Anyone in for Tampa Bay Saltwater order?

[boodwah]

They aquaculture their rock and collect it from two locations. One is in the Keys, the other is off the Gulf Coast of Florida. Their rock is full of life and will have plenty of hitchhikers, some good and some may be bad. Their coral encrusted rock is $6/lb, their live rock is $5/lb, and their base rock is $4/lb. Please keep in mind that their base rock is much better than most live rock in the LFS's.
They ship to Nashville Intl via Southwest Airlines and an order of up to 100lbs is $42. Please keep in mind that the box and the water will take up some weight so if we could get together an order of about 70lb the shipping will be a negligible part of the price.
I would like to get about 20lbs.
Here are some pics of the rock I received:

 

[eyebedam]

I would love to get about 15 or 20 lbs myself but I dont have an extra tank to cure it in. It would be the 1st of next week before I could do anything though cuz im leaving for Florida tomorrow.

 

[Mobikob]

Their base rock is top noch, and blows away most LFS premium rock. That is where I got all my rock and I have been very happy with it. the only nusiance hitch hiker I had were Mantis, a lot of them. the benificial hitch hikers by far out weighed the bad. I had a ton of brittle stars, a huge sea hare, and Chiton all over the place.
I don't need any right now, but I will vouch for their product. I have been in their store and they are a great operation all around. they are also environmentally friendly, benificial to a point.

Mobi

 

[spjeff69]

I could go for 20lbs of rock. What kind of rock is the pics of?

 

[boodwah]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7003991#post7003991 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eyebedam
I would love to get about 15 or 20 lbs myself but I dont have an extra tank to cure it in. It would be the 1st of next week before I could do anything though cuz im leaving for Florida tomorrow.

All right, don't take my word for this nor anyone elses without doing a bit of research. Remember, you have invested a lot of time, money, and sweat into your tank and you owe your critters the best quality of life you can give them. That being said:

TBS pulls their rock from their site and places it in buckets of water then go directly to their facility and place the rocks in tanks. The rocks leave the water for seconds at a time. Then he boxes the rocks in water with heat packs and takes them to the airport and flies them here via air freight. The rock goes from their holding tank to your aquarium in about 5 hours. The rock gets more stress in a storm. There is little, if any, die off.
I had just cycled my tank, my nitrites had been 0 for about a week. I added 15-20lbs (unsure of the exact weight) and kept taking readings and nothing came back up except the nitrites came back up to 0.05 for a couple of days. I just did a couple of 20% water changes. I never got any smell, dead critters, or anything. I talked to the owner on the phone before I ordered it and he assured me there would be no secondary cycle of any consequence.
BUT: I would get a 10 gallon tank and quarantine the rock for a couple of weeks before adding it to my tank. There are gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp, aiptasia, etc. that could hitch a ride. But don't throw it in a bucket witha powerhead and no lights. Treat it as mature live rock or you will be wasting your money.

 

[boodwah]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7005435#post7005435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spjeff69
I could go for 20lbs of rock. What kind of rock is the pics of?

It is the coral rock. It is sitting on top of Haitian rock. The TBS rock is the rock with all of the life on it. It was $6/lb.

 

[greystreet41]

There are gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp, aiptasia, etc. that could hitch a ride. But don't throw it in a bucket witha powerhead and no lights

how do you go about ridding the bad hitchhikers, keeping the good ones and putting it in an established tank and not wake up the next morning with half a dozen missing fish?

 

[gflat65]

The prospect of getting a small attached brain or some other stony is an interesting possbility. I have some TBS rock with a tiny brain on it that I hope recovers and grows. I think all stony corals are prohibited for removal from the Carribean, but as hitchhikers on rock, they are fine. Sounds like finding a home for mantis shouldn't be a problem and gorilla crabs make interesting species tanks, or can be fed to triggers. Not sure the best way to get them out of the rock, though. Freshwater dip?

 

[boodwah]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7006098#post7006098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gflat65
The prospect of getting a small attached brain or some other stony is an interesting possbility. I have some TBS rock with a tiny brain on it that I hope recovers and grows. I think all stony corals are prohibited for removal from the Carribean, but as hitchhikers on rock, they are fine. Sounds like finding a home for mantis shouldn't be a problem and gorilla crabs make interesting species tanks, or can be fed to triggers. Not sure the best way to get them out of the rock, though. Freshwater dip?

I'm not sure on that either. rsteagall and I have spent a week each trying to get a mantis out of a rock. I bought a mantis trap but we have yet to use it. I'm crossing my fingers.

 

[boodwah]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7006051#post7006051 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greystreet41
how do you go about ridding the bad hitchhikers, keeping the good ones and putting it in an established tank and not wake up the next morning with half a dozen missing fish?

