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Unread 05/24/2017, 08:01 PM   #1
lizri
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TBS Live Rock? Experiences?

Has anyone had experience getting their rock from TBS? I'm considering it for my 100g, I like what I've read on their website but was wondering if anyone on here has used their stuff. Reviews? Experiences, with the rock or the company?


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Unread 05/24/2017, 08:02 PM   #2
lizri
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The link to their website if anyone wasn't sure what I meant by TBS.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 06:01 AM   #3
ktownhero
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People that have used it unanimously love it. Check out d2mini's tanks.

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Unread 05/25/2017, 06:09 AM   #4
cincyjim
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I just received a shipment 2 weeks ago. You will not be disappointed. The biodiversity is truly awesome! They are great to work with and the packaging is top notch. I highly recommend them!


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Unread 05/25/2017, 07:04 AM   #5
sde1500
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search the forums here, there are plenty of posts about it, look at their sponsor forum here.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 07:14 AM   #6
smatter
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The live Pukani is the nicest live rock I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot over the last thirty years.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 08:49 AM   #7
DiverDavid
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I established a 180 gallon in February with TBS rock, it has done very well. I have had a few gorilla crabs to get rid of but overall a great experience. Richard is second to none to deal with! You will also find a ton of good hitch hikers, I turned a red light on the tank Monday night and saw no less than 10-12 porcelain crabs. The tank also cycled within a week, NH3 never got above 1 ppm, was around .5 ppm for about 2 weeks.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 09:34 AM   #8
JZinCO
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Lizri, there is a sub forum in the vendor area where you can read up on Richard's posts and others' experiences.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 10:00 AM   #9
TYC
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U'll get amazing rocks w so much life in them and Richard is great to work with, I love the rocks Richard sent me! Wont find these in LFS or online.

Having said that few things to note:
(1) it was a pain having to go to airport freight area for pickup mainly bc I'm in NJ and had to go to Newark airport. It was a nightmare, had to wait very long time. U can choose any airline for freight delivery, I'd select a smaller airline so it's not too busy at their freight terminal. I made the mistake of using United and it was awful.
(2) there are/will be hitchhikers that u have to remove and if u don't have experience doing this like I did, then u're constantly going to have to remove them even months later. I'd even found one gorilla crab a year later!

Overall I'd order again from TBS. You wont get better customer service before or after purchase than from Richard.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 10:27 AM   #10
scooter31707
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The best rock ever. OMG!!


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Unread 05/25/2017, 11:10 AM   #11
Blitzer
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I love mine, only consideration I'd recommend is if you go with The Package, and you should, you may want less rock than recommended for your size tank, of course completely depending on what look you're going for.

The amount of biodiversity and good hitchhikers I have noticed is incredible though, not to mention the benefit of being almost instantly cycled. Loads of pictures in their subforum, check it out!


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Unread 05/25/2017, 03:57 PM   #12
lizri
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I didn't realize they were a sponsor! I'll definitely check out their subforum, though just from the replies on this thread I'll probably end up going with them for this build.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TYC View Post
Having said that few things to note:
(1) it was a pain having to go to airport freight area for pickup mainly bc I'm in NJ and had to go to Newark airport. It was a nightmare, had to wait very long time. U can choose any airline for freight delivery, I'd select a smaller airline so it's not too busy at their freight terminal. I made the mistake of using United and it was awful.
(2) there are/will be hitchhikers that u have to remove and if u don't have experience doing this like I did, then u're constantly going to have to remove them even months later. I'd even found one gorilla crab a year later!
Luckily I live in Raleigh, NC and am only 20 minutes from RDU, so that should be ok. As for hitchhikers, I've got a couple years experience but will definitely brush up on the goods, the bads, and the uglies. Lord knows I haven't seen even close to everything.

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I love mine, only consideration I'd recommend is if you go with The Package, and you should, you may want less rock than recommended for your size tank, of course completely depending on what look you're going for.
That's what I had kind of been thinking, I have a 100 gallon but I definitely don't want the amount of rock that they recommend for that size. I'll probably go with a Package but for a smaller sized tank. That way I can scape the way I want and put the rest in the 'fuge (that's also where, on the off chance I get one, a pistol shrimp could live).

