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Siblings, Best Friends and Business Partners

Meet Jocelyn

A passion for sharks and their preservation led J into live rock farming. Volunteering for ray & shark research, cleaning up debris from the ocean bottom and looking for ways TBS can be more environmentally conscious are always on her mind. Raised on the sea, certified in scuba and Freediving with Ted Harty; Jocelyn also has a background in competitive sailing, cooking and fine art.

Lead Diver
Inventory Keeper
Order Curator
Truck and Trailer
Packaging Expert

Favorite Live Rock Hitchhiker: Mantis Shrimp and Porcelain Crabs

Meet Madelyn

Madelyn’s admiration for the ocean centers on micro organisms. Mote Marine Lab and Key’s Marine Lab trips throughout school, nano reef keeping, scuba diving, Freediving under Ted Harty, and managing a LFS: led M into rock farming. Diver safety and product transportation are priorities. In her free time, Madelyn enjoys graphic design and gaming.

Boat Captain
Tide/Wind Conditions
Secondary Diver
Air Cargo Liaison
Packaging Expert

Favorite Live Rock Hitchhiker: Tiger Gobies & Pincushions

Meet Wen

Wen has been an avid reef keeper almost 20 years. When not working with customers, she maintains a 500 gallon mixed reef system housing her first coral, favorite fish and TBS products.

Customer Care
Forum / Media Presence
Scheduling

Favorite Live Rock Hiker: Yellow Jewel Box Clams

Meet Bruce

Retired farm vehicle from Michigan; Bruce does it all. From air cargo runs, to UPS drop offs, to meeting locals, to towing Orion.

Meet Orion

This 26′ Parker is a retired marine research vessel from South Carolina. Orion is the sixth boat to harvest live rock for TBS.

Every ROCK has passed through our hands over 5x.

Tampa Bay Saltwater y 40 years and Counting!

“Want to be a Rock Farmer?” – TBS founder, Richard Londeree, 01/2021

I had the wonderful opportunity of being a pioneer in the aqua cultured live rock industry here in Florida. I received the first and only five acre lease for aquaculture of live rock here in the State of Florida off the west coast of Florida almost forty years ago.

It was a real pleasure taking this new industry to you folks and supplying the finest quality of live rock on the planet. It was for sure a wild ride, and I would not change anything that transpired in these forty years.

With the state of affairs we are all facing, and the fact that we are old and fat, 68 and 71 years old I have decided it is time for somebody else to take over the live rock lease and website. It will take a special person to step in and do as I did, and supply the finest live rock, sand and inverts on the planet. There is nothing easy about being a live rock farmer, but to me there would be no other occupation that would be as satisfying and rewarding as this was.

This would be a great opportunity for someone who is young, lives in the Tampa area and has adequate boat and facility to make this happen. I did it by myself for many years and it was very rewarding. This is a lifetime lease with the state that is renewable and transferable every ten years.

I used to think as I was anchoring up off shore when diving on my lease getting ready to jump in and get a load of rock, that I was very lucky to be on the ocean living the dream, and not at a desk looking at a computer screen

Many thanks to the thousands of customers I had over the last forty years, and thanks for the support and understanding in theses troubling times for all of us. Most of all, be safe and please be kind and respectful of others. Many thanks for all the Years!!!

Could not have asked for more of my working life or a better occupation.

Peace, Richard TBS *Post found in Reef Central and Reef2Reef

After reading Richard’s post, the Lyon siblings traveled to Tampa to learn about rock farming. With Richard’s approval, TBS was sold to Madelyn and Jocelyn three months later.

Richard had stopped diving years prior and had dismantled the operational side of TBS. The siblings needed a truck, workboat, trailer, warehouse, holding system, harvest equipment, diving equipment and shipping supplies.

While experienced sailors and divers; the siblings soon learned to navigate unfamiliar Anclote waters and streamline the process of plant, tend, harvest, hold, package, ship, repeat.

With Richard’s mentoring and family teamwork, TBS was back in the business of supplying live rock by July 2021.

Today, while the siblings are tending the rock farm, Richard is making the most of retirement. When not traveling with his wife, he will swing by the warehouse to check out the inventory and talk shop.