Anyone used it?

[joesam]

Anyone used this company?
http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/

--ECO-SENSITIVE LIVE ROCK
Rock from an upland site is deposited on our five acre lease, allowed to grow for a number of years, and is then harvested for use in your reef tank. Our aquacultured live rock is absolutely beautiful, colonized by five different species of hard corals, tunicates, clams, feather dusters, coralines, sponges, algaes, invertebrates, plants and other life! ---

It sounds unbeatable in quality (and price) from all the online 3rd party reviews, yet I'm always a little hesitant with the nothing but good news from online retailers. How about some honesty. (i'm basing a couple hundred $'s on this opinion)

Thanks

 

[fyrefysh]

I've also heard that it's great rock. I've personally never had any though. :wink: I'm not a big fan of Carribean reef rock (seems to have lots of nasty hitch-hikers.)

 

[Anonymous]

I have 300 pounds of Tampa Bay Rock in my Lagoon.

Pro:
Freshly harvested and shipped fast, I received my rock less than 24 hours after the harvest.
Vast diversity of critters including bonus corals, Porcelain crabs, I even got a goby.
Good, honest people to work with.

Con:
Dense Rock
Undesireable critters (rock crabs, Mantis, Cirolanid)

I didn't mention cost because in my opinion it's a good value but the density of the rock offsets the price, ie. you need more rock to cover the same space.

I love the critters you get with it so I will be buying from them in the future if I need rock.

 

[GSchiemer]

My biggest problem with rock from Tampa Bay is that it does not originate from a tropical coral reef, which is what we're trying to recreate in our aquariums. Most of the lifeforms will perish within a year because they're temperate by nature and can't adjust to tropical temperatures indefinitely. Although it may look nice initially, it's not a wise purchase, IMO.

Greg

 

[joesam]

so the rock is not a natural reef rock... thats new.. thanks along with a little blurb about tampa bay, can someone suggest a good rock souce that ships rock in water or that has ALOT of life.

 

[jandree22]

My biggest problem with rock from Tampa Bay is that it does not originate from a tropical coral reef, which is what we're trying to recreate in our aquariums. Most of the lifeforms will perish within a year because they're temperate by nature and can't adjust to tropical temperatures indefinitely. Although it may look nice initially, it's not a wise purchase, IMO.

Greg

Not sure I'd refer to gulf waters as "Temperate"... how cold do you think the ocean is down there in the gulf? Water temp is currently 75F and it's barely into Spring... :lol: Link --> http://www.baycrestfl.com/H2Ohistory.html If anything, the waters in the Carribean have been too WARM to support reefs lately, as many reefs are sadly succumbing to bleaching because of the high temps.

I have a bunch of Gulf-View rock in my tank and I'm not a fan as it's very dense and the shapes are boring. FWIU, it's almost the same as TBS rock. It all costs about the same, it's an issue more of environment-friendliness... In the end it comes down to whether you'd be happier driving in a Mustang or a Prius :wink:

joesam, you usually can't go wrong with some quality Fiji rock. I've heard nothing but good about Fiji Rock from MarineDepotLive.com. Good luck

 

[GSchiemer]

Not sure I'd refer to gulf waters as "Temperate"... how cold do you think the ocean is down there in the gulf? Water temp is currently 75F and it's barely into Spring... lol:

The temps drop to the mid-50's during winter; that's why there are no coral reef formations or coral reef fish in the area. That area is considered a TEMPERATE not TROPICAL zone. This isn't a matter of opinion. :lol:

 

[Len]

Joe, I've found most pacific rock (Fiji, Tonga, Lalo, Buna Branch, Marshalls, etc.) are great. www.oceanproaquatics.com has a large selection.

No one I know will ship live rock wet. It would cost you a small fortune (quite literally).

 

[jandree22]

Not sure I'd refer to gulf waters as "Temperate"... how cold do you think the ocean is down there in the gulf? Water temp is currently 75F and it's barely into Spring... lol:

The temps drop to the mid-50's during winter; that's why there are no coral reef formations or coral reef fish in the area. That area is considered a TEMPERATE not TROPICAL zone. This isn't a matter of opinion. :lol:

Damn it, looks like you proved me wrong… I’ll officially shut my face now! :lol: I just never heard of an ocean temperature swing of about 40F between the seasons... kinda surprising to me.

However, don’t you think any critters that are intolerant of the warm waters would just be killed off naturally in the warm summer temps? Maybe that’s a simplistic assumption, and now we know where assumptions get me…

 

[mogurnda]

I've outfitted two tanks with TBS rock, and I share Guy's opinion. Regardless of the density, though, it is more than adequate for biological filtration.

As with any live rock, there will be species that won't make it. Nonetheless, a lot survives. I'll avoid the temperate/tropical debate, but wanted to point out that I’ve got piles of sponges, corals, and crustaceans that continue to thrive after 2-4 years (depending on the batch).

The mantises were fairly easy to extract. I could have done without the whelks, though. Bummer to wake up to see them devouring a derasa clam.