Thanks everyone for your input!


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Unread 05/25/2017, 04:51 PM   #13
jda
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It is pretty solid, IMO. However, I won't use it. It is heavy, dense and does not do as good of a job of denitrification as pacific live rock.

It is mined from a quarry and placed in the ocean for a while to get critters on the outside. Some will live - some that you want and some that you won't. Some will die. The good thing is that since it was in the ocean, the low nutrient environment will nearly guarantee that the rock is phosphate free. After a few years, about all that you will have alive on it is coralline and some sponges, but that will happen regardless of what kind of rock you use.

I like pacific rock better because it was in the ocean the whole time and is more porous and ready for anxoic zones and bacterias. It needs to be cured, which kills all of the nasty stuff. This rock is also phosphate free. It is lighter.

I would use TBS rock with no problem if there was no longer pacific rock. It is still way beyond dead/dry rock.

I wish that they would put the pukani into the ocean for a while. It would be awesome once the organics and phosphates were out of it and it got loaded with life.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 06:50 PM   #14
MarkW64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jda View Post
It is pretty solid, IMO. However, I won't use it. It is heavy, dense and does not do as good of a job of denitrification as pacific live rock.

It is mined from a quarry and placed in the ocean for a while to get critters on the outside. Some will live - some that you want and some that you won't. Some will die. The good thing is that since it was in the ocean, the low nutrient environment will nearly guarantee that the rock is phosphate free. After a few years, about all that you will have alive on it is coralline and some sponges, but that will happen regardless of what kind of rock you use.

I like pacific rock better because it was in the ocean the whole time and is more porous and ready for anxoic zones and bacterias. It needs to be cured, which kills all of the nasty stuff. This rock is also phosphate free. It is lighter.

I would use TBS rock with no problem if there was no longer pacific rock. It is still way beyond dead/dry rock.

I wish that they would put the pukani into the ocean for a while. It would be awesome once the organics and phosphates were out of it and it got loaded with life.
jda, I think your assessment may have been accurate up until about two years ago. However, I don't think Richard is using any quarried rock anymore. I believe for about two years now all rock he puts in the ocean (and most of what he sells) is either Pukani or Walt Smith 2.0 man made rock. The rock I received one year ago was probably 2/3 pukani, the rest was mostly Walt Smith, with just a couple small pieces which might have been older quarried rock.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 07:23 PM   #15
jda
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They man-made rock is not good. It is so thick that it has nearly no denitrifying capability. Folks with real-reef have found this out.

The pacific stuff is interesting.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 07:49 PM   #16
d2mini
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jda View Post
They man-made rock is not good. It is so thick that it has nearly no denitrifying capability. Folks with real-reef have found this out.

The pacific stuff is interesting.
The Walt Smith 2.1 rock works well. I've had several tanks with the original quarried rock and the Walt Smith.
I was registering nitrates within 24 hours of setting up my current TBS tank, and now have problems with nitrates being too low.


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Unread 05/25/2017, 08:59 PM   #17
PirateLove
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I am interested in TBS rock but there is a 100 lb minimum from what someone told me =(


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Unread 05/25/2017, 09:37 PM   #18
sean357
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Love it, set up my new tank over the Xmas/New years holidays with it. The good
- amazing fast shipping leads to rock in much better condition than anything else.
- amazing amount of great hitchhikers, ((and anemones, snails, urchins, etc. he sends you) you'll have no clue where all these guys were hiding. I'm still finding cool stuff to this date
-incredibly fast to no cycle
The bad - you will get some gorilla crabs. Just need to stay vigilant with the skewer. You'll think you got them all then one who was super tiny when it came in will show it's face. Think I may have seen one last night who I need to skewer, but then again also saw a new tiny porcelain crab and a tiny peppermint for the first time


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Unread 05/25/2017, 09:59 PM   #19
Lsufan
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It's not 100 lb minimum of rock that u have to order. U have to pay for a minimum of 100 lbs shipping. Shipping goes by the wieght. So if u order 30 lbs of rock u still have to pay shipping on 100 lbs.

