Tampa Bay Saltwater Real Live Rock

d2mini · Feb 6, 2024

LiverockRocks said:
@d2mini Is the only customer, that we know of, to dive the Tampa Bay Saltwater farm...and with the founder, @liverock!

Want to share some of your lovely photos?

Sure thing!

"Dive" should be used loosely... more like "snorkeled".

Unfortunately, neither myself nor Rick who went with me were certified. But it was still a blast!
The only problem was that some weather had come through before we went out and man, everything was so churned up... it was pea soup under there! Made the barking noises from the Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) even more creepy. LOL So unfortunately no pics of the farm floor.

There was one other guy I knew of that I believe had been out with Richard. He was on ReefCentral and had a couple youtube vids. Went by the name of Cuzza. There's at least one there showing the Walt Smith rock getting nicely seeded.

https://www.youtube.com/@cuzzaoutdoors

Here's Rick and Richard walking out the boat in the wee hours of the morning...

Looking back at the sun coming up as we headed out into the bay...

The LEGEND at the helm

Here's Rick working one of the lines over the farm

Yours truly just floating in the middle of the ocean like an idiot, taking a selfie.

Rick looking through the muck, trying to find Richard...

Oh, there he is... we think!

I believe he's hooking up a full net of rock to the lines so we could then pull it up.

Pulling out the treasure before dumping into vats of water.

Job well done, time to head back...

LiverockRocks · Feb 6, 2024

Vintage TBS at it's finest.

LiverockRocks · Feb 6, 2024

d2mini said:
Sure thing!

"Dive" should be used loosely... more like "snorkeled".
Unfortunately, neither myself nor Rick who went with me were certified. But it was still a blast!
The only problem was that some weather had come through before we went out and man, everything was so churned up... it was pea soup under there! Made the barking noises from the Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) even more creepy. LOL So unfortunately no pics of the farm floor.

There was one other guy I knew of that I believe had been out with Richard. He was on ReefCentral and had a couple youtube vids. Went by the name of Cuzza. There's at least one there showing the Walt Smith rock getting nicely seeded.

https://www.youtube.com/@cuzzaoutdoors

Here's Rick and Richard walking out the boat in the wee hours of the morning...

Looking back at the sun coming up as we headed out into the bay...

The LEGEND at the helm

Here's Rick working one of the lines over the farm

Yours truly just floating in the middle of the ocean like an idiot, taking a selfie.

Rick looking through the muck, trying to find Richard...

Oh, there he is... we think! I believe he's hooking up a full net of rock to the lines so we could then pull it up.

Pulling out the treasure before dumping into vats of water.

Job well done, time to head back...

Thank you for sharing.

LiverockRocks · Feb 13, 2024

Nano base rocks often host hidden Treasures like corals, tunicates, coralline and more!
Nano Base Rock

LiverockRocks · Feb 19, 2024

Walt Smith branch pieces are maturing nicely.

BubblesandSqueak · Feb 19, 2024

LiverockRocks said:
Walt Smith branch pieces are maturing nicely.

That’ll be my next order. Base only or premium offered?

Trixter227 · Feb 19, 2024

Rocks looking nice as always! Whats the approximate lead time for a premium rock treasure chest ?

LiverockRocks · Feb 19, 2024

BubblesandSqueak said:
That’ll be my next order. Base only or premium offered?

We have one price for the branch and do our best to ship premium quality.

LiverockRocks · Feb 19, 2024

Trixter227 said:
Rocks looking nice as always! Whats the approximate lead time for a premium rock treasure chest ?

3/25 for sure.

Oftentimes customers will delay shipping, so there could be some availability on 3/5. We try our best to move folks' orders up, but sometimes weather forces us to move them back.
Greatly appreciate our customers flexibility.

Trixter227 · Feb 19, 2024

LiverockRocks said:
3/25 for sure.

Oftentimes customers will delay shipping, so there could be some availability on 3/5. We try our best to move folks' orders up, but sometimes weather forces us to move them back.
Greatly appreciate our customers flexibility.

Not bad! Im trying to refresh with some once the seasons change a bit. Keep the Biodiversity up in my refugium.

Roatan Reef · Feb 20, 2024

I tell anyone who will listen... when you get stuff from @LiverockRocks you will be super happy.

I 1st got a piece of live rock from them that had a Phyllangia or Hidden Cup Coral, then a few months later about 2lbs of live sand from them as well

I can tell you all, and pinpoint the 2 things that helped me immensely when I was having issues with my tank as a newbie... the Live Rock and Sand, since then, tank has taken off.

Not to mention, many people are envious of my Phyllangia...as you can not buy them anywhere...it is without a doubt my favorite Coral!

1st pic lights off with a flashlight on, as this dude loves the darkness and extends most when lights are off..and you can also see some of TBS Sand

2nd pic under the lights.

it's such an amazing coral.
Going on almost 1.2 years now.

