Today is MY day.....like a kid waiting for Christmas!

[dwculp]

I got email from Richard at 5:30am that my rock is shipping this morning and set to arrive in DAL (Love Field) at 12:35! I cant wait, I have been like a kid waiting for Christmas to arrive!

This is actually my second TBS tank, I got in to saltwater in 2004 and found TBS rock and started a build thread: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=456077

That tank was in my classroom for a few years, I moved schools and the principal wanted my tank as a show piece in our foyer. It was NOT a good location as I couldn't watch it , it was unstable after the move and the Texas heat was wrecking havoc with it. It crashed hard in Sept/Oct of 2007.

I cleaned and scrubbed the rocks and put them in buckets to dry . A year later I started a 29 gallon and used those rocks and some seed rocks to start a FO tank which slowly got converted to a small reef.

I am now finally starting another 40 gallon breeder reef and it is already an adventure. I moved schools, back to my old school and wanted to set up another "larger" reef and so got another 40 gallon breeder and began outfitting it. I ordered the package and Richard told me he would ship on Saturday (today). I go in yesterday to find this:

My A/C was out and part of the ceiling had fallen in! Since it is only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun in Texas right now, my room was HOT, really HOT!!

The cleaning crew had used MY TANK BUCKETS to catch water and the slowly collapsing ceiling:

You can see the 29 gallon in the background.

I was told there was no rush on my repair as no kids were in the room and wouldn't be until August.

Sigh.........Time to move the tanks. I spent the afternoon breaking down both tanks and moving them (to my wifes mild displeasure) home. I will move it back in Sept once I get a chiller. It was an A/C problem that put the death knell in my old tank, I wont let it happen again.

Anyways, the tank is setup, water is at 76 degrees and 8.2pH, lights come Tuesday morning. I'm ready for part 1! Once the dust settles in the tank I plan to use some of the rocks from the 29 gallon to help with any cycle that might happen.

Pics when it arrives!!

 

[liverock]

Geeeze

Geeeze

what a nightmare!

Glad to see you got it under control.....wait until you see this rock, is a lot different than the rock you got last time......is really amazing rock, and it was in the Gulf yesterday!

sea ya
Richard TBS:rollface::rollface::rollface:

 

[Wet_Fretboards]

and it was in the Gulf yesterday!

...unbelievable!:thumbsup:

 

[doublenerds]

what a nightmare!

.is really amazing rock, and it was in the Gulf yesterday!

...so when a few days ago I asked if it is true that TBS rock is not cured, but shipped so quickly that there is minimal die-off, and you told me I am stupid and I should read more, and I read the above....how exactly was I stupid and wrong?

I truly don't understand.

 

[liverock]

...so when a few days ago I asked if it is true that TBS rock is not cured, but shipped so quickly that there is minimal die-off, and you told me I am stupid and I should read more, and I read the above....how exactly was I stupid and wrong?

I truly don't understand.

I think you misunderstood, as do most folks as this rock is only available to very few people, and it is nothing like everybody is used too.

99% of the rock in the industry is imported rock, out of the ocean for weeks sometimes before you or your local stores get it, hence the term "cured" came about as the rock is so stressed out and dead that it must be quarantined, and 'cured', a better term would be 'bringing dead rock back to life'

Aquaculture rock is on the other end of the spectrum, as it is alive when harvested, kept in water from the ocean, until it reaches your tank, thus is alive and does not have to be 'cured'.

Rock that is harvested and handled correctly goes right into you tank with very few issues, usually, which is why I pointed you to those links so you could see folks who have done it or doing it right now from rock I shipped this week. Sorry if you thought I was implying you were 'stupid', not my intention nor what I said, I was pointing you in the right direction to read and learn about the differences in rock in the industry.

Check out the aquaculture processes pics on my web page, and you will have a better understanding...

sea ya
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com

 

[dwculp]

I really do hate that you were offended in the last thread, Richard is actually really great to deal with. Reading the thread, Richard didnt overtly call you stupid, but I do realize that you may have interpreted his response incorrectly.

Richards rock is not "cured" rock. Cured rock refers to rock that has been left dry or moist which has had a large amount of die off and then brought back to life in the curing process. To "cure" rock you generally put it in buckets, or a tank with no other life and circulate water and do large water changes until the bacterial colonies build back up. This process can take 6 weeks or more. By the time it is finished all or nearly all of the macro life on the rock is gone.

