How Much Tampa Bay Live Rock For 90G Tank?

[lmm1967]

The only hitch hikers I truly despised with TBS Rock was all the whelk snails.

The pistols are very small, the crabs I had almost trained to come to food with tongs. I did not get any mantis.

I did get an oyster Toadfish which I still have in a dedicated 120 gallon tank. He is roughly 10” long and growing and will end up in a larger tank when it’s the right tome.

As far as how much. Call Richard and tell him what you want to achieve and he will get you all set.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Well my choices are don’t do it because I have no means of quarantine. Or go all Caribsea and just wait longer. I really don’t know what to do here . I’m stumped!!

 

[TTNuge]

Since it ships in boxes of 25#s I would get 100# to start.

Honestly I would go with the Tampa Bay rock and deal with the pests. I don't have scientific proof but I honestly believe the benefits of true live rock far out weigh the pests in a long term tank. I know people are successful with nothing but dry rock and bacteria but there are also plenty of stories of tanks that just seem to struggle for years as well. I just don't think the biodiversity is there when your bacteria comes from a bottle. My personal unsubstantiated opinion.

 

[lmm1967]

Well my choices are don’t do it because I have no means of quarantine. Or go all Caribsea and just wait longer. I really don’t know what to do here . I’m stumped!!

I don’t like the caribsea. I added 60 pounds to an 18 month old tank and fought bacterial blooms for the next 3 months. The rock was added to 60 pounds of mature rock and was added over a 2 week period of time.

If not going tbs I would go with completely dead dry rock and seed with a few pounds of mature sand from a pest free tank and 10+ pounds of rock from a mature and pest free tank.

 

[melanotaenia]

Well my choices are don’t do it because I have no means of quarantine. Or go all Caribsea and just wait longer. I really don’t know what to do here . I’m stumped!!

To quarantine all you need is a trash can and a powerhead/circulation pump and a heater. It is worth doing to clean stuff that does not survive the trip from FL.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I just deal with hitchhikers as they come, IMO the benefits of the rock far outweigh the negatives..

set up your system and lay the rock out across bare bottom tank (do not stack) and let it cycle and stabilize (up to several months). During this time look for any pest, rotating rock and blowing it off with a power head or turkey baster before water changes.

I use minimal or no light during this period and remove any macro algae that pops up..

If you have something in a particular rock that you can’t catch remove that rock and try pouring a little club soda in the hole where you suspect it’s hiding, this will sometimes drive it out or try sitting the rock in a container with about a inch of water in the bottom, hitchhikers will typically migrate from rock and make their way to the water in bottom of container.. you can also just temporarily place the rock in your sump until you can deal with the pest.

After I’m confident most of the pest have been removed I will add sand to my tank and stack/aquascape the rock.

Good skimming and mechanical filtration is a must while cycle/curing in the tank.

 

[foxt]

I never have been too concerned with pests. I just deal with them as and when.

In this case, stick with that approach. This is a new setup, right? Get at least part of the rock from TBS, set it up, and then wait and see what happens. What do you plan on adding after the tank with the rock has settled in and is ready for inhabitants?

 

[ShaggyRS6]

It will be SPS mainly. The inhabitants will be built around maintaining a reef. I will also have , at some point an anemone.

 

[foxt]

Some of the potential hitch hikers on TBS rock may be more of a danger to fish than SPS. What kind of fish will you have?

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Clowns, Goby, wrasse, tang, maybe an angel and some thing to control pests undecided on what. Probably some chromis or anthias for schooling

 

[piranhaman00]

I would also recommend putting the live rock into aquarium without QT. Deal with any potential bad hitchhikers but reap the benefits of the guaranteed positive hitchhikers.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Ok decision made. I am just going to go
With the live rock and then get some Caribsea shelf to build any structures. I’ll take a chance , and at least I can share my experience from a fresh start perspective . I will not be quarantining it. Thanks for everyone’s input!!

 

[lmm1967]

Below is a video of me feeding the toadfish that came to us as a hitch-hiker on TBS rock FYI. And most of the rock you see in that video is TBS rock that was about 18 months old (in our tank obviously)

 

[foxt]

Ok decision made. I am just going to go
With the live rock and then get some Caribsea shelf to build any structures. I’ll take a chance , and at least I can share my experience from a fresh start perspective . I will not be quarantining it. Thanks for everyone’s input!!

I think it will work out for you. One thing to do when the rock arrives - take each piece, keep it submerged in a clear container for a little while, and wait and see if you can spy any obvious bad hitch hikers and grab them before you put the rock in the tank. I caught a bunch of gorilla crabs that way, and found a rock that had a mantis shrimp but he resisted arrest so I kept him and his rock in a small tank until I was able to grab him.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

I think it will work out for you. One thing to do when the rock arrives - take each piece, keep it submerged in a clear container for a little while, and wait and see if you can spy any obvious bad hitch hikers and grab them before you put the rock in the tank. I caught a bunch of gorilla crabs that way, and found a rock that had a mantis shrimp but he resisted arrest so I kept him and his rock in a small tank until I was able to grab him.

Excellent advice! Thank you!

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Ordered the package, 100lbs minus the sand. So the clean up crew be sent when I need it!

 

[siggy]

Congratz on getting Real Live rock! I notcied no one mentioned other means of bio-export. I removed 65% of my LR due to Zero nutrients. That left about 35 lbs or three large pieces, Soccer ball sized. Marine pure or other similar media is very effective, refugiums also.
please post a few pics here when you get it.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Congratz on getting Real Live rock! I notcied no one mentioned other means of bio-export. I removed 65% of my LR due to Zero nutrients. That left about 35 lbs or three large pieces, Soccer ball sized. Marine pure or other similar media is very effective, refugiums also.
please post a few pics here when you get it.

I will do sir.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Thanks to everyone and I mean this for contributing on this thread. I listened to everything you all said and considered everything. If I could mass nominate you all for a Helpfulness award I would.

I think at the end of the day for me it was about risk acceptance, I do think starting from scratch made the decision a little easier for me.

Thank you all very much !

 

[NPD_289]

I would be going the Florida live rock route, same as you, but got an awesome deal on a clean, pukani aquasquape from a member here.