New tank startup

[bristleworm]

Hold my beer!

 

[overhead]

Poking around this site, Gulf Live Rock offers 4lbs of sand with cheaper shipping.
Any reason to not go this route?

I purchased from both, no complaints with either Gulf LIve Rock or Tampa Bay.

 

[bristleworm]

I purchased from both, no complaints with either Gulf LIve Rock or Tampa Bay.

Did one have better hitchikers than the other?

 

[overhead]

Did one have better hitchikers than the other?

I ordered 14 pounds from Tampa Bay and a total of 8 pounds from GLR. Probably a luck of the draw thing as far as hitchhikers go, they both had cerith snails, Tampa Bay had two olive snails. I was sort of surprised anything lived, it was very hot here when I ordered both and they rode around in a truck for a while.

Edit: Should note, I am talking about sand only. I did not order rock from either.

 

[bristleworm]

Saltwater scaping is nerve racking. On the freshwater side, if you didn't like it, it's pretty easy to tear it out and start over.
Now I'm worried if I do a scape lilke this TBS rock won't fit in. I guess I could always go with sand and rubble from them.
I've got the new tank yipes!

 

[bristleworm]

I ordered 14 pounds from Tampa Bay and a total of 8 pounds from GLR. Probably a luck of the draw thing as far as hitchhikers go, they both had cerith snails, Tampa Bay had two olive snails. I was sort of surprised anything lived, it was very hot here when I ordered both and they rode around in a truck for a while.

Edit: Should note, I am talking about sand only. I did not order rock from either.

Waiting to hear from TBS if the Sept. 23 shipping date was an actual date. They said on another forum they are redoing the website and that's just kind of a place holder date, so I gotta make sure as I'm not 100% ready for it yet.

 

[Gulf Live Rock]

We can get sand in your tank tomorrow if you wanted. Our site is like 6 miles away from theirs. Its hilarious you got people saying there sand is better than ours. LOL

 

[bristleworm]

Ya, the only reason I was thinking TBS is overnight shipping. But I've since changed my mind. GULF has better options for my situation and I think I'll do the cheaper UPS shipping with Gulf. That way I can spend money on product and not shipping.

 

[Gulf Live Rock]

Ya, the only reason I was thinking TBS is overnight shipping. But I've since changed my mind. GULF has better options for my situation and I think I'll do the cheaper UPS shipping with Gulf. That way I can spend money on product and not shipping.

I do offer overnight to your door and air cargo options on orders over 15 lbs. It doesn't make business sense to offer overnight shipping on the 1 lb options at this time. Sometimes the shipping company cant make it there overnight and they deliver the next morning and the customer gets upset because they paid 3 times more for the shipping than the product and they expect me to cover it. In this situation Id be in the hole big time.

 

[bristleworm]

Is a 3 day trip to MN ok for this stuff?

 

[Gulf Live Rock]

Is a 3 day trip to MN ok for this stuff?

Absolutely. Been shipping this way for 24 years now. I'm sure there are a bunch of people on here that could testify. Thanks

 

[Rconner15]

I'm using the Serious Reefs 90/10 method to start up a new 180 gallon tank. Using 140 lbs of ocean direct sand and 40 lbs of TBS sand. Per the 90/10 method, I'll let that sit for 2 weeks before adding fish.

I've been trying to decide how many fish to add at once in the first wave. Seems like adding 2 clowns to a 180 gallon tank is barely going to make a difference in regards to ammonia levels in that big of a tank. It's a tank upgrade, so I have as many as (7) fish I could add at once. I currently have (2) clowns, (1) assessor basslet, (1) royal gramma, (1) pajama cardinal, (1) randall's goby, and (1) fox face. I'm tempted to just add them all at once. Or is that way to much??

 

[bristleworm]

How long should I wait after adding sand and rock before putting in a clean up crew?