 

[GSchiemer]

Damn it, looks like you proved me wrong… I’ll officially shut my face now! :lol: I just never heard of an ocean temperature swing of about 40F between the seasons... kinda surprising to me.

However, don’t you think any critters that are intolerant of the warm waters would just be killed off naturally in the warm summer temps? Maybe that’s a simplistic assumption, and now we know where assumptions get me…

No, Dr. Ron explained that these creatures can hang on during the warm months but would perish if exposed to tropical temperatures year round.

Also, here in the northeast US the seawater temps can vary by 40-50 degrees F from summer to winter, so this is not uncommon.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

so the rock is not a natural reef rock... thats new.. thanks along with a little blurb about tampa bay, can someone suggest a good rock souce that ships rock in water or that has ALOT of life.

None of the cultured rock is "natural reef rock." It's mostly limestone.

I cultured my own rock by getting some freshly mined limestone and throwing it in my tank. 6 months later, you couldn't tell it wasn't the same rock as the rest of my "real" live rock.

That's also the reason it is more dense. Limestone is compacted in the earth, while "real" live rock that has been exposed at the ocean bottom for decades or centuries has been eroded by water and critters digging into it. I've noticed that in just over a year, the limestone rock in my tank has actually eroded a bit as critters dig at it. But you deffinitely will need more of this cultured rock than you would if you bought fiji rock.


As for the bad critters....the good comes with the bad. The reason you get mantis and crabs etc. is that the rock is so fresh. Rock that was shipped for days from half way round the world and then sat at a distributor for days, and then sat at your LFS for days, has had a chance to drop a lot of those nasty critters. But then again, a lot of the good life also dies off.

I would bet that the benefits of fresher rock outweigh the negatives.

 

[Anonymous]

I just noticed you're in Georgia. If you can find a limestone mine near by, you might be able to save a lot of money by using limestone as base rock for your reef. It will be white and plain for a few months, but before you know it, the life from the live rock you stack on top of it will encrust it and you won't be able to tell the difference.

If you use limestone, soak it for a week in a bucket to make sure any chemicals that might have gotten into the aquifer come out.

 

[garagebrian]

I have purchased rock from both Gulf View and TBS for my current 75 gallon. When I first got the gulf view I was happy, but the shapes were rather boring and it was VERY dense. I later dried out two pieces because of a turf algae that would not go away. I decided to break them up for frag plugs and they were nearly impossible to break.

I then got some TBS rock and the shapes and weight were MUCH better. Still not as light as fiji or other pacific rock. I also got some very cool hitchhiking corals. I did get a fairly large % of bad hitchhikers from both sets of rock, but I've eliminated almost all of them. My tank has been up over 14 months now (10 months for TBS rocks) and I have experienced a decent amount of die off of the good hitchhikers, but quite a few have survived as well.

If you can deal with hunting hitchhikers for a while and want live rock as fresh as you can get it, then TBS is probably the best option.

But if you don't want to deal with hitchhikers and can accept less life on the rock, then some pacific rock is your other option.

I couldn't purchase pacific rock, because while much of it is collected as rubble, I've heard from a variety of sources that some of the rock is actually chiseled off the reef and I can't personally be responsible for that.

Using base rock is a good way to save money on rock, but just realize you are starting with less biological filter by doing that. I've heard of rock needing to stay in the ocean anywhere from 5-10 years to be sufficiently full of life to be a great filter. TBS rock is sometimes in that long, sometimes not depending on what they harvest. More reading on the biological filter and how the life in it is what really does the filtering:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004- ... /index.php

Brian

 

[cjsrch]

My biggest problem with rock from Tampa Bay is that it does not originate from a tropical coral reef, which is what we're trying to recreate in our aquariums. Most of the lifeforms will perish within a year because they're temperate by nature and can't adjust to tropical temperatures indefinitely. Although it may look nice initially, it's not a wise purchase, IMO.

Greg

dont they have rock farms in tampa AND the keys... i swear the keys is a natural reef

 

[GSchiemer]

There are/were live rock farms in the Florida Keys area but I don't know the status of these operations. Any rock harvested from this area can certainly be called tropical reef rock.

Greg

 

[FragMaster]

TBS offers the best rock you can find state side from Florida waters IMHO.

 

[GSchiemer]

TBS offers the best rock you can find state side from Florida waters IMHO.

Sure, if you're trying to replicate the temperate environment of Tampa Bay ; otherwise you're much better off with live CALCAREOUS rock that originates from a TROPICAL coral reef.

 

[FragMaster]

Umm the rock they use does. and it is CALCAREOUS.

Read thier procedures and watch the video on thier website

 

[GSchiemer]

Umm the rock they use does. and it is CALCAREOUS.

Read thier procedures and watch the video on thier website

The natural live rock from Tampa Bay, which used to be collected and sold legally, is only partly calcareous. The rest is silca and quartz. The local sand has the same composition. The "chunks" that they are using as seed rock now may be calcareous, but, regardless, ALL of the rock is very dense, the lifeforms are temperate, and overall it's inapproriate for use in tropical reef aquariums. :wink: