Gulf Live Rock VS TBS

[56longroof]

I got my sand from TBS and live rock and clean up crew from KP Aquatics. Im extremely happy with both.

 

[TatorTaco]

I have a 9 gallon nano with 10 gallon package:
10 lbs of base live rock (most of the base was premium)
10 lbs of premium live rock
10lbs of live sand
2 tiger gobies (free)
3 astrea snails
7 blue leg hermits
2 orange leg hermits

I elected to ship cargo because I saved a lot of money. Packaging was phenomenal!

So 20lbs of rock?

 

[New Hampshire Reefin]

So 20lbs of rock?

Yes. It is on the denser side but my tank is pretty full.

 

[CD_Scapes]

I got a package from TBS and I love it! This is winter growth rock and you can barely tell! Just take a look at all the life!

All of this rock is in a Fluval spec III, can’t beat the diversity. Getting a Fluval evo 13.5 and I’ll be getting a bucket of 10lbs sand and 10lbs premium rock so I’m hyped to see what shows up.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Glad for your good results.

I have had many shipments of diver collected live rock that have totaled several thousand pounds. If you think that shipped in water is guaranteed safety of live stock, then you will be in for a bad reality check when your shipment is totally ruined due to pollution spreading from die off of rock inhabitants submerged in water.

I am not sure which company you are referencing here other than us.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

In our opinion all Florida Live Rock farmers Rock; whether it's KP, GLR or TBS.

We are all small, family businesses offering a very unique product and we compete not only against large, dry rock companies but LFS cooked or recycled rock. We, speaking for TBS, would much rather see hobbyist purchase from our fellow Florida farmer than another source. If we are out of stock and a potential customer wants rock shipped submerged we refer them to KP, if someone wants rock shipped damp, we refer to GLR. Both Philipp and Dan are very nice guys.

Ocean farming live rock is not as simple as a boat ride and a lovely dive. It is actually quite dangerous, very challenging and a TON of sheer hard work. Thank you for supporting us all.

 

[New Hampshire Reefin]

In our opinion all Florida Live Rock farmers Rock; whether it's KP, GLR or TBS.

We are all small, family businesses offering a very unique product and we compete not only against large, dry rock companies but LFS cooked or recycled rock. We, speaking for TBS, would much rather see hobbyist purchase from our fellow Florida farmer than another source. If we are out of stock and a potential customer wants rock shipped submerged we refer them to KP, if someone wants rock shipped damp, we refer to GLR. Both Philipp and Dan are very nice guys.

Ocean farming live rock is not as simple as a boat ride and a lovely dive. It is actually quite dangerous, very challenging and a TON of sheer hard work. Thank you for supporting us all.

I am very thankful for TBS! We need more companies like this to keep the hobby going! I have heard good things about all three of these companies!

 

[Gulf Live Rock]

Glad for your good results.

I have had many shipments of diver collected live rock that have totaled several thousand pounds. If you think that shipped in water is guaranteed safety of live stock, then you will be in for a bad reality check when your shipment is totally ruined due to pollution spreading from die off of rock inhabitants submerged in water.

Exactly!! Iv been saying this for years. When you ship in water you get ammonia rich rock soup. If you have a dead spot or a dead clam, sponge, crab, ect it then kills all the hitchhikers and could cause more die off on all of the rock instead of just in that one spot. Not to mention if it leaks your order gets thrown away by the shipping company. Much higher loss shipment rate when shipped submerged in water. Its like a big water ballon waiting to pop. Think about low tide. The rock and critters can be out of water for some time without dying as long as they don't dry out. Over the last 20 years I've done a lot of test and I choose moist shipping for several reasons. If I thought shipping submerged in water was better I would do it.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

I’ve ordered from Gulf Live Rock several times and have always been very satisfied.

 

[Gulf Live Rock]

In our opinion all Florida Live Rock farmers Rock; whether it's KP, GLR or TBS.

We are all small, family businesses offering a very unique product and we compete not only against large, dry rock companies but LFS cooked or recycled rock. We, speaking for TBS, would much rather see hobbyist purchase from our fellow Florida farmer than another source. If we are out of stock and a potential customer wants rock shipped submerged we refer them to KP, if someone wants rock shipped damp, we refer to GLR. Both Philipp and Dan are very nice guys.

Ocean farming live rock is not as simple as a boat ride and a lovely dive. It is actually quite dangerous, very challenging and a TON of sheer hard work. Thank you for supporting us all.

Thanks for the kind words. I do the same. Rock on!!

