Questions for Jeremy

[tigerwolf]

Jeremy,

I am planning on starting out a reef tank in likely 4-6 months.

During this time, I'm saving up money, as well as attempting to find the best 'bang for my buck'.

I've heard rave reviews about TBS, but their pricetag on their "Package" along with tales of a lot of undesirable 'hitchikers' has me finally searching to see if I can find a better deal.

I live in MI, and was wondering if it'd be acceptable for me to drive down, and pick up an order at your warehouse, to save myself on the air-freight?

Also, how much of the cured Marshall Island LR would you reccomend for a 50 gallon breeder tank?

Does your LR contain 'undesirable' hitchikers?

I'd be interested in the live aragonite sand as well. How many bags of the 20lb live sand would you suggest for a proper DSB in that same 50 gal breeder?

I appreciate your time in answering these questions.

Thank you.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Hi,

You are more than welcome to drive down and hand pick out your rock. The Marshall has been moving extremely fast lately, so you may want to get with us before drive down just to make sure it is going to be in stock. Depending on how "full" you want the tank to look, I would start with around 50 - 60 lbs. Marshall is lighter than Fiji/Kaelini so you will get more volume per/lb. Being that the rock comes out of the ocean and transported to us in a timely manner, we can not guarantee that you will not get any unwanted hitchhikers. Typically you will not, but there is always the risk.

On the sand I would personally use the majority of dry, dead sand. I would seed it with about 10% of live sand from various sources to get as much variance in life as possible, and in a matter of a couple months your DSB will start to populate itself with all of the beneficial microfauna. If you could provide me with the tank dimensions I'll be more than happy to give you an estimate for the amount of sand you will need.

 

[tigerwolf]

My tank dimensions are likely going to be 36x18x18, though I may decide on a 75 gal. I haven't completely made up my mind yet.

Is the Fiji/Kaleini Rock that you recieve 'scrubbed', or is there life that appears off of it, and from it?

I think the Marshall Islands Rock is utterly beautiful, especially with that coralline algae, but as I understand it, there's not much life (anenome's, feather duster worms, starfish, etc...) that will appear off of it.

Again, I appreciate your time, Jeremy.

Thanks!