If you are going to quote me, please quote the whole thing I have to say and not half of it. Here is what I said:

"BUT: I would get a 10 gallon tank and quarantine the rock for a couple of weeks before adding it to my tank. There are gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp, aiptasia, etc. that could hitch a ride. But don't throw it in a bucket witha powerhead and no lights. Treat it as mature live rock or you will be wasting your money."

You don't work for the media, do you?

 

[greystreet41]

If you are going to quote me, please quote the whole thing I have to say and not half of it. Here is what I said:

nah, I'll do another partial quote. geesh, guy. Not fully quoting you has nothing to do with my question, nor does your sarcastic reply quoting yourself as if it answers my question. Having a 10 gallon q-tank with a powerhead and lights hardly tells me how you're going to get rid of hitchhikers you don't want other than the obvious of removing the ones you can actually see. Just a question that could do without someone being "quote sensitive." Maybe you can read my question again. Here, I'll partially quote myself in the spirt of keeping it simple and not undermining my entire message. Don't want you thinking I'm biased in who I partially quote. Not to mention gflat and yourself commented on the issue in later posts.

how do you go about ridding the bad hitchhikers, keeping the good ones and putting it in an established tank

 

[rsteagall]

Has anyone any experiece with these guys?

http://sealifeflorida.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=31

That rock looks pretty nice too (in picures).

 

[Mobikob]

how do you go about ridding the bad hitchhikers, keeping the good ones and putting it in an established tank and not wake up the next morning with half a dozen missing fish?

Hypo and hyper salinity along with RO dips work very well to remove hitchhikers like Gorilla crabs and Mantis.
I prefer hyper salinity, it seems to work in just a few minutes. and if you are quick enough you can save the bugger and dispose of him properly.

Mobi

 

[Mikeyjer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7007221#post7007221 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rsteagall
Has anyone any experiece with these guys?

http://sealifeflorida.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=31

That rock looks pretty nice too (in picures).

Those are pretty nice rocks, but what does it mean when they say this:

This grade of rock is uncured, which means that you'll get all the bugs, starfish and creepy crawlers that normally inhabit the rock. We can cure the rock if you want, but you'll have to ask for it to be cured (no extra charge, just a little extra time).

Do they remove those critters if they pre-cure it?

 

[Angela Short]

Wouldn't hypo and hyper salinity kill all the good stuff also? I think its a risk with any live rock to get a bad hitchiker just more likely with this type. I guess a seperate tank and watch and set traps if need be?

Boodwah, So the corals in the pic you posted came "on the rock"? Cool.

 

[Angela Short]

Also which 20# was you wanting? The $6,5 or $4 a lb. Just curiouse incase A big new tank mysteriously appears in my den .

 

[sparks56]

TO ALL YOU TENNASEANS, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW .... floridaliverock.com/ talk to dale barger / diver grower about 3.00 a lb. check it out

 

[boodwah]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7007106#post7007106 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greystreet41
nah, I'll do another partial quote. geesh, guy. Not fully quoting you has nothing to do with my question, nor does your sarcastic reply quoting yourself as if it answers my question. Having a 10 gallon q-tank with a powerhead and lights hardly tells me how you're going to get rid of hitchhikers you don't want other than the obvious of removing the ones you can actually see. Just a question that could do without someone being "quote sensitive." Maybe you can read my question again. Here, I'll partially quote myself in the spirt of keeping it simple and not undermining my entire message. Don't want you thinking I'm biased in who I partially quote. Not to mention gflat and yourself commented on the issue in later posts.

My apologies. I'm new to this internet board thing and did not realize that I sounded THAT sarcastic until you pointed it out. And I don't know why I did not realize it as I was typing it.

And IMHO, I would not add this rock to an old established tank. There are risks every time we add something to our tanks whether it has been quarantined or not. Quarantine lessens that risk, but it does not eliminate it. And to finally answer your question, there is no way to eliminate every possibile bad hitchhiker. All we can do is remove the ones we see. Personally, I feel the benefits outweigh the risks. And that is easy for me to say because I do not have hundreds nor thousands invested in livestock as many people do in their well-established tanks.

I promise to be less sarcastic on these boards. If you knew me in person you would say, "Yeh, that's Wes all right." But that don't work here. Sorry again.
Wes C

 

[Angela Short]

I hate not getting to use tone of voice and all that goes in to talking on boards also! Anyway which kind was you looking at wanting?

 

[boodwah]

Angela, I would like to get some more of the coral rock. The $6 stuff. What would you be interested in? I'm sure we could mix the order. I might be wrong, but I think the rock should be pretty easy to tell apart in most cases.