BubblesandSqueak · Feb 20, 2024

Roatan Reef said:
I tell anyone who will listen... when you get stuff from @LiverockRocks you will be super happy.

I 1st got a piece of live rock from them that had a Phyllangia or Hidden Cup Coral, then a few months later about 2lbs of live sand from them as well

I can tell you all, and pinpoint the 2 things that helped me immensely when I was having issues with my tank as a newbie... the Live Rock and Sand, since then, tank has taken off.

Not to mention, many people are envious of my Phyllangia...as you can not buy them anywhere...it is without a doubt my favorite Coral!

1st pic lights off with a flashlight on, as this dude loves the darkness and extends most when lights are off..and you can also see some of TBS Sand

2nd pic under the lights.

it's such an amazing coral.
Going on almost 1.2 years now.

I got a couple of those too. Fan worms are popping out now. Tunicates and porcelain crabs. Brittle Seastars, urchins, had two big light bulb/sponge nems but got rid of those about a week ago.

LiverockRocks · Feb 20, 2024

Transporting ocean rock in water is worth the extra effort on our end and the extra shipping costs:

-delicate hitchhikers like coral, bivalves, tunicates and fan worms arrive alive
-living rock goes directly into your aquarium instead of a bin curing for weeks
-healthy ocean live rock and sand cycle aquariums with no bottle bacteria, stinky shrimp or sacrificial fish

In the end; time and $ are saved because you aren’t buying chemical bandaids to remedy problems, tank maintenance is easier, and you receive freebies like mithrax crabs, tiger gobies, porcelain crabs, caulerpa, sargassum, gracilaria, common Florida corals, feather dusters, micro brittle starfish, shrimps, decorator crabs, clams, oysters, anemones and more!

Customers who experience ocean aquacultured rock shipped in natural seawater know all this. We love it when TBS folks email us personal success stories, photos of their aquascapes, or for critter identification.

Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock has been rocking reef aquariums since 1984.

Dbartlett727 · Feb 20, 2024

I just picked up my order of base rock and sand on feb 10th and it’s already cycled my new 125 tank and ready to add livestock and corals from my smaller tank. 100% worth the investment.

LiverockRocks · Feb 20, 2024

Dbartlett727 said:
I just picked up my order of base rock and sand on feb 10th and it’s already cycled my new 125 tank and ready to add livestock and corals from my smaller tank. 100% worth the investment.

Appreciate the support @Dbartlett727! Cycling with base rock and sand is super easy, these components set the very foundation fora long-term stable marine environment.

X-37B · Feb 20, 2024

Dbartlett727 said:
I just picked up my order of base rock and sand on feb 10th and it’s already cycled my new 125 tank and ready to add livestock and corals from my smaller tank. 100% worth the investment.

How much base rock did you use.
Any FTS would be appreciated.
Im trying to get an idea of how much I need for my 150.
I want to use all base to cover an area of 48x18 to a height of 6". Pics help, Thanks.

Dbartlett727 · Feb 20, 2024

X-37B said:
How much base rock did you use.
Any FTS would be appreciated.
Im trying to get an idea of how much I need for my 150.
I want to use all base to cover an area of 48x18 to a height of 6". Pics help, Thanks.

I used 80 lbs of base rock(10 pounds nano sized for the sump and 70 lbs mixed base pieces) and 80 lbs of live sand for my 125. It’s 60x24. The sand was just enough to make about an inch layer. And with all the rock in the display it was enough to cover almost all the bottom of the tank to just about a 6” height without stacking them, maybe a bit shorter in some spots. Almost all the pieces I kept in the display are bigger than 6” no matter which way they lay except for the nano sized. Maybe another 10 pounds or so would’ve filled it up nicely. This is all a work in progress while I get ready to bring all the rock and sand from my 65 gallon over to the 125.

This is what I ended up putting in the sump. All the small pieces and one big guy

And these are the only 2 pictures I have with all the rock in the display the first day it went in the tank.

X-37B · Feb 20, 2024

Dbartlett727 said:
I used 80 lbs of base rock(10 pounds nano sized for the sump and 70 lbs mixed base pieces) and 80 lbs of live sand for my 125. It’s 60x24. The sand was just enough to make about an inch layer. And with all the rock in the display it was enough to cover almost all the bottom of the tank to just about a 6” height without stacking them, maybe a bit shorter in some spots. Almost all the pieces I kept in the display are bigger than 6” no matter which way they lay except for the nano sized. Maybe another 10 pounds or so would’ve filled it up nicely. This is all a work in progress while I get ready to bring all the rock and sand from my 65 gallon over to the 125.

This is what I ended up putting in the sump. All the small pieces and one big guy

And these are the only 2 pictures I have with all the rock in the display the first day it went in the tank.

Thanks! That gives me a better idea.