 

[TX_REEF]

Any reason to choose one over the other? Will a seed amount be worth the cost?

haven't tried gulf rock but I can't say enough good things about TBS @LiverockRocks . I highly recommend ordering a Treasure Chest!

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Exactly!! Iv been saying this for years. When you ship in water you get ammonia rich rock soup. If you have a dead spot or a dead clam, sponge, crab, ect it then kills all the hitchhikers and could cause more die off on all of the rock instead of just in that one spot. Not to mention if it leaks your order gets thrown away by the shipping company. Much higher loss shipment rate when shipped submerged in water. Its like a big water ballon waiting to pop. Think about low tide. The rock and critters can be out of water for some time without dying as long as they don't dry out. Over the last 20 years I've done a lot of test and I choose moist shipping for several reasons. If I thought shipping submerged in water was better I would do it.

This is where our companies differ.

Our experience and opinions on shipping rock are the opposite. Instead of arguing, which will not change either of our opinions, let's honor the fact that we are different. Consider it a customer win. Want your rock shipped damp order from GLR. Want your rock shipped in water, order from us.

Rock on.
@liverock

 

[corosato]

We thank both of you for providing this service!

 

[Gulf Live Rock]

This is where our companies differ.

Our experience and opinions on shipping rock are the opposite. Instead of arguing, which will not change either of our opinions, let's honor the fact that we are different. Consider it a customer win. Want your rock shipped damp order from GLR. Want your rock shipped in water, order from us.

Rock on.
@liverock

My intent was not to argue but to inform and explain my opinion on the subject and the reasons why I feel that way. I get this question about shipping in water several times every week. I feel that the uninformed or unexperienced reefer may feel that you have to ship in water to get good results. This is not the case. I lose a lot of orders because of this preconceived notion that you must ship the live rock in water. I have shipped thousands of orders moist with 100% success rate. Most of them shipped 2-3 day shipping because I just started overnight shipping to your door a couple years ago. One obvious thing that I left out is the cost involved. Overnight shipping to your door is VERY expensive and they charge by the pound. Consider that 1 gallon of sea water weighs about 9 pounds. Each additional pound of shipping weight cost around $4 or $5. All that being said If a customer wants there order shipped in extra water I will do it on air cargo orders only by special request.

 

[TatorTaco]

I want to thank everyone for contributing to a thoughtful discussion. This is an interesting topic, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn how companies can take different approaches while still achieving success.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

Uh oh…rock fight!

I would say that I have enough scientific qualification and enough experience with marine fauna/flora to weigh in on this…

Both are right, neither are wrong, for reasons that vary. When it’s all said and done, whether shipped damp or submerged, the overwhelming majority of life on and in the rocks will survive and reestablish nicely. I’ve gotten it both ways, and have been pleased with both ways.

My biggest concern with damp shipping was always sponge mortality. In my experience, the majority of sponges on damp-shipped rock survived. If we really dug into % mortality across all phyla and did damp v submerged, I would expect to see a higher percentage in damp. That said, the % mortality across all phyla for damp would be nowhere near 100%, and if that’s the case, it’s a reasonable expectation that all of those populations would rebound once in the aquarium (provided they received adequate nutrition).

tl;dr- both companies are great and have great product.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

Also, if anybody is interested, here is a link to a classroom reef aquarium project where I take an ecological approach and show how using maricultured live rock can be the key to such a system can succeed (if you allow for flexible enough definition of ‘succeed’):

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...rything-i-did’-180g-mixed-reef.1027719/page-6

 

[skiergd011013]

I will be ordering some live rock in the next few days, with emphasis on coralline coverage. Which one of these FL companies tends to have the highest coverage of coralline?

 

[Prowler66gt]

I can't thank everyone enough for your feedback (esp the vendors themselves). I see no risk or wrong decision here which is comforting.

 

[New Hampshire Reefin]

I can only speak for TBS. I haven’t ordered from the other vendors but I have heard good things.
Things I loved about my TBS experience:
1. Their service was excellent. They answered my questions promptly and were very detailed on their process.
2. The quality of live rock, sand, inverts, and fish were amazing. I have so much life in my tank. The rocks were covered in coralline algae, sponges , corals, and other living organisms.
3. My tank did not go through an ugly stage. I had my two tiger gobies and all my inverts from day one. I never had an ammonia spike. My tank is fully cycled.

I have only heard good things about TBS and I will never hesitate to order through them again. To me it’s a premium product that is worth the cost. The pros far outweigh the cons.