How Much Tampa Bay Live Rock For 90G Tank?

[foxt]

Good luck, and post pictures!

 

[User1]

Here is the deal. You can try as hard as you want with regards to dipping, bathing, eye balling, and even quarantining rock, coral, and fish but you "will" end up with pests in your tank. Mother Nature is just one of the things you can try to be smarter than but you will loose in the end. It is all about planning the ecosystem in the end in addition to your husbandry routine. I've done air freight live Fiji rock back in the early 2000 when it was allowed and it was the best rock ever regardless of what came in on it. That was half the fun.

I've also used 150 lbs of Dry Pukani. Boulders so large you could use them for hardscape in the front yard. Moon base Nine stuff I'm talking about. Great rock. Lots of nooks and crannies. Pressure wash, soak in bleach, more pressure wash, more bleach, then rinse and baths in lanthium chloride, more rinsing, more baths in LC, then pressure wash and start a new cycle. Tank cycled in 28 days or less using fishless method with Dr. Tims such that it could process 4 ppm ammonia to 0 in under 24 hours. This was last year March 2018. The rock and tank is only now after 16 or so months that I say it is mature enough to add corals. Coraline algae is taking hold, corals are growing, and what I moved from a 40 breeder into it is finally rebounding from the Pukani's constant leaching of phosphates.

TBS rock is the best there is if you budget for it. Richard is an incredible small business owner. He tells you what the good creatures are just as well as warning you what possible not so good creatures are. Gorilla crabs, pistol shrimp, or mantis. You are getting everything sourced and aged ready to go. Set up the tank, make sure all equipment is ready, place an order, and it is good to go.

One of my regrets is not properly budgeting my build and using TBS rock. I tried but in the end with two in college it just wasn't practical at the end of the day. I will never recommend Pukani or other man mined dry rock. If done properly it is great but the time to maturity (proper maturity) is just not worth it. My opinion and your mileage may vary.

You can catch most of the bad pests by using the upside down bottle trick or Tupperware container. Whichever way you go just wanted to say that TBS or even KP's rock is good stuff. Take it from me who wanted to use it but now regrets it. Best of luck!

Edit: The reason for not QT/Isolating the rock is that it is shipped over night in water. That is what you are paying for. The bacteria and biological filter is there. Why waste it.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Here is the deal. You can try as hard as you want with regards to dipping, bathing, eye balling, and even quarantining rock, coral, and fish but you "will" end up with pests in your tank. Mother Nature is just one of the things you can try to be smarter than but you will loose in the end. It is all about planning the ecosystem in the end in addition to your husbandry routine. I've done air freight live Fiji rock back in the early 2000 when it was allowed and it was the best rock ever regardless of what came in on it. That was half the fun.

I've also used 150 lbs of Dry Pukani. Boulders so large you could use them for hardscape in the front yard. Moon base Nine stuff I'm talking about. Great rock. Lots of nooks and crannies. Pressure wash, soak in bleach, more pressure wash, more bleach, then rinse and baths in lanthium chloride, more rinsing, more baths in LC, then pressure wash and start a new cycle. Tank cycled in 28 days or less using fishless method with Dr. Tims such that it could process 4 ppm ammonia to 0 in under 24 hours. This was last year March 2018. The rock and tank is only now after 16 or so months that I say it is mature enough to add corals. Coraline algae is taking hold, corals are growing, and what I moved from a 40 breeder into it is finally rebounding from the Pukani's constant leaching of phosphates.

TBS rock is the best there is if you budget for it. Richard is an incredible small business owner. He tells you what the good creatures are just as well as warning you what possible not so good creatures are. Gorilla crabs, pistol shrimp, or mantis. You are getting everything sourced and aged ready to go. Set up the tank, make sure all equipment is ready, place an order, and it is good to go.

One of my regrets is not properly budgeting my build and using TBS rock. I tried but in the end with two in college it just wasn't practical at the end of the day. I will never recommend Pukani or other man mined dry rock. If done properly it is great but the time to maturity (proper maturity) is just not worth it. My opinion and your mileage may vary.

You can catch most of the bad pests by using the upside down bottle trick or Tupperware container. Whichever way you go just wanted to say that TBS or even KP's rock is good stuff. Take it from me who wanted to use it but now regrets it. Best of luck!

Edit: The reason for not QT/Isolating the rock is that it is shipped over night in water. That is what you are paying for. The bacteria and biological filter is there. Why waste it.

saf1 thanks for the vote of confidence and your encouraging words. I actually used Fiji rock back in the day as well. dang that was expensive But I think ultimately that's why I ended up doing it this way. In my heart of hearts I knew it was right. I'll just deal with whatever comes along! Thanks once again.

