New tank startup

bristleworm · Monday at 5:56 PM

Hold my beer!

overhead · Monday at 6:04 PM

bristleworm said:
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 · Monday at 6:13 PM

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

Did one have better hitchikers than the other?

overhead · Monday at 6:22 PM

bristleworm said:
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 · Monday at 6:24 PM

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 · Monday at 6:26 PM

overhead said:
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 · 2026-09-02T18:17:12-0400

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 · 2026-09-02T18:28:21-0400

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 · 2026-09-02T19:02:23-0400

bristleworm said:
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 · 2026-09-02T19:07:35-0400

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

Gulf Live Rock · 2026-09-02T19:35:59-0400

bristleworm said:
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 · 2026-09-02T22:33:09-0400

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 · 2026-09-02T23:24:45-0400

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

Gulf Live Rock · 2026-09-03T10:41:59-0400

Testing your water will give you the answer. I'm sure you could add inverts a lot sooner, but I like to wait two weeks to play it safe.

bristleworm · 2026-09-03T12:03:21-0400

Gulf Live Rock said:
Testing your water will give you the answer. I'm sure you could add inverts a lot sooner, but I like to wait two weeks to play it safe.

Lights on or off?

overhead · 2026-09-03T19:34:10-0400

bristleworm said:
Lights on or off?

Not a binary question with an on or off answer, IM very limited experience. Too much light too soon will lead to all kinds of things growing that you do not want. No light at all will lead to all kinds of things growing later that you do not want. My mistake with my first tank was way too much light way too soon. My second tank I kept the lights at very low levels for more than a month. The tank I just set up I am following the Serious Reef suggestions for intensity levels. Again, I have limited experience, but I can say the tanks with less light or lower intensity light to start were/are much easier to deal with than the tank that I blasted with light from the beginning of the second week on. All of them have been manageable so far, but the tank I blasted with light way too early has required the most active management, meaning more of my time.