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Siblings, Best Friends and Business Partners

J diver

Meet Jocelyn

Originally planning to become a shark research technician before live rock farming; J always had a passion for sharks and sustainability.  J continues that dream by volunteering in shark & ray research and is dedicated to finding more ways Tampa Bay Saltwater can be environmentally conscious.  Raised on the sea, certified in SCUBA and then Freediving with Ted Harty; J also has a background in competitive sailing, cooking, and art.
J’s favorite Live Rock hitchhikers are Porcelain Crabs & Mantis Shrimp.
  • lead diver
  • rock & sand inventory keeper
  • truck & trailer driver
  • custom order picker & packaging expert
  • warehouse managing

How do they manage a rock farm? Division of Labor.

Meet Madelyn

Madelyn’s admiration for the ocean centers on love of micro reef organisms.  From Mote Marine Lab and Keys Marine Lab trips throughout school, to diving the Keys and Bahamas, to nano aquarium keeping, to becoming a certified Free Diver under Ted Harty, to managing a LFS; her focus has been on the tiny reef critters.
M’s favorite Live Rock hitchhikers are Tiger Gobies & Pincushion Urchins.
  • captain
  • tides, waves & weather analyst
  • back up diver
  • holding system manager
  • packaging expert
  • air cargo liaison
m

Tampa Bay Saltwater 38 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. 
“I want to see you guys be the world leader in the best live rock on the planet…and it will happen…”  -Richard Londeree site Logo