As far as tbs, I have around 150 lbs of it in my 150 that I setup about 1.5 hrs ago. I love the rock & I did have a instant cycle which was nice. Over time a bunch of the tunicates & sponges a have slowly dwindled down to where I only have a few left in a couple shady areas. Im not sure why but the first couple of months I had 100's of porcelain crabs but they all dwindled down to where I have 0 now.

The emerald crabs are all still there. I also had a bunch of baby pistol shrimp that came in the rock but I think the fish ate most of the smaller ones. I'm not sure how many are left but I know the bigger ones are all still alive. There is only one that I see & he is about 2.5" but I know they have a few more in there. I had 12 urchins that came on the rock & they are all still alive. I know I'm forgetting a few but they had a bunch of good hitchikers & most are still in the tank.

I do have a fuge on that system that grows different algea so I'm not sure if it's that or the rock but I have absolutely zero algea in the dt with the tbs. my other tank I started with dry rock & im dealing with hair algea, Dino & cyno at the moment.

If u want a quality live rock straight from the ocean & u don't mind hunting for some pest then I would highly recommend it. If u don't want to have to deal with a few gorilla crabs or maybe a couple other pests then it may not be for u.

Everything I read about it most people only pull out a couple of gorilla crabs. I think I must have been the exception because I pulled out 75 & I still have a few left over 1.5 years later. I also found a Eunice worm on my sandbed a month or so after I set it up. That was the only two pest I had even though it was more gorilla crabs then most get.

As far as cost, around me it would have cost the same amount to buy liverock from the lfs & there isn't a dought in my mind that if I got it from the Lfs I would have been battling algea.


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Unread 05/26/2017, 08:55 AM   #20
lizri
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I definitely don't mind picking out a few crabs in exchange for awesome biodiversity and not having algae problems down the road. Seems like a good trade to me.


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Unread 05/26/2017, 09:46 AM   #21
ErikJup
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After being out and free for about 10 years the hobby pulled me back in. In the last month or so I set up a Redsea 400 with this rock. I must say that it was the greatest purchase I've done in the hobby for a longgg time. I love all the hitchhikers, even Manthis shrimp. Most of the small sponges are slowly withering away, but they will continue to provide color for at least a few more months. The porcelin crabs are awesome, the little sea urchins are growing, the feather dusters are everywhere. My favorite is some kind of decorator crab that has a yellow sponge growing on it's back. Tank cycled in days, don't know what else to say, but I wouldn't do another tank without it. Only complaint is the quantity of rock, its too much.


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Unread 05/26/2017, 09:50 AM   #22
d2mini
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PirateLove View Post
I am interested in TBS rock but there is a 100 lb minimum from what someone told me =(
No minimum. But there is a minimum charge for shipping air freight.


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Unread 05/26/2017, 10:29 AM   #23
smatter
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jda View Post
It is pretty solid, IMO. However, I won't use it. It is heavy, dense and does not do as good of a job of denitrification as pacific live rock.

It is mined from a quarry and placed in the ocean for a while to get critters on the outside. Some will live - some that you want and some that you won't. Some will die. The good thing is that since it was in the ocean, the low nutrient environment will nearly guarantee that the rock is phosphate free. After a few years, about all that you will have alive on it is coralline and some sponges, but that will happen regardless of what kind of rock you use.

I like pacific rock better because it was in the ocean the whole time and is more porous and ready for anxoic zones and bacterias. It needs to be cured, which kills all of the nasty stuff. This rock is also phosphate free. It is lighter.

I would use TBS rock with no problem if there was no longer pacific rock. It is still way beyond dead/dry rock.

I wish that they would put the pukani into the ocean for a while. It would be awesome once the organics and phosphates were out of it and it got loaded with life.
Mine is live Pukani and it's awesome. I didn't care for the Walt Smith stuff for the reasons you stated. It was still much better than any Pacific rock I have seen these days. Today's Pacific rock just doesn't compare to the Pacific rock Walt used to import back in the '90s. That was really nice rock with lots of life that survived the trip from Fiji.


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