 

[User1]

saf1 thanks for the vote of confidence and your encouraging words. I actually used Fiji rock back in the day as well. dang that was expensive But I think ultimately that's why I ended up doing it this way. In my heart of hearts I knew it was right. I'll just deal with whatever comes along! Thanks once again.

By the way I forgot to mention I really dig your name

Just watched that silly Scooby Doo movie they made a few years back. Makes me giggle every time.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

A long story behind the name. Maybe I'll start a thread in the Lobby

 

[NormanB]

Rock come in yet?

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Rock come in yet?

No I don’t need it yet. I call them. Probably another week.

 

[TTNuge]

No I don’t need it yet. I call them. Probably another week.

Call them in advance, sometimes it takes a bit until they get good weather and can dive. They are also great when it comes to trying to get pieces of rock in the sizes/shapes you would like when possible.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Call them in advance, sometimes it takes a bit until they get good weather and can dive. They are also great when it comes to trying to get pieces of rock in the sizes/shapes you would like when possible.

I think they already picked it for me, I asked them to quarantine it for me for a bit. At least I think that’s how the convo went

 

[boostedbeast]

I highly recommend dry rock. I started with gulf live rock and im in process of replacing with dry rock due to all the unwanted guest that came with it. biggest regret of my initial setup.

 

[liverock]

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)

What a cool video of a really under appreciated fish...I can't tell you how many times I had one latch onto my fingers while I am collecting rock. Is a bit startling, as usually viability is really low on my aquaculture site...but they have a heck of a bite....fast....and let go....but they defiantly have powerful jaws.no teeth issues but strong.......like a great white....snap and go LOL....

Richard TBS

 

[lmm1967]

Thanks Richard - I think we're going on 3 years now with him. He is one of our favorites for sure.

So far I've avoided him getting hold of my fingers - he certainly does try during feeding time.

I'll say his eyesight is downright horrible - I'm sure they think your hand is food, snap at it, realize it's not food, then they let go and dart back into their hiding spot.

 

[Dan Ugas]

I think they already picked it for me, I asked them to quarantine it for me for a bit. At least I think that’s how the convo went

Hey Shaggy, I imagine that you probably got your rock by now. If so, please post some pictures and let us know what interesting stuff you got with the shipment. I just started a 100G tank with TBS and would do it again for the next setup in a heart bit. The amount of life on those rocks is truly amazing. I did what some other folks suggested and submerged the rock in another bucket to check for hitchhikers. I was able to find three gorilla crabs that I threw into the sump, a brittle star, a mantis (dead actually) lots of cup corals, three turkey wing clams, three small feather dusters, several snails, even a tiny cucumber!. The water cleared up in a matter of two hours. My tank cycled in 8 days and I’m now in the process to schedule shipment of part 2. Once you get home with the boxes It’s almost like opening Xmas presents!. Several friends of mine here who started setups with dry rock they all run into dyno. TBS rock and LS is well worth IMO, thanks Richard!. If I happen to find an unexpected (maybe undesired) hitchhiker, it’ll be just a matter have some patience to catch it, there is no fish or coral in the tank yet anyways. Is well known that patience is a key word in this hobby. Sorry I don’t have too many pictures of the tank/rock/creatures in this phone, and quality is not the best, but I’m attaching some pictures.
(By the way, i’ve already got rid of the water marks inside the tank though, you’ll notice them, much cleaner now)

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Hi Dan, take a look at my build thread. Everything is being documented in there including the rock!

 

[lmm1967]

Is well known that patience is a key word in this hobby

Excellent point to be taken here..... Wait for boring plain rock to cycle then try for 6 months to fight the "uglies" and get bacteria, pods etc all in balance?

Or wait to catch undesirables from rock and sand that is teaming with life, fully populated with most everything your tank will ever need?

The latter is much more enjoyable in my mind than starting at a plain boring tank and fighting dinos, cyano and who knows what else for several months.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

Excellent point to be taken here..... Wait for boring plain rock to cycle then try for 6 months to fight the "uglies" and get bacteria, pods etc all in balance?

Or wait to catch undesirables from rock and sand that is teaming with life, fully populated with most everything your tank will ever need?

The latter is much more enjoyable in my mind than starting at a plain boring tank and fighting dinos, cyano and who knows what else for several months.

I’m down to 2 Gorilla crabs left. Although maybe 1. I decapitated one last night while trying to get it (not on purpose before PETA comes knocking ) It has no front pincers now. So I am hoping that’s the last of him. Not sure how long they take to grow back!

 

[lmm1967]

I had my 2 large ones that got to the point where I could literally just reach in and grab them - I fed them directly with tongs and little pieces of shrimp / mussels etc. It was probably a couple months - but they would have been very easy to snatch out of the tank had I needed to do so.

They are not as simple and dumb as we expect - they were to the point that they would actually come out and sit out in the open if I was hovering around the tank.

All that ended once they got large enough that the toad fish saw them as a potential meal.