then as long as nitrates are below 40 ppm you should be fine.

Hey Myst -- Thanks for the comment! And enjoy part 2!
 
Myst666, you should start up thread here on the Tampa Bay Saltwater forum and share your experience with the rest of us, include some pictures ........... we all love them pictures :dance: . This is something we all can do to get the word out for Richard, about the great product and service he puts out for the reef community.
 
So why would my post be funny? As far as the sponges are concerned most people have reported poor success in keeping them along with the barnacles and tunicates. The reason is that it is difficult to provide sufficient nutrients to keep them happy and still provide good water parameters.
 
Back
Top