Anyone local ever buy from Tampa Bay Saltwater?

[AZBigJohn]

I keep reading all those great stories, and seeing all those great pictures of the cultured live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater along with all of the sand, critters and everything else they include with their "package".

It is quite pricey, however. Lots of benefits in shorter cycling, more diversity...

Just wondering if anyone local has ever tried it out, and what the results were. I'm in the midst of setting up my new tank (very slowly) and I keep wondering if splurging on something like that would be worth what I would need to cut back on to do it.

 

[DgenR8]

The best thing about it is that it's aquacultured, and it's collection and sale do not effect the natural reef. I don't know that it will speed cycling, there will be significant die off with shipping, just like any other rock you buy. No doubt, it will effectively cycle your tank, I just don't think you're right in expecting a noticeable difference in cycle duration.
It comes in very colorful, but much of that dies off rather quickly. I do have to be clear that I have never bought Tampa Bay's rock, but I did start out with Gulf-View, and they are doing the same thing, putting dry rock, from an ancient reef, that they excavate from the ground into the bay to "cure".
There is significant danger of getting more than you bargain for, as in Mantis shrimp, and the rock tends to be very dense, but overall it's a good product, and has Mother Nature in mind.
If I had it to do over, I think I'd get half of what I need from Tampa Bay Saltwater and the other half from Marco Rocks. Marko sells the same basic product, without sinking it and turning it live for you.

 

[d2mini]

It most definitely speeds up your cycle.
Now keep in mind, this doesn't mean your tank is "mature". This will still take about a year until things are REALLY cooking. But if you go with The Package and follow Richard's instructions to a T... you will have an INSTANT reef tank when you are done. You will see a lot of the sponges and tunicates die off over time. This is just the nature of trying to keep such delicate filter feeders in a closed system. The cool thing is you'll have tons of color and awesome stuff to look at/watch, while everyone else is staring at dead, dry rock. There will be extremely little die-off during shipping because of the way it's shipped! It's packed up in the wee hours of the morning, inside multiple layers of heavy duty plastic bags, with water and oxygen. The bags are sealed and then placed in styrofoam containers and then in cardboard boxes. The boxes are then hauled to the airport and loaded on a plane. By the afternoon you are loading the boxes into your vehicle at your airport's freight pickup! It's doesn't get any fresher unless you took your own boat out into the bay and hauled it in yourself. Also keep in mind, that this stuff you see on the outside is just the visual candy. What you are really getting and paying for is the stuff you don't see. The rock is a filter machine. Once you are done with the process, your tank is pretty much ready to go. If you don't believe me, check out two of my build threads for lots of pics and information on the whole process.

This was my 130g cube build and was my very first experience with TBS.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757436

And this is my most recent (current) build...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2144250

Note that with the second build, I was transferring a lot of stuff from my previous tank, so a lot of coral and some fish went right in once the process was complete. All of which I still have almost 2 years later. Now two years later, does my rock look different than someone who started with dry rock? Probably not much. But I do believe whole heartedly that the success and stability of my system over the past two years is due to how it was started... with TBS rock!

As a trade-off, be prepared to do a little hunting occasionally. You will most likely get a couple mantis shrimp (people majorly over dramatize the whole mantis thing), and some gorilla crabs. Not really a big deal. I just go after them with some long stainless forceps when i see them. Makes things a little more exciting.

 

[AZBigJohn]

I appreciate both of your comments; I think they pretty well bracket my thoughts on the issue, and pretty much highlight my dilemma.

The half and half plan Degenr8 mentions is probably the route I would need to (financially) take if I was going to do it. I realize the concern of the the unwanted critters is there (although possibly over-spoken) as Dennis mentions. I just don;t know if possibly needing to downsize my skimmer, or delaying a controller or lighting choices to splurge on liverock is the right choice.

Believe me Dennis, it is your latest build that I follow religiously (although I don't comment on often) that put TBS on my radar. I have not found a similar vendor on the West coast which might be a less expensive option.

Much to ponder...

 

[Mael]

I like the dry rock seeded with live option, especially if you can source the live locally so there is no real die off, this is the route I went and the tank was cycled in just over a week(due to the live sand I used). The cost was also was stopped me from doing all live.

Also there are some local garage reefers who have some very very nice live rock for good pricing right now, depending on how much you need.