Richard dives for his rock, puts in barrels of seawater on his boat and then into holding tanks of seawater in his facility. The rock is never left to dry out and is then packed in seawater and shipped to you via air freight. Since it was never dry and there is very little die off it TEAMS with life.

On the front page of the TBS website are some good videos: http://tbsaltwater.com/

 

[dustin.chirico]

Way to be strong though all that moving, a lot of folks would have just thrown in the towel. Congrats on your newest Package! I'm going to be ready for part 2 myself soon, but have to delay it until I have a day off. That may be next Tuesday... I know what you mean about the wait!

 

[noahm]

I really do hate that you were offended in the last thread, Richard is actually really great to deal with. Reading the thread, Richard didnt overtly call you stupid, but I do realize that you may have interpreted his response incorrectly.

This ^^

The problem I think happened because the response was directed at both parties for 2 completely opposite reasons. Doublenerd just got caught in the same response directed at the misinformer. It looked like a failed attempt to kill two birds with one stone. Hope he/she sticks around.

 

[Jaxom]

Doublenerd, where in the following statement did Richard call you stupid ............

"LOL ...total misinformation..and wrong.......yall both need to do some reading in this forum ......

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=213

and here.... " I don't see a comment saying you are stupid.

The "Nightmare" that Richard commented on is what happened to DWCulp's tank back in 2007 after it had been running for a couple of years.

Richard sends out a quality product, goes above and beyond what most vendors will send you.

You were asking qusetions about the package, he gave you a link to his site which, if you read, will answer most questions about what to do to set up a tank using the package. Like Noahm says, we hope you stick around.

 

[dwculp]

ITS HERE!!!

I got pics of the boxes......then I was so excited I forgot to take pics of the rocks themselves

I was not even finished putting rocks in the tank and I had two snails crawling up the glass. I found one porcelain crab on the rocks, tons of snails and THIS ROCK LOOKS KILLER!!!!! I will get pics soon.

I am waiting on the tank to clear right now, I dont have lights for it yet, I have a 4X39W T-5 retrofit kit coming Monday or Tuesday. I plan to run two bulbs 4-5 hours a day while it cycles.

I was thinking of doing another day-by-day thread, do people still do those on RC? Should I put it in the newbie section or here?

 

[Jaxom]

Hope you do I enjoyed reading your last thread, was sorry to see it end.

 

[dwculp]

The rock has been in the tank for a couple of hours now and slowly clearing. I already have multiple snails crawling up the glass. I went to the pet store to buy another maxi-jet, when I got back my wife said "There are all kinds of pops coming from in the tank!"

I made a small mistake, I put my heater in the outflow compartment of my CPR Bak-Pak skimmer. When I got home I checked the tank temp, 24C which is a degree colder than I had set it - weird. Then I remembered I had turned the skimmer off so no water from the tank was flowing over it!

 

[Jaxom]

Sent. What high school are you teaching at, we have boys at Guyer in Denton.

 

[dwculp]

One other thing, I like this sand better than the sand I received back in 2004. That sand, while good, was coarser than I would have liked, it was just under the size of crushed coral. The sand I got today was overall finer than the sand I got in 2004 and much more aesthetically pleasing in color and size. Although still a large particle sized sand I like it MUCH better!

 

[dwculp]

I have either a pistol shrimp or a mantis. I hear a pop about every 15-30 minutes usually a double or triple pop. Pop............pop.........pop......

 

[dwculp]

Full tank shot after about 6 hours of clearing:

Already found lots of snails and a couple of hermits, and worms tracks in the sand. I cant wait to see it tomorrow when it is clear.

Tomorrow I will siphon off the silt that settled on the rocks and begin my daily testing.

Oh yeah, the good rocks are in the back of the tank!

 

[dwculp]

Here is an interesting hitchhiker:

Looks to be some sort of cucumber???

 

[Jaxom]

Nice looking setup you have there, congrats.

 

[Raggamuffin]

Grats on the Cuc! I LOVE Richards stuff it is truely the best live rock ever, I just wish I could afford the shipping because I need some seed stock for a buddies tank I helped him set up. He didn't beleive me when I told him I had a fish as a hitchhiker until showed him a pic of the fish swimming around in the LR box!

 

[dwculp]

Here is a better image of the cucumber:

The water has cleared up nicely, the ammonia is around .5-.6 ppm. I am going to do a small water change tonight to siphon off the dust and silt from the rocks.

I am going to start a build thread over in the reef section.