Tampa Bay Saltwater is Rocking and Rolling

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LiverockRocks

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When will we be able to order tock from TBS again? Thanks
Hey Jrain904,
Late summer, early fall we will be shipping.
Will post here and open the new web site when we are ready to ship.
Diving the site almost daily, weather permitting of course, and it's looking great!
 

LiverockRocks

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Quick update on TBS:
  • We have been stocking up on shipping supplies.
  • Only 2 pallets of Walt Smith branch left to plant. All the rest is in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The workboat engines received some TLC. Then the boat trailer decided 3,000lbs + of added weight each trip was not going to happen ever again, new trailer arrives this week.
  • The BRS RODI is dialed in.
  • "Big Ben" our 800 gal Dura Cast vertical tank is full and insulated!
  • Live rock holding system is running well; but like all reefers, we want more flow... just a tiny weekend project.
  • The warehouse gets awfully warm in the summer. So, with all the empty pallets, decided to make what we call the "Ice House" inside the warehouse. Oh yeah, it not only looks cool, but is cool inside!
  • First phase of Orphek lights installed.
  • Did we mention added another AC unit and dehumidifier?
  • Finally, the red tide has moved, so we can begin diving again.
  • and yes, the godfather of ocean aquacultured live rock, Richard Londeree, is often in the house!
Stay safe everyone and Rock-On!
 

sfin52

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Quick update on TBS:
  • We have been stocking up on shipping supplies.
  • Only 2 pallets of Walt Smith branch left to plant. All the rest is in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The workboat engines received some TLC. Then the boat trailer decided 3,000lbs + of added weight each trip was not going to happen ever again, new trailer arrives this week.
  • The BRS RODI is dialed in.
  • "Big Ben" our 800 gal Dura Cast vertical tank is full and insulated!
  • Live rock holding system is running well; but like all reefers, we want more flow... just a tiny weekend project.
  • The warehouse gets awfully warm in the summer. So, with all the empty pallets, decided to make what we call the "Ice House" inside the warehouse. Oh yeah, it not only looks cool, but is cool inside!
  • First phase of Orphek lights installed.
  • Did we mention added another AC unit and dehumidifier?
  • Finally, the red tide has moved, so we can begin diving again.
  • and yes, the godfather of ocean aquacultured live rock, Richard Londeree, is often in the house!
Stay safe everyone and Rock-On!
Pics or it never happened
 

LiverockRocks

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We decided to create a temperature controlled room (called the Ice House) within the warehouse to store the freshly harvested aquacultured live rock.

BAB11912-916A-437F-A994-565782929F07.jpeg
018CEF1A-E6C7-48F5-9AC9-5D4CE9B740F5.jpeg
clad with recycled Fijian pallets,
DA49C755-ACF4-43DF-9E24-893A1D2C8451.jpeg
project required a couple tools (and more), BBA72402-6390-4606-AF84-C4999B28EBA3.jpeg
Lots of insulation,
77B45AF0-CE55-4C91-8B77-B070CB744A05.jpeg Cooling down nicely.
 

liverock

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Could not be happier and more impressed with what the Lyons family have done after buying my business...and preparing to once again offer the best live rock on the planet. They have done an amazing job building a new facility, and equipping it like I could never had imagined. Is imperative to have a climate controlled facility to store live rock...and they have done 1000% in that category. This is going to be epic for the live rock business and providing the best rock on the planet. Get ready folks for real and the best live rock on the planet...coming soon!

Richard <the old guy from TBS>
 

LiverockRocks

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Could not be happier and more impressed with what the Lyons family have done after buying my business...and preparing to once again offer the best live rock on the planet. They have done an amazing job building a new facility, and equipping it like I could never had imagined. Is imperative to have a climate controlled facility to store live rock...and they have done 1000% in that category. This is going to be epic for the live rock business and providing the best rock on the planet. Get ready folks for real and the best live rock on the planet...coming soon!

Richard <the old guy from TBS>
@liverock
Picked up the new boat trailer made by Magic Tilt custom trailers in Clearwater. This baby will handle 12,000lbs ++ and we couldn't be more happy!
Harvest season is fast approaching! :cool:

IMG_0532.jpg
 

LiverockRocks

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An overdue update on TBS goings on:

With the icehouse completed and holding system running; we realized the "old maid" drain lines were not adequate for the desired amount of flow. Ugh.

As well, we needed to add more cement block for complete support of the old maid bases. Double Ugh.

IMG_0426.jpg
Spent a long weekend draining tubs, re-plumbing drain lines and adding cement blocks under all the old maids.

IMG_0442.JPG
It took multiple boat trips to fill the 4k system with nsw.

IMG_0493.jpg
With all the plumbing that happened, there were no leaks!
The system is running with max flow and completely supported.

Next was filling them with live sand and aquacultured live rock.
IMG_0956.JPG IMG_1181.jpg IMG_0910.jpg
TBS is finally rolling out the inventory to locals and the first cargo shipments are going this week.

It has been A LOT of hard work!

But the experiences diving the site, seeing the variety of life on our live rock, and delivering a natural, aquacultured product to reef enthusiasts.. makes it all worth it.

IMG_0089.jpg
 
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siggy

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Looking good, do you supplement the holding system?
 

TnFishwater98

Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
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Walt Smith sent a couple crates of branch rock for us to try.

20210617_152037.JPG

A few more months soak and will be good to go.

IMG_0831.jpg

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Richard's bucket. @liverock
Needs more than a few months to soak before you sell it right. A few years is what I would assume. How long do you let the new TBS rock sit before you send yo customers?
 

LiverockRocks

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Looking good, do you supplement the holding system?
Thank you.
The holding system is supplemented weekly with NSW and inventory moves out quickly.
 

LiverockRocks

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Needs more than a few months to soak before you sell it right. A few years is what I would assume. How long do you let the new TBS rock sit before you send yo customers?
We are currently harvesting vintage TBS rock (which is years old) while the first container of Walt Smith finishes maturing.

Here's a photo of a Walt Smith arch that was planted in September. You can see coralline starting, lots of bivalves adhering, and some macro attached. It needs more time to gather sponges, corals, coralline, etc.

IMG_1417.JPG


There is plenty of vintage inventory on the site and once the new WS is mature, we will be using both the vintage and new.

IMG_1925.jpg


Here is a photo of a vintage rock harvested 4 days ago.
 

areefer01

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9 dollars a pound! I will pass on this.
Screenshot_20211210-082301_Samsung Internet.jpg

Every marine hobbyist, or any other hobby for that matter, should have a budget. If not that is how things run outside project time lines or mistakes happen or threads started with help needed for issues. Understand that while you can start with base rock you can't bypass Mother Nature and time. Dry rock will take a long time to reach maturity. And maturity does not mean completing the cycle or getting past the ugly phase. It means getting the microboes and microbial community in the display to a healthy population and it doesn't happen over night.

As the images above you can see a difference between two time frames. This is no different than out displays. As a hobbyist who used 170 LBS of dry Pukani and 3 1/2 years post cycle I can say without a doubt it takes a long time to mature. Microbiome and tank dna tests help guide and will probably be the new norm rather than is our tank cycled...if one wants to be successful. We see it often - patience is the word.

$9.00 is nothing in our displays big picture comparatively speaking. Look at lights, coral frags, skimmers, and other rock prices. Besides you don't have to do the whole display as mixing and matching also works.

TBS is a great choice and worth the budget consideration.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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