Tampa Bay Saltwater Revival

[BiGGiePauls33]

Story of new owners on Reef Builders

Tampa Bay Saltwater’s New Owners Will Breathe Life into Live Rock Farm | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Tampa Bay Saltwater is a name that has become synonymous with Caribbean live rock, having pioneered the concept of turning dry rock into life-encrusted pieces of the reef. TBS has been on the quiet…

reefbuilders.com

 

[chadfish]

Man made rock? How the hell does one make rock? I’m not knocking it, I’m just wondering how that’s possible. It it concrete?

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

This is what was around when I was getting in the hobby. Besides all that rock that is from CaribSea etc is man made rock.
Have a look through this website:

GARF.ORG - The reef aquarium place

We teach coral farming online so that we can help save the coral reefs from over collection. Learn to grow coral. As people see reef aquariums they will become interested in saving the coral reefs

www.garf.org

 

[kgstei]

I still have rock I made back in the 90's for my first saltwater tank. I used cement and oyster shells.

 

[Reefer508]

I still have rock I made back in the 90's for my first saltwater tank. I used cement and oyster shells.

Lol, I did the same back then and still have 1 piece

 

[Greg Hiller]

Not sure if anything has changed, but TBS never used concrete for rock. They took a bunch of calcium carbonate based fossilized reef rock from a quarry I think in the Caribbean and loaded it onto a giant barge and dumped it in the ocean off Tampa Bay where they had leased an area from the government. In just a few short years the rock was covered in critters and corals, and as live as any rock you could get. I tagged along one day with one of the owners (I presume the previous owners) on his boat. We did not go to the live rock site on that day, but went "critter collecting". Good fun it was!

One of the issues with rock from these guys is it was so loaded with life that you almost invariably ended up with a mantis shrimp or two that would have to be removed before you could add any fish to that tank that you didn't want as a snack for the mantis.

 

[Greg Hiller]

Oops, I see from the article link that for some time they were using man made rock. Kinda too bad since making cement itself creates CO2. Be better I think if they found more sites to just dig it up.

 

[Deafasa]

This is what was around when I was getting in the hobby. Besides all that rock that is from CaribSea etc is man made rock.
Have a look through this website:

GARF.ORG - The reef aquarium place

We teach coral farming online so that we can help save the coral reefs from over collection. Learn to grow coral. As people see reef aquariums they will become interested in saving the coral reefs

www.garf.org

Garf. Wow, I remember looking at that site when I first started my tank. That brings back memories.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Sally Jo just gave a talk at Mini Macna on February 27th. It was good seeing she's still grinding bulletproof reefs.

 

[vinny]

Not sure if anything has changed, but TBS never used concrete for rock. They took a bunch of calcium carbonate based fossilized reef rock from a quarry I think in the Caribbean and loaded it onto a giant barge and dumped it in the ocean off Tampa Bay where they had leased an area from the government. In just a few short years the rock was covered in critters and corals, and as live as any rock you could get. I tagged along one day with one of the owners (I presume the previous owners) on his boat. We did not go to the live rock site on that day, but went "critter collecting". Good fun it was!

One of the issues with rock from these guys is it was so loaded with life that you almost invariably ended up with a mantis shrimp or two that would have to be removed before you could add any fish to that tank that you didn't want as a snack for the mantis.

Ahh the good ol days!