New to hobby - TBS is the best choice

[CR8]

Hi Everyone!

I grew up with saltwater tanks and recently decided I wanted to start one of my own. Lucked out on a deal for a 24G Nano Cube and started researching next steps. I came across Tampa Bay Saltwater and after reading wayyy too many reviews I decided Richard and TBS was the best route and purchased the Package. I must say as a newbie this process has been so great! After reading a lot about the hobby I was intimidated with the work and frustrations it seemed many have had but I would say buying the package has made this an exciting and seamless set up!

I was blown away by the 1st shipment of just the LR, but when he sent the 2nd shipment I couldn't believe it! If you take the time to read all the reviews, everyone says this and I figured OK I have a good idea of the great service Richard and the TBS crew provides, can't really surprise me much more. But nope, was still surprised when I opened it up to not only find the rest of my LR and clean up crew, but a beautiful Candelabra Gorgonian (i think), three flower anemones, some sea mat, and a royal gramma!!

I got the package about a month ago and everything has been running perfectly. I've seen quite a few hitchikers (about 8 porcelain crabs, a small black urchin, decorator crabs, 2 pistol shrimp, and a few gorilla crabs. I was worried about the gorilla crabs but setting a couple traps has worked so don't let that scare you. Also found I had a pearlfish (sorta creepy looking and feel bad for the unlucky sea cucumber who has to host it --go google it for more details lol).

All in all I typically don't write this long of reviews but the service Richard and TBS provides is above and beyond. If you're thinking about starting a tank they provide everything you could need and makes your cycling and start up so simple. Also the customer service was excellent, being new and unsure Richard answered so many of my questions right away and was very helpful with the pick up process. If I set up another tank (which I'm already thinking about) I'll be sure to go through TBS.

I attached a photo from the day after everything was set up, sorry not the best quality but wanted to show how much was included!

[moondoggy4]

Looks good, thanks for sharing. I want to do the package for my 40 breeder coming up.

[foxt]

Thanks for posting. Can you update us on your experience? I am considering this for a future build, and the majority of what I have read about TBS has been very positive, and Richard seems like an excellent guy to work with. I want this for an upcoming 220g build.

When I look at the amount of life that comes on the rock and in the rest of the package (all the crabs, snails, etc), I have to wonder how you keep up with the feeding of that in a new tank, and what your water parameters look like over time?

Richard's website suggests feeding with phytoplankton, and target feeding the stuff you can see. Lots of mouths to feed, seen and unseen. I am wondering how much of the life that you receive eventually becomes food (either dies because it didn't get enough food, or falls prey) for the tank?

The "after" pictures and results are almost always spectacular, and I am wondering what the journey is actually like. How has your tank evolved over the last two months? What are your nutrient levels like? Any issues to be prepared for, aside from catching the predators?